Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Holidays

Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

Original poster

Would you recommend in car dvd players?

11 replies

mumat39 · 02/06/2012 23:25

The type that attach to the headrests? We will be doing a 6 hour car journey in August and I was wondering if these would be a good idea to entertain the kids.

Are they any good? or are the gimmicky?
Are there any good 2 screen ones that will show the same thing on both from 1 dvd?
Would a cheap 'tablet' be better? Is there such a thing as a cheap tablet?

My kids will be 4 yrs 11months and 2 yrs 10 months old and are generally very good in the car. We do things like play games and sing songs etc but the drive is so long that a couple of hours where they are distracted, when they're not sleeping, with something other than me would be really good.

Many Thanks in advance for any advice/suggestions.

OP posts:
BackforGood · 02/06/2012 23:32

Yes. We bought ours before we did a long drive to France (lot more than 6 hours!) and they were invaluable then and have been used a lot since.
Ours our a 2 screen playing off the same DVD, that you attach to the back of the headrest. Don't know what make I'm afraid, but just cheapo ones from Argos (indeed, ours were "free" in that we got them in a half price sale, and paid for them with our Nectar Points, so excellent vfm Grin). My dc are a lot older though (were 11,8, and 5 when we got them) so not sure how much yours would get out of them at that age.

Hidinginthewoods · 02/06/2012 23:33

A life - saver for me on a 6 hour journey recently, but, be prepared to have to stop the car occasionally to change DVD's/re-set DVD. My Ds's 4 & 13 (but severely AS) have great difficulty communicating to me...

Them : it's not working
Me: Is the screen blue or black?
Them : Red.

I stop car & re-set... ( they need a wee/drink/wander off...)

but... I'm sure if you have (child-proof) un-scratched DVD's to play & no bumpy roads to navigate they'll be a God-send !

HRHEightiesChick · 02/06/2012 23:39

Yes, definitely worthwhile for long journeys. We bought ours just before a long drive to our holiday destination last year and have used it a lot. Got it from Argos and bought one where you could get thye 1 screen version for £100 or one with an extra screen, but that plays the same DVD, for £110, which we got. I can't remember the brand but will check tomorrow and post if I remember. My DS is in the age range of yours so I would certainly recommend. Only limitation is that it doesn't play home-recorded or copied DVDs, so all my collections of Octonauts painstakingly recorded from CBeebies can't be used in the car. However, put on Toy Story or similar and Bob's your uncle, and films are better for longer journeys anyway. Ours has a remote so if they both fall asleep in the back you can switch it off from the front too.

Original poster
mumat39 · 02/06/2012 23:43

Backforgood, we also did a 16 hour, mostly overnight, car journey to the south of france but DP is refusing to do that again.

Hidinginthewoods, I hadn't thought of the dvds sticking or jumping. I've seen some with a remote control so I wonder if those might work from the front seat, or maybe not.

Thank you both for replying :)

OP posts:
trixymalixy · 02/06/2012 23:48

Yep, definitely get one. We also have the two screen version, also from Argos.I'm pretty sure the make is philips.

We have a remote, and you can stick your hand round the back of the seat with it, but if you can't see what is happening on screen and the kids can't tell you then it's of limited use. I usually end up unscrewing it from the mounts and bringing it into the front to sort and then screwing it back on, it's not that hard.

Original poster
mumat39 · 03/06/2012 00:02

Thanks Trixy, as DD has so many allergies, I imagine we'll be doing lots of holidays to places we can drive to as I'm not brave enough to take her onto a plane.

Hope you're well and having a good weekend. :)

OP posts:
trixymalixy · 03/06/2012 00:09

Oh hello! I hadn't noticed it was you that posted this! Yes we quite often drive as it's easier to take all the milk etc that we need for DS.

We are all well thanks, hope you are too and have a lovely weekend also!!

GnomeDePlume · 04/06/2012 00:05

We have been using them for years, mine all have their own as they all have different tastes.

ripsishere · 04/06/2012 08:17

We only have one DD, she has a personal portable one that she can put on her lap.
It is fantastic. Set of headphones makes it even better.

GnomeDePlume · 04/06/2012 19:27

Oh, good grief yes, headphones. Take lots of spares as they get sat on, broken and lost.

MOSagain · 05/06/2012 11:21

I had one fitted into the roof of our car a few years ago just before a trip to France. Bloody godsend, don't know how we'd have managed without it. I weighed up the options between a fitted one and ones that go on back of seats and decided on the fixed in one as the kids can't actually reach it and it folds up flat when not in roof. Was quite a lot compared to the ones you put on back of seats but think it was a good investment.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page