Portable DVD player for Car and Home?

[Sparky191]

What should I look for in a portable DVD player for the car and home. Its going to be used by everyone including the kids, for music and DVD's.

[erikzen]

I'm bumping this old thread because I have a similar question and didn't see any other info on this.

I currently have a Philips portable DVD player that I have been using in the car for about 2 years. I'm very happy with it and think the quality is fine for what I paid for it - about $150.

However, we've had some problems using it in the car because it's hard to position so the two second row passengers in my mini van (my 6 and 4 year old kids) sometimes have trouble seeing the screen or we have trouble securing the unit so it does not move when driving.

I would like to have monitors that I can hang from the back of the chairs in front of them. I'm not sure if I can get two external monitors (there is one composite audio/video output mini jack) or if I should get a new unit with two monitors.

I was thinking of getting something like this:

Amazon.com: Philips PET7402/37 7-Inch Dual Screen Portable DVD Player with Car Mount, Black: Electronics

Would I be better off trying to buy external monitors for the unit I have or just buying this one. Suggestions for either one would be appreciated.

[Sparky191]

I bought a Sony DVP-FX820. It has a couple of issues. The buttons are all black and not lit in anyway, so in the dark its impossible to see them, and they are so similar you can't tell one from the other in poor light. The buttons are so similar the kids can't work them out either. The remote is a bit better.

Battery has to be removed to use the car mount. So its AC only in the car. Thats the biggest pain tbh.

For some movies its doesn't show full screen but in a windowed format. You can manual adjust it, but its a pain to have to do it each time.

[erikzen]

Just ended up getting an Insignia dual screen portable DVD player. There didn't seem to be a lot of choices and that's what they had a Worst Buy. I didn't want to order the wrong thing so I wanted to see it first.

It was pretty easy to attach the screens to the seat backs. It has a slot in the player to hold the remote, so maybe we won't lose it right away. It also has a little leg in the back of each screen which I assume is so you can stand it up if you're not in the car. Nice touch.

I can't really comment about ergonomics since I just turned it on to test it.

The screen looks pretty good, although I did notice that the main screen seemed a bit brighter than the secondary one. I was wondering if a better cable between the two might help. Looks like it's an S Video cable.

The second monitor also has a DC jack. I wonder if you plugged it in also if you would get a better picture.

Hardly worth worrying about. Both pictures looked pretty good and it's for my 6 and 4 year old kids who are never going to notice.