are in-car "entertainment systems" worth it? what about navigation?

[Anonymous]

Considering a new minivan, and we can get an entertainment system, which is I guess DVD players where the kids can watch movies and play video games. We have 3 kids ages 4-11. Worth it? OR at this point would it be better to just give each one a kindle or ipad or iphone to watch their own thing? We've survived all these years without it, and usually do 1-2 big road trips a year. We have an ancient portable player, but the volume is low.

Relatedly, any views about the utility of a navigation system?

[Anonymous]

I think in this day and age of the smartphone/ipad, neither in-car entertainment systems nor in-car navigation systems are necessary.

If I were buying a minivan today, though, I would definitely get a rear view camera for help backing up. That would be awesome.

[Anonymous]

I generally don't like to include that type of technology in a car, especially if you keep cars for long periods of time. Technology advances so quickly these days, so things could get outdated quickly, be expensive to repair, and are of limited to use (only in the car).

[Anonymous]

DVD player right now could go either way. If each kid has akindle, may not be worth it. Usually the DVD/Nav is together. The only reason to get the in car nav is that can be dangerous driving and trying to look at an iphone or kindle while driving and trying to see directions. Garmin can be a backup.

[Anonymous]

Particularly if you are financing the car, the cost of a couple of iPads and a Garmin can be significantly cheaper (and more updatable/flexible) than built-in systems.

We usually keep a car 8 - 10 years -- think how outdated these things could be in 10 years! Will people even use DVDs?

[Anonymous]

Not having it built-in also makes it easier to avoid using these entertainment systems for short trips. My cousins had one, and I remember the kids arguing about what show they were going to watch even for 20 minute drives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not having it built-in also makes it easier to avoid using these entertainment systems for short trips. My cousins had one, and I remember the kids arguing about what show they were going to watch even for 20 minute drives.

That's why we opted out of entertainment. We got nav, because it was packaged with other upgrades we wanted. But the entertainment system is always THERE and I didn't want a fight every time we got in the car. We have a removable seatback iPad holder for long trips, and that's been more than good enough with a toddler. When he gets older, I'm sure he'll have some sort of handheld device for entertainment and we can deal with that then.

[Anonymous]

IMO in-car nav systems are a huge waste of money.

You are tied to one specific system with a large initial cost and usually expensive update costs as time goes on and technology advances and costs come down.

Skip the in-car nav and get a good Garmin or other portable GPS IMO, it costs less, reduces the obsolescence factor, etc.

[Anonymous]

Nope, not worth it. We got a DVD player for each kid for less than $100 each, and they only come out during long road trips. I use my phone for navigation - Google maps is free and it does voice navigation - awesome!

[Anonymous]

We have a Honda Odyssey Touring model, and it comes with Nav/DVD. Not sure we would have gotten it otherwise.

[Anonymous]

We love the DVD system in our SUV. It's not used often, but we have short commutes and the kids take the bus.

We've had the vehicle since 2005. It's fully paid off and we've never had an issue with the system.

Our GPS's came later. In my opinion the built in systems are nice because there is nothing to hook up or find a place for. Because they are standard, no one breaks in for the built in system. The more expensive or custom items are what they are after.

[Anonymous]

The reason I love the factory-installed DVD player may not be relevant for you because your kids are older. With the factory-installed DVD, you can control everything from the radio upfront (put the DVD in/out, control the volume, skip chapters, whatever). We have one in our SUV, and I love it for that reason. We only use the DVD player for long trips (defined as 3+ hours--though most every trip we take is 6+). We do 6+ long trips each year. My kids (ages 5.5 and nearly 3) have never, ever asked for the DVD player to be turned on otherwise, and, if they did, I would just say, no, it's only for long trips.

When we bought a minivan recently, we could only get the DVD player with the big expensive premium package (including navigation), and we didn't want all of that. So we bought one of the aftermarket installed players from the dealership, the ones in the headrest. They can play two separate movies or one can feed the same movie from the other, which is nice now when they watch the same things and later when they might want to watch different things. They are controlled by touch screens, which, again, will be useful down the road when the boys can control them themselves, but right now they can't (can't reach them from car seats and probably couldn't really work them properly either). So I'm forced to be turning around, putting DVDs in and out, using the touch screen to start/stop, etc. It's been kind of annoying. The factory-installed unit is so much nicer. But, again, if your kids can handle all that on their own, it wouldn't be an issue for you.

[Anonymous]

I love having the nav system in my minivan. Yes, it's outdated, and sometimes I have to just go on a road that doesn't "exist" on my system, but overall, it's worth it. I've had enough instances in DH's car where the iPhone navigation just craps out, and then we're left with nothing. Plus, the screen in the car is easier for me to see.

also can't live without a backup camera now. DVD...we have it, I could live without it.

[Anonymous]

I'm in the market for a new car, and one I'm looking at basically includes the DVD players as standard equipment - it is hard to find them without this option. I don't want them, and they add over $2000 to the cost of the car. I'm really considering holding off the purchase until they realize that kids now usually just use Ipads and don't need DVD systems in the car.

[Anonymous]

when u get to a certain price point or package they are all included. I would get them all.