We will be driving from SLC to DL this December. It is time for me to suck it up and buy a DVD player for the trip. We have a travel VCR but it is cumbersome as are the videos. Any advice on brands that you like with correlating prices would be great.

Thank you.

I'm not an expert on electronics, but we are happy with our portable DVD player. We bought it at Costco for around $200. It's a seven inch screen and the brand name is Mintek. So far it's been trouble free. The cool thing is that they come with a car adaptor plug--so on long trips we don't have to worry about the battery running out.

We only use the player for trips over an hour--not for running errands around town. :) But it's a lifesaver during those drives that never seem to end!

We don't let the kids watch movies unless we are traveling on a trip say more than a couple of hours away; the movies are definetly a life saver. My DH's family used to travel alot by car when he was growing up. He thinks the portable VCR/DVD players are the best thing ever. He said that all he did was fight with his siblings on those road trips.

I am an only child so this whole fighting in the car, at the store, and over nothing is mind boggling.

I am going to Costco on Tues. Maybe I'll check out Sam's too.

Thanks :)

This is the one lisap is talking about. (http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?prodid=10047728&whse=&topnav=&cat=) We have the 7" rather than the 8" screen. Our kids sit in the third row bench seat of the minivan and place the player between them and it works great.

We have a 7" Polaroid and are happy with it. We paid perhaps $250 for it.

We have a Mintek which is very similar to the one that Lisap has. Ours is probably an older model. Since my son was dropping the one he had on the floor of the car so often, I purchased an Audiovox Eddie Bauer unit that straps onto the seats in front of it. It cost about $300, as I recall, but that was at least two years ago. The Mintek is very durable and has held up to nearly daily use inside our house. I also take it to work so my son can watch DVDs on snow days when I have to work. I believe I've had it for at least three years--I'm a bit hazy because we actually had to exchange the first unit within warranty because my son had dropped it and ruined the alignment of the optics.

Thanks for the link EandCDad.

I guess we have a portable DVD player and I didn't know it. I had no clue that DH's laptop could play DVDs. I am so electronically challenged.

I couldn't possibly with good conscience recommend a DVD player for the car.

I have to chime in that my two step-kids got DVD players from their mom and they came in very handy. My two little ones got car sick while we were driving down form CT. Fortunately, the DVD players distracted them enough so it kept the up-chucking a bay. We propped it up on pillows between the center console of the van so they weren't looking down, and it really relaxed them. My husband and I heard the backround music of Hunchback about a thousand times to and from Disney. (note: you can also hook them up in your hotel room and watch movies at night)

Sorry...one more thing... If you are worried about it being distracting for the driver, as long as it is not in front of he/she, it really isn't anymore distracting than having the radio on. Realistically, it is more distracting having kids (teens) fighting, getting sick etc. Now talking on cell phones while driving, that is a whole 'nother issue....

I wouldn't dream of driving the 12 hour drive without a DVD/VCR player. I also wouldn't dream of using it while running errands or for short trips.

My 3 kids have to sit next to each other when we travel by car, literally. I think the DVD player is the only thing that stops them from picking on each other. My two oldest that can read get sick if they read in the car. I would rather have their brains mushy from watching tv for a few hours than my seats mushy from their puke :D I guess that rules me out for Mom of the Year :crying:

Back in my day (and be sure to use old grandpa voice), we had four kids in the car on 1000-mile trips, with nothing but a deck of Old Maid cards, AND WE LIKED IT!!
Seriously, there is a lot of USofA right outside the window.

My husband's family did it the same way: a station wagon, a deck of cards and 3 kids in the back seat. I was/am an only child and the bickering gets to me when we are that confined; even the Valium and Stoli don't help.

Rent,

For our trip in 13 days we went to Sam's Club and they had a portable DVD player for $298. It came with a protable dvd player that you strap to the back of the drivers seat and then it comes with another monitor that straps to the back front passenger seat. It works like a charm. We had to take a road trip to look at the leaves before they blew off the trees. Anyway it worked great and it kept the kids entertained. It also comes with 4 headphone jacks, two on each monitor. Also it comes with a rechargable battery that last for 2 1/2 hours. It also comes with the car jack and a nice carrying case.

12 hours to drive to Cali? How fast are you driving? Last time we went it took 9 1/2 hours, and that was from Bountiful. We are staying Vegas though to break up the trip, besides the wife wants to try her hand at a little bit of gambling. We don't get over to Wendover very often.

It's about 700 miles.

When I was a kid, most long trips were in the bed of a pickup truck with a camper cover on it. We had a small playground going back there, and my parents had peace and quiet. Then again, those were simpler times. My wife is still amazed I didn't die in a horrible mass of twisted truck metal. ;)

Grump, we stop in Vegas too. It's like 7 hours to Vegas I think and from Vegas it's another 4.5 to So Cal. We like to stop and stretch our legs too. We we usually have a sit down meal too because all that fast food makes me fat and sluggish. With three kids it's a journey for sure.

What does the wife play? We are craps people :D

Brian, I remember those days. We would go to Big Bear alot when I was growing up and recall my cousin and I running around the motor home while my dad drove the twists and turns of the mountain side. It is amazing we all didn't die or end up with some massive head injury.