Rear Entertainment DVD system in the 2011 Land Cruiser? Good idea?

[bebtunes]

I came across this and thought it might be me, but it looks like a bad idea to me cause it might be a good distraction for the driver. you tell me if you think the same.

[MD_Weems]

I have a DVD entertainment system in my SUV now, and I have to say that it is a LIFESAVER with four kids. Especially on any trip that is longer than about an hour. My boys are all bigger, (12, 12, 11) but the baby is only 4 and she is a handful because she gets bored easily. When my husband was getting ready to deploy to Iraq, we drove from Tulsa to outside of Kansas City almost every weekend to spend time with him. I cannot praise the DVD system in my car enough for keeping me sane through those trips. In fact, we are looking at upgrading my car now and that is a requirement for me, not just a luxury.

As far as a distraction goes, it's behind my head, and I either have the kids put on the wireless headphones (which cost a LOT if broken and have to be replaced) or I turn the radio sound all the way into the back for them. It actually is less of a distraction because then the kids are focused on the movie and not on pointing out everything they see, so in traffic, I'm not hearing "MOM! LOOK!" and about wrecking the car.

Ours actually has AV jacks on it as well, so on really long trips (i.e. Kansas) we let them take the Xbox a few times as well. It worked great, even on roads with a few bumps. One or two times we hit large potholes that jolted it a bit, but it never turned off or restarted their game.

If you have kiddos, I would totally recommend an entertainment DVD package in ANY car.

No matter if I decide on a 4Runner or Land Cruiser or other Toyota truck, I will have one.

[toyotafan]

I think that rear seat entertainment systems are the bomb! Seriously, just like MD_W said, you have so many more options for how to entertain the passengers in the back than ever before.

I used to think that these would be obsolete to quickly ... but then I realized that most people aren't going to keep the vehicle on the road for 20 years, so if you keep it for 5 to 7 years, it should still be functional and they are so universal with the plug-ins that any new technology should be able to be plugged in to keep it up to date.

[MD_Weems]

Exactly. Some of the newer DVD entertainment systems actually have dual controls and dual tv's. The one's in my hubbys hummer have a screen on the back of each front seat headrest and both can either watch the same, or separate, DVD's.

I will say though - wireless headphones are just the absolute best..... lol.

[SurferBoy]

I wish they had those when I was growing up. Those new DVD systems in the backs of cars/trucks/suv's are beyond cool. It would have made those trips to TN from FL SO much better

[MD_Weems]

Man, that would have been nice to have when I was a kid too. I cannot count the times that we traveled somewhere for vacation where I read so many books in the car that I swear my brain was going to explode. Of course, that could have helped with my wonderful imagination today... lol

[TacoTrucker]

the dvd entertainment packages are too expensive in cars in my opinion. you can get the ones at wal-mart that are like $99 for two tv screens and the dvd player in it. but then you have to fix them to the back of the headrests. still, i don't know that it's worth paying a thousand or more for an installed one

[toyotafan]

I agree, they are very expensive. IMHO I think it's related to the insurance cost to get them replaced OEM ~ but they should be about 40% of what they are listed for.

[MD_Weems]

Exactly. I've had both the factory DVD systems in cars as well as the aftermarket ones that you can purchase at any place like Best Buy and so on. In my personal experience, the ones from the factory seem to last longer with my kids. But I think that is because the others can be taken down and messed up. The different factory ones I've had also did better when there was something playing on the screen and I hit a big bump or something. The aftermarket ones seem to skip more.

[SurferBoy]

I just can't see paying that much for them, but I don't need them really either. Can't watch a movie and drive.