Should we buy a tv/vcr combo?

[mom42860]

Should we get 1 of these for our upcoming trip in April? We will be driving with a 10 and 12 yr old and an 18 month old. Do they take up a lot of room in the vehicle? I was thinking it could go right in front of the babie"s seat but will that work?

 

[welovemickey]

We bought one of these a few years ago. We Also purchased a "stand" for it at Target. The "stand" has velcro straps to keep the TV stable. We put it in between the two from seats facing the back. It seems to work okay. Just remember you'll have to turn it up loud in order for the kids to hear it in the car.

 

[coachv]

I would most definitely say yes. We bought a 9inch tv/vcr combo a few years back for road trips and it is great. We have a 7 and 5 year old. Last year on our trip to WDW I also bought a power inverter and hooked up the Nintendo 64 for the kids ot play in the car. They did not have one fight or argument the whole 2 days there and 2 days back.

 

[coachv]

We also bought each kid a pair of earphones and used a ear jack splitter to hook up each kid. No noise for us.

 

[janiejo]

We owned conversion vans that came with the tv/vcr when our three kids were younger and the tv certainly makes the time pass quicker for kids! The down side to it is they never bother to look out and see that countryside they are passing. It spoils them, however. They like traveling with the ability to watch a movie so we bought a portable DVD player that works great on planes. It comes with ear jacks - have you considered this option? You would have it in front of the car seat and it goes inside easily. Prices have been coming down - it would be worth checking out. Happy planning!

 

[AZKathy]

Make sure that you have it secured in your vehicle; you don't want it to turn into something very dangerous if you are in an accident and it goes flying into someone. Secondly, get the earphones from Radio Shack; it will make your end of the travel less noisy. If you don't, it has to be very loud for the back seats to hear the TV.

 

[buzz5985]

I just bought a portable VCR. It comes in a large canvas bag that you secure with straps to the front seat. The 5 inch screen can either stay in the unit or be taken out of the bag and attached to the headrest of a front seat. Comes with 2 headphones. You are also able to hook up Game Gear. I have never done that though. I paid $169. Called FunTV. The trouble with the TV/VCR is securing all that weight in case of an accident. The FunTV secures around the 2 front headreasts and under the carriage of the 2 front seats. Very happy with the one I bought. I tend to be picky.

 

[wdwfam]

If you have younger children, I would have to say "definitely" buy a TV/VCR combo. We bought one about 7 years ago, and it has been a life saver for our family. In fact, we loan it out to many of our friends. My DH made a stand to set the tv between the front bucket seats of our van and the center section. Then he secured it with a bungy cord. The great thing about it was - the kids watched Disney movies all the way down. The one downside of it was the fact that it was noisy to the front seat passengers, since the speakers blared out the back of the tv. My DS bought an adapter a couple of years ago, and the next trip we went on, the Nintendo 64 went with us, too. I only wish we had been smart enough to think about earphones. I guess there is a place to plug them in.inkbounc

 

[Lorix2]

Buzz5985 - if you don't mind me asking...where did you get a deal like that for your mobile vcr? I've been looking everywhere and they are all over $300-$400. with a 5" monitor. Thank you.

 

[buzz5985]

Mine is the FunTV. It is portable. Not the kind that is a permanent fixture in the car. I got it at BestBuy. They keep it in the part of the store where they sell radios for your car. I had to ask for it and they had to climb up on a ladder to get it. LOL I got it on sale plus I had a 15%off coupon. I think regular price is $229. This one is not a TV. Just plays movies. And you can hook up video games, but we don't have one, so we are not sure how that works. But we are very happy with it. The cord plugs into the cigarette lighter, or there is a AC adapter. Plus the whole bag has a support, like an easel, so the kids can watch a movie in the hotel, while you watch TV. PLUS IT COMES WITH 2 SETS OF HEADPHONES!!!!!!! LOL If you need any more info just let me know. Feel free to email.

 

[Lorix2]

Buzz5985 - I tried to email you, but it says you don't accept them thru the boards and was afraid you wouldn't see a pm.

This unit would be ideal for us - I don't need the tv, they don't play video games (no interest - can you believe that?) I cannot find a 5" monitor around here anywhere, only 4". Online the 5" monitors w/vcr are very $$$.

Was the monitor included with the unit or did you buy it separately?

I'm going to check my local Best Buy today when they open - thanks alot for responding.

 

[SueM in MN]

Just a reminder that bungee cords are not a safe way to secure anything heavy inside your vehicle.
Even though it may seem secure, during an accident, the bungee cord will stretch and whatever it was attaching will not be secure. In an accident, your 10 pound TV can be moving forward with a force of 400 pounds (10 pound weight of the TV times 40 miles per hour that the car was going). You won't find bungee cords that can hold 400 pounds. If you are going faster, the force will be even greater.
You need something that won't stretch. They sell tiedown straps in places like Target's automotive department that are made to secure things so they won't move in an accident.
Also some of the items that you can buy have a tiny print disclaimer that says "Not for use in moving vehicles". Last time I was in Target, I looked at those easel type stands that hold your TV with velcro; it does have the disclaimer, so it's meant only to hold your TV at a good viewing angle, not keep it from flying around in an accident.

 

[wdwfam]

I guess I didn't make myself very clear when I commented about using a bungee cord to secure our TV/VCR. It wasn't meant as the only source of securing the TV. The stand that my DH made was the source of securing it tightly. We wouldn't do anything that would be dangerous.

 

[buzz5985]

I responded earlier but somehow the site was not working right.

I have the 4 inch screen, I am so sorry about misleading you. When I said I had a 5" screen I was trying to figure by looking at a ruler. I went and got the directions. The website is www.mobilefuntv.com. My son is 5 and loves it. My parents moved down the Cape and with no traffic is 1 1/2 hour ride. How often do you see no traffic to the Cape? No complaints from the back sit since FunTV. Any questions please ask. Well worth the money. I think I can receive email now. Janis

 

[SueM in MN]

If you have an Audio King store by you, they had a 4 inch Audiovox VCR and TV in a bag for $229.95 in their Sunday newspaper ad. You wouldn't find their website easily; it's www.ultimateelectronics.com

 

[disneyleslie]

We bought the bag vcr at Best Buy in August 2001. We only use it for trips outside of town so we really did not use it much. Well, we were driving up to Door County in January and half way through the trip the screen went dead. The connections were fine so I took it in to Best Buy as I had bought the service plan and they say it can't be fixed - I should take a new one. The original brand I had was Mobile cinema and the new brand was fun tv. Well, the screen was much smaller - I had a 5 inch originally and the 4 inch is so tiny. I ended up buying the 9 inch and paying more. The sales mgr. was going to make me buy a new warranty which I thought was totally ridiculous but they ended up pro-rating the original warranty. The 9 inch is really nice - it is much bigger and goes on the floor and is weighted down so it can't go flying. You can also plug ear plugs into them. I'm hoping this one will have a longer shelf life than the bag.

Leslie

 

[Lorix2]

Thank you SueM for the info!