Poor Man's Solution to Entertaining Kids

[bryancos]

Was looking for an inexpensive solution to entertain the child in our other vehicle (2001 Explorer) and found this -- a cheaper alternative to a perm. install -- can move to grandparent's vehicle when needed, and the quality suffices for a 4yr old.

Apex 5" Portable DVD Player $140:
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=2448391&cat=3944&type=19&dept=3944&path=0:3944

Rear Seat mount/ DVD case $30:
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/prod...4&type=19&dept=3944&path=0:3944&xsell=2448391

Peace and quiet from the back seat: Priceless

 

[Pribilof]

What ever happened to books? I never had a TV or DVD or anything like that in the car when I was a kid. We used to go on 16 hour per day driving trips and I was fine with a book. I'm not trying to knock anyone with a DVD system in their car. I also don't have kids. But seriously, My brother and I were fine with a couple of books.

 

[bryancos]

I hear you... when I was I kid I would read or sleep! But kids these days have it made... trying to get a child to sit quietly and read or color without constantly whining for more than an hour in this age of game boys and videos is like pulling teeth... My neighbor had borrowed my headrest setup a couple times before I made the dvd install permanent, and were blissfully thankful. Books? Do kids even know what they are? Heck, most probably can't tell time unless the clock is digital!

 

[toybox]

I'm not one of them but alot of people have trouble reading in cars while moving. They get nauseus (sp?) and sick feeling.

 

[Iman74]

What's wrong with technology? I see no harm in using a DVD player over a book or vice versa. Also, I would not call this a poor man's option. In fact, I am not rich but can afford the finer things in life, and I can say that I am doing research for this too. It makes the most sense for you can take it with you into a hotel, frineds house, etc. and plug it into a TV.

Also, if that is all you can afford or/and want to pay, then that should be fine. But I was just at Walmart a few days ago and I saw much nicer models there for a few bucks more. If you want to make sure you are getting an affordable as well as reliable model do yourself a favor and do the following.

Go to www.resellerratings.com
Do a search there for portable DVD players.
Then do a sub search for your price range.
From there you can see the pos/neg for those models.
Last thing is to order the model of your choosing.

Good Luck!

 

[NoDak]

i just use my wife's dell 8100 laptop with dvd drive and let the kids watch movies on that on trips.

now that the wife has a new dell 8600, i gave the kids the 8100 to play with on trips for games and movies, and run trip software on the 8600.

would have been nice to get the dvd/nav setup they get in the SE region, but kinda hard to run down to ga. and spend a week trying to deal on a new runner when i live 1700 miles away. i do miss the SE region options when i lived in ga back in the 80's.

 

[Iman74]

The laptop idea is not such a bad idea. For one of the top model portable DVD players, at that price you can buy a new laptop with the ability to watch DVD movies.

 

[Scout Av8er]

NoDak

how are you mounting the laptop so the kids can watch?

I've been thinking of a way to mount our dell laptop with those cases that bryancos was talking about, but I think those are a bit too small for the size of the laptop itself, and thus will not fit in the case.
Another thought would be to purchase a dc-ac inverter and plug into the lighter for power.

 

[NoDak]

i bought a 100w inverter at radio shack when they had a sale on them. usually the kids just have the laptop in the lap and play games or watch movies, but i did buy a laptop notebook cooler that subs as a leg saver from the heat. there are different types with just a plain plexiglass stand to the below item.

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=34-999-411&depa=0

since the 8100 is pretty old, it dont matter what the kids do to it, they just know if they break it, spill drinks on it, etc., no movies or games on it anymore, and the 8600 is regulated to the adults only.


another option is to get a backseat travel tray. here is a picture of one

http://www.onlineorganizing.com/Product_Backseat_Travel_Tray.htm

or you can google backseat tray

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=backseat+tray

 

[Iman74]

The backseat tray can be found on Caselogic with everything else they sell. They come out with some really interesting ideas. They sold something that solved my problem with not having a center console in my CR-V.

 

[darktiger]

How about Gameboy, cheap and entertaining.