Headrest monitors? DVD players?

[mazda559]

Has anyone done this? What size monitor can be fit on the headrest? I dont own a mazda5 yet, but am going to in a couple of months. Im just researching on what can be done to the car. And does anyone have a DVD player hook up?

I have a 18 month old son and expecting a daughter in June. It will be a good entertainment for my son to keep him quite on long road trips. I have one on my TSX and that helped out a lot. So I was thinking of putting a DVD player somewhere in the dash and hook up some monitors to the back seat. I just need to know ahead of time so I can have it ready when I get the car. I know for audio I can just get the auxmod and use that for sound thru the car speakers, etc.


So, has anyone done any of this at all? Or planning in doing one in the near future?

And I plan on doing this myself too. And will do a write up on it. I can also help someone with questions on how to install one. Thanks for any feedbacks, opinions, and responds.

 

[dommo_g]

I looked pretty hard, but the headrests are pretty small when considering what has too be done to accomodate the screens. Mazda offers a drop down as a dealer installed option.

 

[mazda559]

I dont like the drop down. It blocks the rear view mirror when driving. I prefer headrest or anything lower then the headrest. I dont really want a bid screen on the headrest. 5" will be fine on them. I just wanted to see if anyone has done this yet on the mazda 5. If not, then I might be the first to get it done when I buy the mazda 5.

 

[Kid Red]

Yea, someone already installed an overhead monitor with a DVD player in the glove box I believe. THe headrests do seem too thin, maybe try the strap portable kind?

I want an overhead unit, not the over priced one from the dealer, but I'm still looking. I figure if the kids are watching it, I'm not wizzing thru traffic. I'm also looking for one that doesn't hang that low and it's too long as I have a sunroof.

 

[mazda559]

Yea seems like no one has done the headrest monitors. Ive seen the overhead one. I dont really like that. I might just custom make a strap for a 7" monitor then. Or just get a 5" and put it into the headrest. Thanks for the reply.

 

[miatafied]

I tried to reply to you earlier, but my post got lost? Oh, well. I have a dual screen portable player that I got from walmart - like this one:

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4100513

I just got the seat covers and I run the wires under the covers then under the mats to the front up the back of the glove compartment and keep the dvd player in the glove compartment - I don't have it hard wired, but I run the power cord out the back of the glove compartment and it plugs into the cigarrette lighter unobtrusively. The kids have a remote that works from the back seat. If I have more kids in the car or have the seats configured differently I can have one monitor in each of the back rows and the kids can share. They do have headphone jacks, but usually if I fade the radio to the front - they can hear their movie and I can hear my music.

I only have pics of before I installed the seat covers.

 

[X10James]

I've got that exact same set of strap on monitors and the DVD player.

Recently though I got myself a new iPod that can display video and I have moved a ton of DVD's into it for long car trips. It is SO much easier than messing with a DVD player. i can actually select and play movies for them while driving when I'm the only adult in the car which is impossible with a DVD player. Find the disk, load the disk... So many DVD's have so many previews and warnings and then they sit at the menu and play movie isn't always the default selection... IT's impossible to get a DVD going safely in the car when you are the driver and you can't see the screen because it's behind your head!

The iPod makes this just simple. I have the iPod on the center console where I can see it and control it and the video cable just runs back to the screens. Works GREAT. I highly recommend that as an alternative to trying to manage DVD's in the car.

 

[mazda559]

Thats what I have setup on my TSX with the Ipod. I like the strap idea, but I dont like the screens. They are too bulky for me. Its a good setup if you want to move it from one car to another, but im not going to do that. Ill figure something out and let you guys see what I have done. Thanks for the replys guys. Any other replys are more then welcome.

 

[afticarab]

Another mounting idea for DVD player

Check out this link for an alternative to ceiling or seatback mount DVD player http://www.mpvclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=127148&sid=52ae72e603f3fe92ebbe52899f95612b#127148

Ciao