Best Video Screen for Rear Seats? Aftermarket Head Unit Install (1 Viewer)

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Subscribed. For those with iPads, what do you do to load movies on to them, or so you have wifi available in the car?
 
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My '07 had the headrest DVD system installed for the rear seats. My kid loves it, but the video quality is terrible. Audio sucks, too. She doesn't mind messing with the DVDs, but the whole system is very early 2000s technology. One side had a bad set of cables when I bought the truck. I've replaced them so both sides work, and I've installed some heat shrink to the cable junctions to keep things from constantly coming unplugged, but I don't think I'd put much time into them. When they eventually break, I'll buy a new iPad and try to find some OEM headrests.
 
I use ipads then the kids can watch what they want and no fighting. Plus i dont have to dedicate my head unit to some cheeseball movie while i drive.
 
I would rather have a dedicated video screen to the back also, but nobody seems to recommend one. iPads need charging and are expensive. Plus you have to load them with content or pay a monthly wireless data plan. Seems way more expensive and more complicated
 
@Box Rocket has a rear fold down screen he likes... I'm curious which on it is too.
 
@PabloCruise I'm looking at doing the same thing to my LC.

I think it depends on the age of the kids. We have an overhead DVD system in our Sienna and we love it. Makes road trips or even long errand runs around town so much better. We throw all the kid DVDs in one of those CD cases that holds like 100 of them. Done. Instant library of videos available in the glove box.

And yes, the older kids have iPads, etc but for the littles, the dedicated DVD is best for us.
 
i have the headrest monitors that mount to the headrest posts. My kids are 3 and 5 so i control their movies through the aftermarket stereo with the AV set to the rear output. It makes life much easier since my wife or i dont need to constantly be crawling front to back to help them when they hit the wrong button. I have a bunch of movies loaded to an SD card so we arent dealing with disks. We can also use a tablet from the front seat as a pass through but then we are stuck listening to its audio so we rarely use that option.
 
I've been really happy with mine. (I'm gonna need to go check the model because I've forgotten) Interfaces well with the main Pioneer head unit. Can play a different video on the drop down than what is played on the head unit. Has HDMI, SD and USB hookups. We have 4 wireless headsets for the kids so long trips are much better because my wife and I can actually talk because the kids are silent watching a show. :)




 
Box Rocket said:
I've been really happy with mine. (I'm gonna need to go check the model because I've forgotten) Interfaces well with the main Pioneer head unit. Can play a different video on the drop down than what is played on the head unit. Has HDMI, SD and USB hookups. We have 4 wireless headsets for the kids so long trips are much better because my wife and I can actually talk because the kids are silent watching a show. :)




Click to expand...

Hey Adam! We camped next to each other a few Cruise Moabs ago - great to hear from you!
What year is your LC/LX?
That looks like a really clean install - I would lover to know more about it, especially if it plays nice with the Pioneers - I got a AVH-4200NEX for our '99 LX.
It looks like that unit just takes the place of the dome light - do you get enough forward light in the cabin at night with that?
Thanks for replying...
 
MattyO said:
I would rather have a dedicated video screen to the back also, but nobody seems to recommend one. iPads need charging and are expensive. Plus you have to load them with content or pay a monthly wireless data plan. Seems way more expensive and more complicated
Click to expand...

Amazon frequently sells their Kindle HD tablets for under $100. If you get these, you can easily load movies, games, etc onto them. If you have it, Amazon Prime and Netflix both let you download content onto the tablet so that it can be viewed on a plane or in a car. No cellular or wifi access needed once downloaded.
As far as charging goes, that is pretty easy as they can be charge with a USB adapter in a cigarette lighter socket.


Here is an example:
https://www.amazon.com/All-New-Amaz...e=UTF8&qid=1513010512&sr=8-4&keywords=fire+hd
 
PabloCruise said:
Hey Adam! We camped next to each other a few Cruise Moabs ago - great to hear from you!
What year is your LC/LX?
That looks like a really clean install - I would lover to know more about it, especially if it plays nice with the Pioneers - I got a AVH-4200NEX for our '99 LX.
It looks like that unit just takes the place of the dome light - do you get enough forward light in the cabin at night with that?
Thanks for replying...
Click to expand...
Mine is a 1995. I meant to get the model # for the drop down over the weekend but forgot. I'll get it tonight when I get home. The dome light setup isn't ideal with this. You're correct it takes the place of the OEM middle dome light. Light to the middle row is ok but not great. I've been looking at upgrading the LEDs in the unit. Forward light to the front seats is mostly zero. That's the one downside. I have planned to tap into it when I upgrade the LEDs and add a secondary light to the front side of the unit to light up the front seats. Just haven't had time to mess with that yet.
 
Box Rocket said:
Mine is a 1995. I meant to get the model # for the drop down over the weekend but forgot. I'll get it tonight when I get home. The dome light setup isn't ideal with this. You're correct it takes the place of the OEM middle dome light. Light to the middle row is ok but not great. I've been looking at upgrading the LEDs in the unit. Forward light to the front seats is mostly zero. That's the one downside. I have planned to tap into it when I upgrade the LEDs and add a secondary light to the front side of the unit to light up the front seats. Just haven't had time to mess with that yet.
Click to expand...

Thank you!
 
My '07 has the headrest DVD system installed (probably dealer add-on), but when I took the windshield trim off to run my HAM cables, I noticed the factory wiring for the rear overhead screen is already there, at least up the A-pillar. The rear screen options are greyed out on the NAV screen, so I'm guessing it auto-detects the screen when it's installed. Might be something you could tap into with the right screen and/or cable adapter.

Sadly, the LCD screen tech from '07 sucks. I wouldn't spend any money to add OEM visuals to the rear seat. Even the newer, Walmart-quality, cheap headrest systems are higher quality screens than were available ten years ago. And, if your're ok wiring any kind of rear video system, wiring a tablet/iPad charging wire up through the seat to a headrest mount would be a nearly-zero :banana: job. There are some great mounts available now that are secure, cheap, accommodate a variety of devices, and allow you to remove the tech when you park. Hard to spend the money on a dedicated system these days.
 
Any Android base tablet will do (from 8" to 12.2" and bigger) (The galaxy Note 2014 are amazing, almost 12" inches and with a stylus so they can draw too) specially if you have a microSD card on it, then you don't need a "Hot spot" or a hub on the car and each kid can chose whatever they want to watch..

One secret. the NVidia Shield Tablet (2014 and 2015 K1) can be use as a "TV box" you just connected to the HDMI in of the TV at the hotel _or at home, way better than a roku or a amazon stick) and you can watch pretty much whatever you want, the Ndivia has the best processor and also has a ton of games available (I don't know if that is a good thing for the kiddos..
 
Sorry for the slow response for those that asked about the model # etc of the drop down display I'm using. Here's what it is. Been very happy with it. Has HDMI, SD, USB and RCA jacks so it's really versatile. My kids have even played their xbox on it with the xbox plugged into an inverter. I got 4 wireless headsets for the 4 kids and now our long trips are nice and quiet and my wife and I can actually have a conversation. :)

Farenheit CM-103D
10.3"w Digital Overhead Monitor with DVD/USB/SD/MMC



 
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