2008 Scion xB: DVDs. Cool, But Who Cares?

1487, I'm with you. I don't get the idea of having a DVD/video player in a car period. We didn't have it growing up and I can't see the value in staring a t a TV screen. Read a book, play a road game (Punch Buggy) or - gasp - interact with the family.
 
If for some reason we ever buy a car with a DVD/video player, it'll get the same treatment when I'm in the car as a cd player does now: ignored.

Agreed, I ripped out my car's CD player recently for a cassette deck and am retrofitting the auxiliary audio jack to accept a stereo feed from my record player turn table. I ain't going to trade in perfectly good Crystal Gayle vinyl records for CDs.

Not to be rude, but what's wrong with the picture you took Phil ?
It's not a very clear photo.

About the only time I could see this as being useful is if you and your kids arrive somewhere (say, a hotel) early and have nothing to do. However, chances are, no one would want to actually stay in the car to watch a movie, so the usefulness is pretty much non-existent IMHO.
However, the only way to make this more useful is to make it so you can play videos (with pictures!) while moving. I've done that with an iPod video and a DLO fm transmitter in my car before, and found it to be very distracting, as ones eyes are drawn to watching Office Space as opposed to the road. Needless to say, that never was tried again. So, it's a nifty feature, just one I wouldn't ever pay extra for.

In seriousness, I heard from Dan Edmunds that the in-dash DVD player feature is more popular in Japan for various reasons, including a lack of living space for personal home theatre systems. When living in tight quarters, like corporate housing, playing "Ran" at full blast over the Bose speakers isn't a good way to ingratiate yourself upon neighbors.
 
Also, I'm thinking the E brake has to be pulled because Scion probably designed the system to work with both automatic- and manual-equipped cars.

jriz.. You missed my point: CDs are dead/ Who still uses a CD? I haven't used a CD player in a car since 2003. I don't even own any CDs anymore. I do get a good laugh when I see an e90 with CDs on the sunvisor. That's hilarious.

also, isn't it a good idea to get in the habit of using the parking brake even with an automatic-equipped car?

Justt curious, but are there any OEM DVD players in manual tranny cars? Does the e-brake need to be engaged for the player to work?

The new Subaru Impreza with the 5-speed MT and optional Satellite/Nav package can play DVDs. I believe the e-brake needs to be engaged for the player to work. I'm sure people hack or mod the e-brake sensor to get around this. :shudder:

In Japan cars are a novelty mobile bedroom that travels at a maximum of 5 mph.
The carseats of nearly all cars convert into a bed, and the screen is a TV/DVD/everything entertainment system.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8701392936812760087
As shown in this 1995 video.

I would therefore assume that the software is the same for an auto. Simply an oversight.

I wonder how long it will be before a third party kit shows up that allows driver to defeat the safety systems ?
Still, a useful extra feature for getting more value out of a very expensive option.

What's a book? (unhooking from my i-Pod and looking up from my cellphone)

I still use CDs, I dont feel like burning every single CD I own so its easier to simply listen to some of what I own.

MP3 CDs are the best. 200 songs per CD, 6 disk changer. That's 1200 songs in my car for less than a dollar.

I can't believe I'm typing this, but I'm with 1487. I don't feel like chewing up my computer's hard drive with hundreds of my CDs. Plus the sound quality is far better. Also, on a "boo hoo, poor car journalist" note, since I'm in and out of different cars all the time, having CDs around can help on long trips if there's no aux jack for my iPod or portable XM player.

1487, Rip your CDs to DVD/computer at 256, then go to a used cd shop and sell them off. With the profit you can easily buy an iPod. I sold my CD collection 3 years ago and with the money bought a new iPod. I've got backups on DVD, backups on my computer and of course my iPod. Odds are good, those will last longer than any CD and I have everything at my disposal when I travel.

I have a gut feeling that isn't totally kosher, blueguydotcom. :shrug: Are there any legal experts in the house?

While I was writing this blog I was tempted to go on a rant about DVD players in cars and how parents use them to lobotomize their kids with the latest Disney flick. Convenient for the parents because the kids shut up. But then Disney and Disney values raise the kids, not the parents.
 
Am I being a little harsh here?

Philip, I concur.
 
Suby, Shrug. It works.

I would love this feature. Every few friday's, 3 of us drive ~15 miles to this place called Capitain Crabs at dusk. But we eat in the parking lot for about an hour listening to the radio or ujst hearing the sound of teeth tearing at fish. Yes we talk and enjoy others company but its kind of like a drive in movie this way!
 
Also during road trips when its "potty break" time and everyone doese everything but potty so u stop for a good while for nothing. Good time to watch it also!

Yep Phillip, I do think you are being a little harsh. Like anything else related to TV, DVD watching in the back seat of cars isn't a bad thing as long as the parents allow it in appropriate doses. And if you've got 1,000 miles to go to Oregon, another showing of Napoleon Dynamite can turn your wee passengers from "Are we there yet?" broken records to "Do we have to stop now?" willing participants.