TV/VCR in van

[SPappas]

We leave thurs evening! yeah!!!! We put the tv/vcr in the van last night - had a borrowed bag that holds the combos - 9 inch screen I think. It works great, but it is huge! Hangs between the seats in the front and the kids will see great - but the sounds comes out the sides (in our ears). The next mini van will have the flip down, built-in kind, but for now.......I'm looking for expert advice on whether or not this is going to drive us crazy and if we should just go buy one of those bag tv's meant for vehicles - they have small screens though and we will have at least one child in the rear of the van who needs to see the tv. We have a 9 year old, 3 1/2 yr old and 12 month old. Is there a better arrangement that I am missing??????

 

[ABCMom]

I don't know what kind of seating arrangement you have in your van, so this may not be possible. But what we use to do is take out the middle seat in the middle row and sit the tv on the floor between the two front seats. Two kids sit in middle and one in the back and they can all see fine. We just got a new van and it has two bucket seats in the middle so same seating arrangement still works.

I have never seen one of the bags, so can't really help you there.

another option - friends of ours build a table/stand like thing to sit between the two front seats so the TV is elevated and then have their kids use headphones so that they don't have to listen to the TV.

 

[Disney Princess 6]

Please consider safety when deciding which TV arrangement you'll use. You don't want to get into an accident (God forbid) and have your TV become a missile that could kill or injure someone. When we went in March, we bought one of the TV/bag combos made for vehicles, even though we could have easily rigged my husband's laptop. I just wanted to be sure what we used was secure and would have much less chance of injuring someone in an accident. Just something worth considering, I think. Have a wonderful trip!

 

[SPappas]

the tv/vcr bag we have anchors the 9 inch tv/vcr combos to the driver and passenger buckets. The whole point of the bag is safety so that the tv does not become a missile. I too suggest that people do not use anything that is not somehow anchored. We have 2 buckets in the center and bench in the rear. Thanks for the tips!

 

[Jordan's MOM]

My sister's family started out with a TV unit that sounds a lot like yours. They made it about 30 miles and had to stop at a eletronic store for two pairs of earphones. After that all was fine. I'm not sure if your 12 mo old would want to hear or if you might could rig three pairs of ear plugs so this might not work for you. My sister said the TV noise right in their ears was diving them nuts.



jordan's mom

 

[Ratpack]

Another option, may be too late for this trip, is if you plan to have this vehicle very long, your local stereo shop can install an aftermarket system for you. Costs a lot less than a factory one. When we bought our new van, we skipped the factory set and had the dealer go to the local shop and have them put one in and saved several hundred dollars and got a better system. Even got wireless headphones so we don't have to worry with tangled wires. They even put in a switch so we could switch from headphones to radio, meaning the movie comes through the car speakers, great for watching something with surround sound.

Just a thought.

 

[DisneyKidds]

If you are considering a purchase, don't forget the console units. We purchased one of these. It sits between the front seats and can be anchored to the floor. Access to the VCR and a good amount of storage is via a door in the top of the console. A 9 inch TV sits at the back of the console and faces the rear seats. Has all the inputs for headphones and game systems. The kids love it. It stays in the car permanently and they come in different colors to match your interior. Just another option to consider.

 

[toystorymom]

We also used the 9" tv and the hanging bag when we drove from MA to WDW last summer. Two of the kids sat in the middle row bucket seats and the third sat in the middle of the bench seat in the back so they all had a good view. We were even able to put a small cooler between our front seats underneath the tv. The noise from the tv didn't bother us at all (of course I live with 3 small boys so I'm used to noise. ) The only time that I thought it was in the way, my youngest was always dropping his toys or binky, and it was tough trying to reach back there to pick things up. I'd say that was a minor inconvenience though and having the tv was a definite lifesaver! Good luck.

 

[Jacksmom99]

We have the same set up and I bought my DS 4, headphones for his b-day. His sister is 1 and gets more entertainment from seeing the pictures than actually hearing the sound. I would get 2 pairs of headphones for the oldest two and an adapter/splitter so you can plug both sets into the same jack. Much cheaper than buying a new system.

 

[disneymania]

I have seen the ones built in the bag but didn't know you could purchase it separately.???

 

[Princess Dot]

Hi,
I also have to comment on the noise issue. We did a similar set up with the TV wedged between the front row seats in our old Suburban (Now we have one with the built in DVD, YEAH!)

The noise was really loud! For the kids to hear properly, you really needed to turn it up, and I can now say that I can repeat verbatim most of the dialogue from several Scooby Doo movies, although I have no idea what the movies look like LOL!

 

[twinmomplus2]

wE TOO INSTALLED THIS IN OUR MINIVAN AFTER MARKET. TWEETER INSTALLED THE FLIP DOWN STYLE FOR 1217. sorry hit the caps it's the best grand I ever spent. papa lives 5 hours from us so.... they can hard wire it to a set station and give wireless heqadphones. The wireless is great for the 8 year old, but, we tune in for the babies and simply put it in the back speakers. I hear most movies about a dozen times before I ever see it. when the little ones fall asleep, we switch to head phones and I get the stereo back. Good luck. Lauren

 

[kejoda]

We bought small portable speakers to plug in where the headphones go. It really worked great until the tv died. We velcroed them under the seats on the floor.

 

[Jacksmom99]

I've seen them at Target, but I also ordered it online at JCWhitney. They were around $50.00 at each place. I think the online one was cheaper but ended up the same price with shipping and handling. It looks a little confusing to install when you first open it, but it's a breeze once you get it in the car.

 

[theworlds]

I too have the TV/VCR bag, the noise drove me nuts! I tried the head phones, but the baby would not leave them on. Soooo I went to Radio Shack and asked them if they had a solution. They have a device for 29.00 that plugs into the headphone jack of your TV. It makes the TV/VCR play through the radio. You just tune it to the correct station and wala..no more loud noise in your ear!! The only drawback is that you can not listen to your radio, you have to listen to what the kids are watching, but it is not annoying at all!!I think it is called an FM modulador....not sure, but I would have paid 200.00 for this!! It is sooo nice!

good luck,
jennifer

 

[disneymania]

one question for those of you with the bags. Does it seem to really anchor the TV in the car?? It still looked like if you had to stop quickly, going very fast, the TV would fly out of the bag. That was our biggest concern for getting the bag...safety. Or is the bag more of a convenience to hold the TV higher? Don't they make those TV units with front speakers now or do they still shoot the sound out of the back too?

Thanks for all of the help!!! We are driving cross country this summer & are definately going to get some sort of TV unit. My brother got one of those with the 2 detachable screens & had trouble with reception (on a VCR movie) depending on where they were driving.

 

[Jacksmom99]

The bag is completely safe!! The TV is strapped inside of the bag. In addition there are 6 tether points, three for each seat, that keep the bag very secure. It is tethered on the bottom of the bag front and back and on the top. If God forbid, the car were to roll over, the tv would remain in place.

 

[JoNo]

I couldn't deal with the tv /vcr combos 9at least the ones in the bag), I'm sorry... I had to buy a dvd player with flip-out screen & put one big screen (9") in the middle & 2 smaller screens (4") in the headrests... I'm an audiophile as you can probably tell. I think these are by far much safer than the regular tv's, but that's just my opinion.