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The woes of the in van DVD player

August 16th, 2006 at 01:05 am

My conversion van is so cool. It has a built in DVD player with a pretty good sized screen. I bought the van for this selling point. When I purchased it my husband of 18 years was not living with us......he was living apart from us " trying to find himself a bit" or find a new someone which he had already done...thank you very much. Well I bought the van with him one Sunday after I took the kids to church. I even asked him to test drive it with me.....I now see in hindsight( of course then it is so clear) he could of cared less -- we could of been driving a pineapple or a Little Tykes cozy coupe....as he had already checked out of my life. Well I loved this van and thought of the all the wonderful and happy family trips, away soccer tourneys, dance competitions and out and out adventure we could have in this family room on wheels! The six of us..mom, dad and children.....tooling around in our nice family van. OH well....I still like it....with mom and four children----

Now the DVD is not playing anything...it is bright orange or plays things with no sound or with two hundred lines on the screen or spits things out at us......I am not sure-but it does not work! No extended anything & the van conversion company is now out of business. So the local FORD guys say they can re-do the DVD deal for about $450.00 OUCH!!!!!!!
That was not in any budget nor divorce settlement. So I am at a quandry......fix it and use it and suck it up......or forgo it......or buy something at Best Buys that is the portable type???? Not too sure what to do. I really have to mull it over. I was just trying to budget a splurge on a bottle of fragrance at Bath and Body Works......$16.00----it made me feel awful hearing the guy at the FORD dealership just rattle off the numbers like it was no big deal to spend it and throw it on a VISA.

Now I do travel alot in the spring....and I will be looking at some colleges out of state.....so it is not like I do not do some travel time. Plus when I drive the kids to school it is 30 min there and thirty mins back---
I really want to make the best choice......what a quandry----

I have not posted in a few days. I ended up getting pretty ill from a migraine. I used to have them lots more and yes they would slay me pretty hard. I have learned to manage them better. It seems if I am overly tired or over worked as a mom I tend to get one. So being nauseated was something new I had not been thru for some time. If you suffer with them or know someone who has them they are no picnic! I have some remedies that tend to help me personally. I am thankful that when I do have one I ususally can manage the pain well. Thankfully my kids are older so they can manage for a bit without me.

Son had soccer and went to the new Talledega Nights Movie. It looks really funny! My friend told me Step it UP??? the dance movie is very good and it is clean without much stuff girls who are young teens should not see. My daughter is dying for me to take her to that one. First born daughter is at a sleepover being held at her dance studio with her teachers.....about 15 giggly girls for her to endure all night! I feel kinda bad for the dance teacher who is as sweet as can be.....hopefully she does not get a migraine! Little girls are off to bed after an evening of pool time.....and I am going to put my feet up! No I am going to watch any DVD'S!!!!

16 Responses to “The woes of the in van DVD player”

  1. daybyday Says:
    1155697091

    Yikes, that's a crazy price for repairing the DVD player! I've never understood how people don't get carsick watching a movie in a car.

    I'm sorry about your migraines. I hope you're feeling better. Smile

  2. frontporchmom Says:
    1155698024

    yes...crazy! I think they know YOU cannot fix it....so they know they can really sock it to you! I really have to think about it.

    Thank you....I am feeling better.
    It is so paralyzing to get such a migraine......I am always very thankful when I feel better....I always remember to be thankful and grateful once recovered. Being a single parent I do not have anyone to help me out if I get very bad.........Have a good week staying the course set before us!

  3. homebody Says:
    1155699229

    I get them too about once a month. I have missed many days in my life, but am hoping they go away after menopause like my mom's did. I have had them for over 25 years and have learned how to manage with pain medicines and muscle relaxants.

    Be sure to make sure you drink plenty of fluids and keep your sunglasses with you at all times!

  4. boomeyers Says:
    1155703570

    Keep shopping around for someone who can fix it more cheaply. A portable one still causes fights unless you get a couple of them and then you are up to $400 anyway!
    My girls want to see the dance movie too. Thanks for passing along the review!

  5. LuckyRobin Says:
    1155704250

    There are two other ways you can go with the in car dvd. You can get a two screen portable player where the two screens hang over the backs of the seat in front. Those go on sale for around $150. I'm not sure if that would work in the van or not, does it have head rests, because that is what they go around. Anyway, you could get two of those and still be about $150 less than the cost of repair.

    Or you could get each child an individual dvd player that runs $99 on sale, around $400, still cheaper. With this method there is no arguing over what movie to see, unless they both want to watch it on their player. If you have the chance they can be even cheaper the day after Thanksgiving.

    The cheapest method of all is simply having everyone take a book to read in the car, though. Didn't hurt me any growing up that way.

  6. koppur Says:
    1155736467

    Ok, I don't want to start trouble, but personally, I see no need for a tv/dvd player in cars. I get that there are a lot of road trips and long drives with your kids. But growing up (and I'm only 28) we traveled via car a lot and had a lot of long drives for vacation, to the grandparents, etc, and we lived without tv/dvd players in the car. We talked, had conversations, sang to music, colored in coloring books, played cards in the backseat, read, daydreamed, or whatever. Even not being on a budget, $450 is an awful lot to spend on a luxury.

    Good luck with your decision!

  7. frontporchmom Says:
    1155739405

    I know what you all mean! I used to color in coloring books like a crazy kid when I was young on road trips and such......I know....I struggle withthe dvd/tv all the time...in house and on the road......!

    I am still thinking and mulling all choices over.........I am kinda waiting to hear any whinning about it.....so far no one has said much about it.....so I may wait and see how things shake out a bit.
    Part of it is the mommy guilt thing.......I am getting better at that. I am more grounded and know I have to make some choices that are best in the long run.......even if the kids gripe and complain.

    have a super day everyone....I am off to put my kids to work...mowing and cleaning the garage....so much for the mommy guilt!

  8. plasma tv stand Says:
    1178792577

    I had the same problem even if i had papers that guaranteed me the repair is free. In reality it wasn't so, and i end up repairing it myself. And believe it or not, it still working and i'm proud of me. And working whit your kids is not so bad, so they socialize a little bit instead sitting at the computer.

  9. nj kk Says:
    1206742611

    I am looking into buying a seperate screen (monitor)and hooking up to a player.Just started with this idea 1/2 an hour ago.Since its not a car you have room/options.You would also have option to use as back up for computer,vidio games etc.Plus if you install a dvd/cd player you have a new stero (1 you take out).Opion is to just hook into a portable (about $150)looking at amazon seems sony has durabale case long battery also runs direct to car power (12 volts)Folks say get an extended warantee on any of the portable players Good Luck! PS look up Gary Noll for migraine relief.

  10. dual dvd players Says:
    1270505535

    If you have kids you may want to invest in dual dvd car player

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