First off, I really like these units and they play and look great just as long as you use the DVD player for each screen individually. The real disappointment comes into play when connecting the two units together to play the same video. The fact that the product uses analog connectivity and only comes with a 3 foot long AV cable is its downfall. Now, don't get me wrong, this may work out fine for you if you plan on attaching the screens on side by side headrests in the same row. But if you have a vehicle (such as a van), where there is the possiblity of someone tripping on this cable or, as in my particular install, you would like to have one screen in the middle row and the other in the rear row, then this is not even possible with this cable. The second and even more disppointing aspect of connecting the units is a result of this product relying on an analog connection. Because it is analog (and not digital), you will also need to accept picture degradation from the unit playing the DVD and second unit. While the picture quality isn't horrible, the picture quality difference between the player unit and receiver unit IS noticible (even with the 3 foot cable). And as you would imagine (with any analog connection), the longer the distance you send an analog signal the more the quality degrades. With this said, the solution which would make this product GREAT and more desireable would be if Philips redesigned this product to use HDMI connectivity between the screens. Philips PD9016/37 9-inch Portable LCD Dual DVD player
Hooking up these units was very easy if not intuitive. The kids both enjoyed being able to watch the same thing on both screens. Then when the argument over what to watch occurred they could simply pop in their own movie and watch what they each wanted to see separately by just unhooking the video cable connecting the units. The only reason I did not give them five stars was the lack of IR headphone support, but I guess the reason for them not having this functionality is that their might be sound signal bleed if the kids are watching two different movies. All in all great picture quality and would recommend buying over the single dvd units with just a separate monitor for the other viewer.
We were expecting a decent picture from these based on previous reviews, but I wasn't expecting the single 12V plug that powers both units, leaving me a spare outlet for GPS/cell phone use. Of course, if you're planning to use one player in vehicle A and the other in vehicle B, then this might be an unpleasant surprise. As reviewers on other sites have mentioned, the sound quality produced by the built-in speakers is not spectacular, but since the whole point of owning these units is to preserve mom and/or dad's sanity then you'll surely be adding two pairs of headphones/earbuds. We ordered two pairs of Panasonic RP-HT21 Lightweight Headphones with XBS Port to avoid the yuck factor of sharing earbuds and are well pleased with the combination. We can't provide any insight into the long term durability of this set, but we are very pleased so far.
I was perhaps one of the first buyers of this 9 inch dual DVD player from Philips.
In short, this is a great DVD player. Picture quality is amazing and it is relatively easy to use. Our kids - 1 and 2 years stay entertained. I would have given it a 5 star if it came with remotes. It is sometimes difficult to replay a DVD during a journey. You really have to reach over, stop and get to the disc menu to replay the DVD. Otherwise it is an excellent product.
We have just returned from our first trip in using these, and we were quite pleased. We only have one child (almost 2), so we only used one of the players. I anticipate needing 2 in the future, so I thought it was best to buy the dual screen. I am glad we got the 9 inch as opposed to the 7 inch-- well worth the money. I think the screens were a pretty good size without being too big. The DVD skipped once or twice when we went over some bumps, but I think that is to be expected. It also froze a bit with one of the DVDs that I think was scratched. I think that was more of a DVD issue than the player issue. They were extremely easy to set up and use. I was pleased to see they have a cord to use to plug into a regular outlet, too, so we could use them in other places beside the car. I am not big on my daughter watching a lot of TV, but these players bought us a few extra hours of contentment for our daughter and kept me from being exhausted in entertaining her for the whole trip. We kept them for the last third of the trip, and that worked well!
We looked at the possibility of installing screens into our car, but it was incredibly expensive. I decided to spend a little more on these and am glad we did!
Quick note: you might want to buy some sort of case to keep these in. I realized that would have been nice once we got into the car and had to lug around the box.
I just got these so I can't say as to the longevity of the players. They are nice and the kickstand type stand for in home use is nice. What I don't like is the fact that they share the same car adapter and it would have been nice to put one in the back seat/power outlet and one in the middle row of our van. Also when you tether them to watch the same movie, it takes some thinking to get it to work. You have to flip the switch on the side of the unit with the DVD to AV out and the then flip the switch on the side of the unit without the dvd to AV in. Since there is no remote, I have spent a lot of time showing my kids (six and nine) how to do this themselves and I still don't think they get it. Also when you tether them, it is a pain that both units have the plugs on the same side so either way you go, you have the cord reaching across the units. If they had put the plugs on the left of one and the right of the other, it would much less cord stretching over the seats and less for the kids to get their feet tangled up in when they get out of the vehicle. Also, both units have their own volume so it is quite loud without earphones if the kids max out the volume which mine are prone to do. Overall, I like these but they could have been better for the money.'
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