Car TVs

steve_irwin · Joined: 23 Feb 2005 Posts: 30

Has anyone seen the new televisions installed onto cars, either on the front, or on the back seats?

What do you think of them? Would you buy one for long car journeys?

Frankly I don't really like them much, since I always drive alone. If I wanted to watch TV in the car I'd just buy myself one of those gameboy-style mini TVs.

They go for about $1000-2000 these days.

However its a good distraction to keep the kids quiet, assuming you think $1000 is a good price for a distraction.
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Laura · Joined: 16 May 2004 Posts: 446 Location: San Francisco

I know I sound old fashioned but I think they're kind of dumb. Like, when I was a kid we were kept occupied in the car by talking with each other, by playing car games (like "I spy" and license plate bingo), and by reading or coloring books or other diversions. My mom used to pack up a special tote bag for long trips with all kinds of things in them that we never usually got at home -- like word finds, crossword puzzles, and comic books.

Putting a TV in the car and putting on some video seems too much like taking the easy way out, kind of like plunking the kids down in front of the TV at home rather than interacting with them or having them do something creative on their own.

JPowell · Joined: 22 Jan 2010 Posts: 26

I am totally against tvs and portable dvd players especially for children. I feel like kids should be able to occupy themselves with more creative things and parents should provide interactive things like coloring books and animal toys to keep them entertained.

In all our traveling I have only let my son use our laptop to watch a movie once, and that's because the man sitting on the other side of him was sharing his laptop with him for a while.

Other than that I avoid it at all costs.