First of all - Proud to be the owner of a Nighthawk Pearl - EX 4WD, does anyone know of a good DVD Player for our cool Element yet? :idea:

I was at a meet in Sacramento on Sunday and saw the Mpac Mobile MP301 installed on an NBP. It was pretty nice, but I wasnt watching anything on it. The owner frequents this board, maybe he will share some insight on it.

u know what
i used to look around and shop for dvd player deck for my cars
but..someone told me..why not buy a notebook computer
and it can play dvd movies and can also be used as a navigation system..
for the price much less than dvd deck..
i took his word and bought a notebook recently..as i also need to use it at my office.,
compare to dvd deck in the car..laptop has bigger screen
and though the aux connector..u can listen the sound through the element speakers...
so convenient...
just an advice....
:lol: and one more thing.laptop can moved to other cars or place to place
with no wire hassel.. :shock:

In selecting a DVD player for your E please realize that this is only one component of a complete system. Brand is not what you should look for but system configuration, features, warranty & overall quality. Do you simply want to place a DVD player under a seat? In the dash? In combination with other components such as an audio tuner, telematics or LCD screen? Do you want to perform the installation yourself or have a shop (preferably an independent shop that specializes in and does a lot of video installs and can demonstarte to you that their installers are certified, experienced and qualified to do this job and will stand behind their work and assist you if you have need to use your factory product warranty) do it for you. I've been in the mobile electronics business for a very long time as an installer, owner of multiple retail shops and now in the wholesale part of the industry as a direct importer/manufacturer of mobile audio/video products. I just returned last Monday from attending the electronics buying shows in Taiwan, Hong Kong, PRC and Korea over the previous two weeks and there is a lot of very cool stuff coming here within the next 3-6 months. Think about what your budget will allow and get the best value to fit - not the most product (cheap $$) which may end up being a case of throwing good money after bad (or something like that). If you would like some guideance then let me know and I'll do my best to assist you. 8)

I thought about buying a laptop computer also. It is not wise to use the laptop whlie the car is moving. 1. Because you shouldn't be watching movies while driving. 2. It's horrible for the harddrive in the computer!

With 1 child, it was an easy decision. A personal DVD player has headsets, can be played in multiple cars, and is light enough for plane trips and other activities. At under $200 now, it's much cheaper than the car mounted systems too...

I don't know how I survived as a kid :-)

This is what I installed with a 6.8" drop down swivel rear monitor. I also added a hide-away diversity tv tuner for the local channels. It works great.

http://members.cox.net/john.grady/photogallery/vrx935vd.JPG

John

[quote:ff05026aa3=" "]u know what
i used to look around and shop for dvd player deck for my cars
but..someone told me..why not buy a notebook computer
and it can play dvd movies and can also be used as a navigation system..
for the price much less than dvd deck..
:[/quote:ff05026aa3]

That is sthe setup that I use. http://www.spanky526.com/element/inside_electronics.htm The Gps I use dropped to $76 at Wal-mart at with $30 connector cable, can't be beat!

I'm looking for one too and found one i like (www.avic-n1.com) but now i just need to find out if it fits in an E!

I had the Kenwood Excelon DDX7015 installed in mine. I wanted to go for a cleaner, less cluttered, flush mount look. The only thing that bothered me about the flip-out screen models is that they usually ended up covering either vents, pockets or other controls mostly due to the Elements console layout.

http://www.pix8.net/files/DVDdash1.JPG
http://www.pix8.net/files/DVDdash2.JPG

http://www.elementownersclub.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7515&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

Depends on your budget. I started with an iPaq that played mpeg movies but got tired of burning dvd's so then I got a cheap laptop from ebay and a touchscreen but the lack of ports and the fragile nature of laptops were a problem. I then got a car dvd player that I tucked under the seat. That was great but I missed the flexibility of both the iPaq and laptop (both played mp3's and movies).

So I decided to go the full blown car PC route so I could add GPS to the whole mess which works best for me (link in my sig has more pics).

http://www.BudCAD.com/images/Element/screen%20and%20keyb.jpg

You can get under seat dvd players for as little as $100. In dash will be more with installation, portables are under $200 now.