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Long car rides can be pretty boring. Especially for the children in the back seat, the trip to vacation quickly becomes a test of patience. With a car DVD player, you can ensure the entertainment for kids in the backseat of your car.
A car DVD player is a handy device that usually consists of two displays that you can attach behind the headrests of the front driver’s seats. Your passengers can watch movies, music or photos while travelling.
Be aware of the playback options of the DVD player. Make sure that not only original DVDs but also other common data carriers such as USB sticks or SD cards are playable.
If you want to watch movies in the car while the engine is off, we recommend that you choose a car DVD player model that has both a wired and a battery power supply. Models that run solely on a power cable can burden the car battery.
Comparison of Best Portable DVD player for Car
| Name | Preview | Our Ranking | More Details | Screen size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ieGeek |   | 95/100 | Check on Amazon | 11.5 inch |
| Pyle Home PDH7 |   | 93/100 | Check on Amazon | 7 inch |
| Un-Tech |   | 90/100 | Check on Amazon | 9.8 Inch |
| ABB INDIA |   | 90/100 | Check on Amazon | 13.9 Inch |
| iBELL Portable DVD Player |   | 85/100 | Check on Amazon | 9 Inch |
Buyers Guide | Portable DVD player for cars
For most of us, entertainment systems in our homes are very common. A place where entertainment is becoming common and popular is the car. Parents have to come up with something to keep their little passengers happy and to spare their nerves, especially when travelling with children for hours. DVD players for a car allow watching films on the move and thus make the travel more fun and entertaining.
What is a car DVD player?
Car DVD players are primarily intended for use in the car. Most models come with two, mostly flat, tablet-like displays that look like small, portable TVs and can be attached to the back of the headrests with brackets. The player is installed in one of the screens; a second monitor is often included and can be connected by cable.
Below we would like to introduce you to the main advantages and disadvantages of the DVD players for the car.
Advantage
- Lightweight and compact
- Practical entertainment option for long car rides, especially for children
- Most DVD players can also be connected to TVs
Disadvantage
- Sound and picture quality not as good as on a TV with home DVD player
- Not all models offer a battery and are dependent on the constant power supply by the car battery.
Types of Portable DVD player for car
There are models of a DVD player which come with two display screens. In this, both display screens will play the same thing as they are connected with one player. In addition, there are also models in each of which a separate player is installed in both displays. This allows passengers on the rear seats to watch different films. If, for example, one of your children wants to watch “Frozen” with the portable DVD player for the car, but your other child wants something else, such devices are the solution to this problem. Note, however, that the price here can be significantly higher.
In addition, there are also portable DVD players, which are not intended primarily for attachment, also called overhead monitors or ceiling monitors, which are attached to the inner roof. Here, the screen is folded down at right angles; the image side is directed to the back seat.
Things to consider in Portable DVD player for cars
For the best possible overview, we have compiled important criteria for you to choose your personal car DVD player winner.
| Buying criteria | Description |
Power supply |
There are car DVD player models that are not designed for battery operation or for which you need to buy a battery in addition. They can only be powered by cable. |
Video playback options |
Modern, portable Portable DVD player for car entertainment are now able to play in number of formats. These include: DVD + R, DVD-R, CD-R, CD-RW, Audio CD, MP3 CD, MPEG4 CD, VCD, S-VCD, CD with JPG image files In addition, in some cases, additional connections for external media are offered, which make it possible that video files via USB or SD card can play. So if you want to watch original videos as well as your own videos or pictures, for example from your holiday on the displays, we recommend that you pay attention to such device features. |
Display size and resolution |
There are two common sizes for displays of car Portable DVD player for car: 7 inches = 17.8 cm screen size 9 inches = 22.86 cm screen size HD (High Definition) rendering requires at least 1280×720 pixels, which is not achieved in the products we introduce. The models presented here offer different resolutions from 480 x 234 pixels to 800 x 480 pixels, which is sufficient for movie enjoyment as a distraction on longer journeys. |
Resume function: If the power supply is interrupted, for example, if you turn off the engine of the car or because the battery runs dry, the car DVD player stops playback. However, a user-friendly feature of most players is that the movie continues to run from where it is stopped when power is restored. This resume feature saves the viewer annoying searches.
Questions and answers about Portable DVD player for cars
How do I recognize the best car DVD player?
Slots for USB and SD cards give more playback options for the car DVD player.
As our Car DVD Player Comparison table shows, there are features that a portable DVD player should offer for the car. In addition to the playability of the common formats, these also include slots for USB and SD cards. For convenience, many manufacturers also provide remote control and headphones.
How expensive is a Car DVD Player?
As so often in the fast-moving world of technology, the prices of DVD players for the car are more affordable than ever before. Aspects such as the size of the displays and whether a separate player is installed in both displays affect the price.
A portable DVD player or portable blue-ray player
The technical difference between DVDs and Blue-rays makes itself noticeable on modern HD televisions. The Blue-ray format offers a much better picture quality. The size of the screen should not be overlooked in this review. Portable DVD player for cars have a screen size of 7 – 10 inches, which is important in terms of size to be able to watch on the headrest. So as compared to a normal TV (32 – 55 inches), this size is significantly smaller, this also affects the image resolution.
A portable DVD player for the car does not perform very badly in comparison to a portable Blue-ray player in image resolution on such a small display. Because of this fact, there are only a few models of portable Blue-ray player for the cars in the market
How do I attach the car DVD player in the car?
All products come with a holder as standard. You can use them to fix the displays at the back of the headrests of the driver and front passenger seats.
In principle, the DVD players are portable, but we advise you to attach the screens in the manner specified by the manufacturer. This is the only way to avoid those becoming flying bullets during sharp braking manoeuvres that can seriously endanger you or your passengers.