Car DVD Players Review

As a car enthusiast I must say nothing is more exciting and rewarding than taking pride in your car, truck or SUV. At first opportunity car owners will do whatever it takes to customize and personalize their cars. Among rims and the thousands of performance parts the number one thing that most car enthusiasts do is focus on comfort and luxury. This includes providing entertainment for the passengers in the car. Even families that are not into their cars are getting an in car DVD player and screens installed for the long family road trips. There is such a demand for DVD players for cars that even major manufactures are providing navigation and entertainment packages so that your car will come equipped with all your entertainment needs directly from the factory at a factory wholesale price. Let's take a look at the kinds of screens you can get installed and the pros and cons of each.       

The first type of screen is directly in the back of the headrests. These screens are one of the most popular applications because of the ease of installment and functionality. The size of screen depends on the size of your headrest but most come in 5" to 10" screens. You can decide to have them come with a DVD player that is actually in the screen unit itself and loads discs from the side or top. You also can order just the screen no player and it can be wired directly to a DVD unit in the center console or DVD unit under the seat. Another feature that is nice is if you want two or more people watching different things on their screens you can get wireless headsets or keep the standard wire headset. When installing these you can take it to a shop and they will cut into your existing headrests and do a full install mount for you. Or you can actually order headrests directly from the factory that slide right into place and all that is required is power installation and/or video hookup. I have installed a set that we ordered directly so that I would not have to cut into my existing headrests and the unit had the DVD player in the back of the screen so all we had to do was run power to each side of the car under the carpet. It was very simple and easy to do I strongly recommend this option.

Review:

Size: 5"-10" Screens available

Sound: Optional wireless headphone transmitters

Menu Functions: Optional touch screens

Price: $245.99 - $1,090.99

DVD Loading: Flip DVD units on top or side load

Wire Options: Wired to center console or player under seat and power

These screens are a bit more difficult to install in my opinion and have some things about them that you should be aware of. If you are going to have an audio shop do the install than instillation is no big deal because they do it all the time and know what they are doing. I would not recommend installing these on your own unless you really know what you are doing. Another caution that I would worry about is state laws. Since car entertainment has become more popular states are cracking down on driver distraction laws that you can be ticketed for. Just something to think about and make sure you know about your local laws. I live in an area of California where you do get pulled over off the freeway for sun visor screens; they are ticketed for as well as being asked to pop your hood for the search of illegal modifications. The size of these screens also can't be too big but you can order them from 3"-7" screens. These are too small to have a built in DVD player but are great to be connected to your main console and even your iPod. I have seen these and they are a great way to customize your car and they look great. In my car I don't have them because I'm not watching movies while I'm driving and the screens are just too small to watch a movie on. Not functional enough for me to use.

 Review:

              Size: 3"-7" Screens available

              Sound: none needs car speakers or console speakers

              Menu Functions: none

              Price: $354.99 - $408.99

              DVD Loading: none

              Wire Options:  Wired to center console or dash console and power

These are a must. These are directly connected to your entertainment center on the dashboard and come in many different varieties. Most have flip up screens that hide away when the car is turned off for protection and security. The location of these not only give the driver the ability to use a navigation system with visual ease but the rest of the car passengers can also have a clear view to what is on the screen. These units come with almost every connection that you could imagine from cell phone connections to iPod connections. The efficiency of this kind of unit is why most people install them. They take advantage of all the resources that are built in your cars dashboard like space and power connections. Most are fitted to match perfectly and flush to the cars shape. One thing that I like about these dash consoles is that they can be wired through the cars speakers. So not only can your cell phone be wired through the car but also the family movie taking advantage of your cars sound system. All in all these are great units that can be loaded with movies and also helpful to the driver for all entertainment options.

Review:

Size: 5"-7" Screens available

Sound: Needs car speakers

Menu Functions: Varies, Has remote or touch screens available

Price:

DVD Console With Screen $452.99 - $1,238.99

DVD Console Without Screen $170.99 - $287.99

Screen Only $150.99-$453.99

DVD Loading: Direct Front

Wire Options: Wired to center console option and power and speakers

Another great option that I had installed in my car is the flipdown player. This option I had installed again at an audio shop because of the wiring difficulty that I did not feel comfortable doing. If you have kids this is an amazing tool to have on long road trips. It sits on top the inside roof and a screen drops down in the center for the passengers in the back.  One thing of caution is to make sure that the screen does not obstruct the drivers view out the rear view mirror. I think that this option is best left to SUV applications or larger vehicles to avoid this problem. They do have some that can be wired to an external DVD console but the majority of them are built with a DVD player installed as well as the controls. I would recommend installing this type of DVD Player for sure. You will be amazed at how much you actually use the DVD player in your car. You will not regret it one bit.  

Review:

              Size: 7"-19" Screens available

              Sound:  Has speakers, can be wired to car speakers, or use of headset

              Menu Functions: Has remote or touch screens available  

              Price: $629.99 - $1,589.99

              DVD Loading: Direct Front or Side

              Wire Options:  Wired to center console option, power, speakers, and headsets

This is probably the cheapest way to add entertainment to any car, the portable DVD player for your car. These are the small units that you can play DVD's on and they have their own power souse (batteries). Most come with car adapters that can be plugged into the car to keep the device going. They have their own port for a headset. The only thing that is good about these is that you can take them with you other places than the car. They can go on planes, trains or you could even use them at home if you want to. The screens tend to be ok quality also. With laptops as common as they are today you might as well bring that along to play your DVD's instead of investing in one of these.  

Review:

              Size: 7"-12" Screens available

              Sound:  Use of headset

              Menu Functions: Has remote

              Price: $150.99 - $239.99

              DVD Loading: Direct Front or Side

              Wire Options:  optional power

As with anything when it comes to car installation make sure you do your research on the shop. If you are not going to install a car DVD player yourself you need to find a reputable place, as simple as that. Ask to see work that they have done in a past project. Most places will sit down with you and go over your entertainment options that they provide. They also know the local laws and what you will be able to get away with or give you advice if you want something that is not up to par with the law. It’s a great idea to go in with knowledge and realizing the possibilities to make your drives more comfortable and entertaining for all your passengers.