1. They come with stanchion mounts. In contrast, the cheapest Nextbase units, which are sold here on Amazon and look similar to these Voyager units, come with an inferior strap-on velcro and elastic mount system. That system is inferior to a stanchion mount system as users report that it takes more time to mount and dismount the units and, perhaps more significantly, the velcro partially covers the built-in speakers on the units, masking the sound/reducing the volume. The stanchion mount supplied with these Voyager units is excellent - it's made of aluminium and plastic by the look and feel of it and it is very quick and easy to fit. It allows you to adjust the angle of the units as well as how far away they sit from the head rest (can be varied about 2 - 3 inches). You can leave the car mount in place, mounted to the car seat head rests. Then a connector clips in place on the back of the Voyager units and hey presto - the DVD player/monitor just click on and off with ease. This is great because you don't want to leave the player/monitor in plain site when the car is parked up - too tempting for thieves. Now there is an even better stanchion mount system offered by the much more expensive Nextbase 'click and go' system sold here on Amazon - that system allows you to keep (some of ) the cables plugged in all the time because the cables plug into the mount system - not so with this stanchion system but still, it's far better than a velcro system. Oh, and another GREAT benfit of the stanchion mounting system (can you tell that I like it?!) is that you can insert/remove/change a DVD disc without disconnecting or having to remove the player unit from the mount - that is SO helpful.
2. Price - the Nextbase click and go DVD players that also come with (an even better) stanchion mount are much more expensive. It should be noted that the click and go series are crash tested and claimned to be very safe in the event of a road traffic accident - these units are NOT - worth bearing in mind but the click and go series is nearly twice the price. For the price you get a well made bit of kit with good screen, great mount, and remote control. You're ALMOST ready to go but I do recommend you consider buying headphones (see below)
Now, the player/monitor itself - the picture on this 9 inch display is excellent - colours are vibrant, resolution very adequate for the screen size. I see no difference in brightness between the player and the monitor, an issue some reviewers noted on some competing models from Nextbase and other manufacturers. Sound from the little speakers is adequate - better than from the cheap Nextbase models because, as I said above, there is no velcro fasteners covering the speakers. But I very strongly recommend headphones - the supplied in ear earpieces are not very adequate - they don't cut out road noise very well, meaning your kids may be tempted to turn up the volume too high than is ideal for their hearing. Nextbase offer wireless headphones which ARE compatible with this Voyager series - that is a wireless option (about £19 a pair though). Instead I went for headphones designed for children which have a volume limiter which prevents your kids turning the volume up high. Another benefit of your kids wearing headphones is that this turns off the DVD player speaker and the driver and front passenger can now listen to the radio/CD player in the car !
7 inch versus 9 inch version - I do think the 7 inch screen is verging on being just too small - bear in mind that MANY movies display in wide screen, with black borders top and bottom, so not all the screen is being used. For this reason alone it may be worth getting the 9inch version, which is absolutely big enough as a screen.
I had no issues with DVD discs failing to play or with skipping/jumping, but haven't had the unit a long time yet so will report back if I do have any issues. I have not had time to try out playing files from a USB memory stick though technically this is possible.
The units are powered by cable to the 12v lighter power socket in your car, and the (fused) connection cable is plenty long enough to reach a lighter socket in the front or rear of almost any vehicle. Then a combined power/AV cable takes the power and sound/image from the player unit over to the 'slave' monitor unit on the other side - nice that it's just one cable connecting the two units together. I believe you can purchase a mains power adapter as a separate add-on (from Nextbase as, mentioned earlier, thay make the Voyager units) and then you could use the units indoors.
So, overall - good value, great mount, nice screen, decent sound - but you should probably buy better headphones.
I can't tell you what a life saver having in-car DVD has been for our family on long car journeys. Sure, you do have to figure out who is going to change the DVDs (but it's quite easy for the kids to do), but otherwise great !
I've knocked off one star for two reasons - (1) in-ear earbuds don't cut out road or engine noise and you really do need headphones OR you need to use the built-in speakers, but then the driver and adults have to listen to the DVD too... (2) the stanchion mount is GREAT, but not as great as that provided with the (albeit much more expensive) click and go system from Nextbase, which also offers a tidier way of dealing with cables than is offered here.
Still, overall, great value. I hope they prove reliable but I will report back if they don't !
UPDATE August 5th 2014 - just wanted to add - I lost a small component of the stanchion mount and phoned Voyager tech support expecting to have to pay an extortionate amount of money to obtain a replacement, or be told that I would have to buy a whole unit again. To my very pleasant surprise Voyager customer service sent me out an entire replacement stanchion mount for free - what refreshingly great customer service !
By TheProf
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