Roof mounted TFT screens

not sure if it is the same brand but a guy at work bought a portable dvd from srathfield $400 and had alot of trouble getting it to read discs he did a 1200k round trip to take it back but being an intermittant fault it wouldnt play up in the store

Gidday Andrew,

We bought a Portable DVD from Strathfields recently (not the roof mount), it works on 12 volt/240 volt and has a battery as well. It is a Shinco 5 inch, we hjave found it to be very good, no real problem with the glare as you can simply adjust as required. It can be also used a DVD player when attached to a TV. The onlt gripe I have is that maybe we should have gone the extra a got a 7 inch.
I also believe that things are in motion to possible making screens that can been seen by other motorists illegal.

Mick

We got a 5 inch $200 screen hooked up to a Sony Playstation via invertor. If I took it out I'd be dead within about 5 minutes. Not much trouble with glare especially if you setup some window blinds and let the spouse drive (they cant glare if they have to drive !!!!!!!) its like a cinema. On the way to perth from melb it was a godsend.

Andrew,
Went into a local Auto Barn recently who had 3 - 4 working side-by-side. You will really notice the difference between the el-cheapo and the better brands. Have never seen one working at a Strathfield so can't compare. I bought a 6" screen off EBAY earlier this year and thought it was O.K. until I compared it to a better quality unit, no comparison, and worth the extra cost. Auto Barn prices for drop down screens were $299 for el-cheapo and $399 for better one. Lots for sale on EBAY but you can't check the quality before handing over the readies. Take a look at the quality of Alpine and Pioneer screens before buying and decide for yourself, (realizing of course that Alpine screens are around $1800)
Rolande

There was some discussion here in SA last week about screens in vehicles and their legality (following on from Snatchems reply above).

Seems that if the screen(s), wherever mounted in the vehicle (roof, headrests) are visible from outside the vehicle then they will be illegal. SA Police Inspector talking on ABC radio indicated that motorists will be fined ($230 I think) if a police officer can see a visible screen form outside the vehicle whilst driving on public roads. Apparantly they are a real distraction to other motorists and there have been reported cases of people tailgating closely to see what is playing on the roof mounted screen of the vehicle in front!

Personally I don't agree with this as it is legislating purely for the stupidity of other people but this does mean you must be aware when installing these things. I agree with the handbrake interlock so the driver cannot watch a dash-mounted screen while driving. That would be pretty dumb!

Does this mean that the mounting position should be below the windowline so as to be not visible to surrounding cars in traffic? Should a screen be mounted in the passenger side dash have a screen that cannot be viewed from an angle so as to prevent distraction to the driver? Are screens purely for mapping/navigation purposes legal?

Cheers

Steven

we have 3 el cheepo screens mounted in the gq.
would not be with out them on long trips.
as far as glare goes occasionally we just put a blanket over the offending window.

Hi,

Just a query about the visibility of TFT screens from other vehichles: aren't the majority of these units either fitted to the roof, or the rear of the headrests as standard even by manufacturers, so how would it be possible to legislate against this?

Rod

Can any of these be used as a monitor for a laptop ?

Reason being , we use our lappy as a DVD player in the Vehicle. Very rear seat passengers dont get a real good view of the lappy screen. Would be nice to be able to put a monitor into the back for the others ?

I bought a cheapo portable digtrex DVD player($300) from big W speakers were pretty sad and then i bought an fm modulator($75) and now i tune the radio in and it sounds great. Great for long boring driving for the kids.its still portable and i sit it on pillows or luggage in the back seat.

I think it's all pretty sad - DVD players in cars and 4wds!! God strewth, I thought we bought 4WD and campers to get away from all that garbage!! As for children in cars -what happened to "I-Spy". "Spotto" and "SHUT IT, NOW!!!!"

Bilbo