GoCubs

Anyone have a suggestion for a reasonably priced, relatively sturdy portable DVD player to use on the plane for a little kid? Thanks!!

MariaSF

An iPod video, with and extra (external) battery is much smaller and lighter to carry. A 30 minute cartoon goes for 1.99 at iTunes.
AFAIK, portable DVD players are becoming obsolete (for travel); I haven't seen that many anymore lately in airplanes.

tednugent(no relation)

Hi!

Sorry, but I can't remember the DVD player brand I bought for my children last year (I think it was a Panasonic with a 7 inch screen.)
Honestly, I got the impression that they were all virtually interchangeable in that they all had 7 or 8 inch screens, similar prices, accessories and such.


They fly unaccompanied on the non-stop Denver to Honolulu (7 hours ) so I got them both DVD players, carrying cases and decent headphones. And I did buy them the extra battery for the long flights, though.

I-Pods may be the way to go in the future, but for watching Shrek, Pirates of the Carib, Cars or Happy Feet, the DVD player works just fine. ^

6rugrats

I'll second that. Ipods are the way to go. You can get an 8GB Nano for $185.95, which works great for my son. He doesn't care that the screen is small. Just make sure to purchase a case for it if you go this way. I recommend the clear hard case made by Agent 18.

We bought my son's when they were having a special with Amazon. If you purchased any Ipod and signed up for a year's service with audible.com, you got a certificate for $100 off any ipod. They run this special periodically. This works for us, because we already had an audible membership, cancelled it and started a new one.

Also, with an ipod, you can add books and music; you aren't just limited to DVDs.

CDTraveler

I disagree completely - between that headache-inducing tiny screen and the hassle of downloading movies, you couldn't give me an iPod video. We have a Panasonic portable DVD that works great - decent sized screen, easy to drop in and play a disk, 2 people can share it, and it can be used with or without headphones, depending on the environment. We have Netflix, so before a trip, I increase our subscription level, and then drop the disks into the mail as we finish with them. Couldn't be easier.

baglady

Baglady jr. has been through about 12 dvd players - the latest one has no cover and is for kids to beat up (I got it at target) and it has a kick stand. She has Sony noise cancelling headphones but I won't spring for Bose until she hits double digits. We do have the Ipod/DVD players that output the vidio to a larger screen; but she is mostly interested in her dvds.

MariaSF

I don't think downloading anything from iTunes is a hassle (I don't work for Apple). IMO, carrying the DVD player and the DVDs is a much bigger pain.
Not to mention that you have to take it out of your bag, at security check, and place it in a separate bin, just like a laptop.
My 4 yo son carries his own backpack, but I don't put anything valuable in there. So the DVD player used to be in my hand luggage.
Also, I rarely travel domestically with my child. Our trips together, 2 or 3 times a year, are international, long haul, with connection. I want my hand luggage to be as light as possible.

ArizonaRoadWarrior

It will be my recommendation to purchase a DVD player at a store like Best Buy, Circuit City and etc. where you can purchase an extended warranty especially if your child is young (2 to 6).

6rugrats

Just please, please don't do this on a flight! Sat on the runway behind a three year old who watched the same crappy cartoon for two hours and then suffered through it on a five hour flight. Kid wore no headphones. I had given mine to one of my kids. Thought I was going to go insane. Mom was surly about a request to please use headphones, to say the least!

I agree with the comment about Itunes. Pressing a button for download is not a hassle for me either.

CDTraveler

And please don't make assumptions about either my manners or my parenting. If you reread what I said and what you even bolded, I clearly stated that the use of headphones is related to where the DVD player is being used. That indicates that I realize different rules apply in different places. On the plane, we use headphones. In the hotel, we don't.

6rugrats

Please don't misconstrue my post. You obviously know when it's appropriate to use headphones, as evidenced by your post! I was making more of a general comment; it was not directed to you.

jonesing

Wow, I can't imagine that the FA didn't come over and offer those crappy $2 airline headseats for free...

To the OP we got a Panasonic (breast cancer pink) portable player for BigBoyJonesing who is almost 3. I got him a $7 headphone set from Walmart. Later, for their cross-country trek to grandma's, we got a bag that suspends between the front seats. Although the buttons are tempting for him, he quickly learned that fiddling with the buttons interrupts his movie, cartoon etc so he's hands off now.

Most of the shows I have on disc are from the DVR or OnDemand and recorded with our DVD burner. Though I do download some stuff via torrents we have one MP3 player (Sansa) that doesn't do movies. Plus, the 8" screen on his DVD player is about the smallest I can go without suffering a migrane

yukira

I think ours is a Dynamix or something like that. It was a gift and 3 year old daughter loves it.

I have been thinking about getting some headphones we can use on the plane and was wondering do they make smaller headphones for those little heads and do you have a problem with the kids keeping them on while they watch.

baglady

I searched everywhere and was never able to find any. I found the noise cancelling ones from brookstone worked well on her when she was younger (still do at 4) - these are at least adjustable somewhat.

6rugrats

Yes, they make children's headphones:

http://musicalkidz.com/9949.html?gcl...FRIuagodSwN1nQ

http://musicalkidz.com/kihecalifiro.html