In-car DVD players with a 7-seater

JimmyTheWig

Hi,

We've got a 7-seater car (VW Sharan) and 4 children.
Looking to get them an in-car DVD player for Christmas, but not sure how it will work.

We've seen the ones (not in person) with dual screens which attach to the headrest of the seats in front. That's great if you've got a 5-seater car. But we haven't.

For those who don't know, our car has two seats in the front (driver and passenger), three independent seats in the middle and two independent seats in the back. Generally it's the centre seat that's empty in our case, particularly for long journeys where the DVD players would come in handy.

So we can attach a screen to the back of the headrest of the centre seat for the children in the back. But what about the children in the middle row? Would we be looking at needing 3 screens? Surely not!
Would it be possible to attach a screen between the two front headrests for the middle row children? Or attach something to the celing of the car, somehow?

How have other people managed it?


Also, what's the deal with all the cables? Do they get in the way?
To make things further complicated, our power socket at the front no longer works, but we've got two sockets in the boot which we can use.


Thanks,

Jim

scheming_gypsy

you can get drop down screens that attach to the roof of the car. Not sure how big they are but could work out cost effective having a decent drop down screen for the first row and a screen in the centre for the kids in the back.

the cables only get in the way if you do an untidy install, you can hide them under carpets or just dump everything on the floor.

JimmyTheWig

Sounds good, SG.
Google has shown some very expensive ones (http://www.raysmith.co.uk/vision/roof-screens.html) and some much more affordable ones on ebay.

Take this one, for example.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CR903-9-Car-Roof-Flip-Down-DVD-Player-Monitor-Grey-/110711337659?pt=UK_In_Car_Technology&hash=item19c6e8f2bb
Not saying this is the best, but first one I looked at.

Anything wrong with it?
Sounds extremely good value.

Not too sure about installing it, though. Step 2 of the instructions say to tighten the bracket to the ceiling, but be careful not to brake the ceiling. How does that work?

I reckon a 9" drop-down screen towards the front of the car would be visible by all the children.
Cheaper than the dual screens we've seen.
And it comes with [strike]arguments over whose turn it is[/strike] games!

JimmyTheWig

Doesn't mention a power source.
Does it go without saying that it runs from the cigarette lighter socket?
How long is the cable likely to be? Can you get extension cables for them? (Would rather not invalidate warranty by snipping cable and extending myself! But we need the cable to run from the back of the car.)

richard734

Budget? we have 2 DVD players for out girls, £49 each from Tesco. If they are old enough, there is no reason why they cant have them on thier laps.

JimmyTheWig

Not too sure on budget, Richard. Under £120, maybe?
Ages (as at end of January) are 2, 4, 5 and 8.

So individual laps probably not going to work, but I like your outside-of-the-box thinking.

scheming_gypsy

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

Doesn't mention a power source.
Does it go without saying that it runs from the cigarette lighter socket?
How long is the cable likely to be? Can you get extension cables for them? (Would rather not invalidate warranty by snipping cable and extending myself! But we need the cable to run from the back of the car.)

you can get extension cables, more like twin / quad sockets that come on a 2mtr cable. Although it could just be a fuse that's stopping the front one from working.

JimmyTheWig

Thanks SG.
We're trying not to spend out too much on the car unless we have to, as the next big bill will kill it. But I like the idea of a 2-way/4-way extension lead.

Did you look at the eBay link I pasted? Any thoughts?
Do you agree that it must come with an in-car charger/power supply?

scheming_gypsy

i've not had chance to look just yet, i operate on a small browser box when i'm at work.. lol. but i'll have a look when i get home.

richard734

Have an ebay search for Twin DVD sets, we replaced our old ones with a pair that have some straps on - I think we paid £60 for them. The Bush ones come with headrest straps and can play either linked up (1 DVD between them) or seperately. I am assuming you 5 & 8 would be OK with lap based?

JimmyTheWig

You mean get them a screen each, Richard?
Not an unreasonable idea, but I'm currently thinking along the flip-down route.