LONG Car Rides: DVD Player Advice - SeVic?

[Black&Tan]

We're getting ready to take a vacation next month, it will include 4 days of 4 hour drives, spread out over 10 days. I'm considering a portable DVD player to amuse our 3 year old son for part of the drive. The ability to remove it from the car is imperative, since I don't want to be assaulted with cries for Dora on every car trip. I've begun my research today, and found a nice unit from SeVic. I've never heard of SeVic, it appears to be more of a European brand. Can anyone provide some insight....

Thanks!

 

[Phat Elvis]

Just did the same thing for a 3 year old on a plane ride. I bought the Coby 7 inch tablet DVD player from Amazon. It was $100 (now it is $120) and the battery lasted at least 2 hours. It comes with a car adaptor, 2 headphones, a remote control, plenty of cables, and a case that you can use to strap it onto the back of a headrest. One great feature is that it has 2 headphone jacks so if you have two kids they can both listen. It does have external speakers too.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...629744/ref=sr_1_3/103-6336446-9455054?ie=UTF8

It worked great. Just be careful to protect the screen - I think I damaged it by not placing a barrier between it and a notebook leading to a friction rub.

 

[Black&Tan]

I'm a little leery of buying this...I never had one when I was a kid. And I really don't want my son to watch too much tv. But realistically, 4 hours is quite a while to be cooped up in a car seat without something to do. And it might allow my wife and I an hour or two of uninterrupted conversation....

I just don't want this thing to crap out due to poor quality or prove useless for viewing during the day. Or anything else I can't think of....

 

[Phat Elvis]

I agree with you about the anti-social aspects of a DVD player. We only use ours for plane rides since any acting out by the kids affects innocent bystanders.

When I was growing up we weren't even allowed a walkman on in the car. I think that it is very important for kids to be able to spend time with their families just talking. However, we do let him pick the music during the ride - thankfully he is a huge Green Day fan.

We have not used it in the car and probably never will. We have done several 6 hours rides without any problems. We typically time it with a nap or a meal and just try to involve him in conversations as much as possible.

 

[Black&Tan]

That's a good point. I never thought of air travel. I'm dying to get back to the UK, and the 6 hour flight is a bit of a stumbling block. We have done a number of 4.5 hour rides to Maine, and he has done well with just his toys. But about half of these trips have been done at night.

I want him to be able to amuse himself, and not always rely on external stimuli (such as electronica). Perhaps we can set up some rules for its use, that it cannot be used for more than a third of the trip, etc.

He's not fond of modern music, his current fave is Dora & Diego. He's only 3.

 

[ChrisBrightwell]

I want him to be able to amuse himself, and not always rely on external stimuli (such as electronica). Perhaps we can set up some rules for its use, that it cannot be used for more than a third of the trip, etc.

Just don't tell him about the car charger. When the batteries die, that's it until you get to your destination.

 

[Black&Tan]

Just don't tell him about the car charger. When the batteries die, that's it until you get to your destination.

Evil, evil, evil. I like it!

Sad thing is, he'll probably catch on far too quickly. But it should work for this trip.

 

[Phat Elvis]

Evil, evil, evil. I like it!

Sad thing is, he'll probably catch on far too quickly. But it should work for this trip.

Better yet, when the batteries die tell him it was because of something he did!

Great call on the car charger.

Yeah, my son is only 3 also but since he was 2 his favorites have been: Elvis, Green Day, The Strokes, and then the Wiggles.

 

[CompUser]

In my day there were no portable DVD players. When I was 3 my family drove all the way from connecticut, through canada, to michigan without a TV and I think it took 8hrs.

Have you or your wife read him a book. Make him use his imagination. Not only will he be entertained, he'll be learning too.