After reading lots of reviews (mostly mixed) of each brand of portable dual screen DVD player, I opted for the audiovox simply because it was on sale at Target for $159. http://weeklyad.target.com/target/listing_detail.asp?storeid=2395730&listingid=- 2094851776
None of the reviews for any of these things (insignia, audiovox, kawasaki) was very good. I took a chance on the audiovox and even though it has only been one week, it has performed great. I hooked it up in our minivan to keep our kids occupied on road trips (there's only so much auto-bingo one can handle). So far, this unit has performed as promised with no hangups or problems. I do not intend to permanently leave this in the van as I'm sure it would get trashed. Instead, I will store it and pull it out for roadtrips. That should hopefully make it last longer. It is a cheap looking/feeling unit and needs to be handled delicately. Also, what they don't show you in the ad is that there are cables that need to run between the two screens to connect them. A bit of a hassle for the kids to keep crawling under, but they managed. This model also comes with a handy remote which can be used from the front seat to start/stop/pause/skip etc. But the remote doesn't have the ability to adjust sound. Sound volume can only be controlled via a dial on each screen.
So far, so good. Hopefully this unit will continue working
I purchased the unit for a long road trip recently, and it performed admirably. I agree, the units don't have a particularly sturdy feel, but I think the seat attachment is very good. The attachment is a thick velcro strap, with a built-in bungee cord for an additional safety margin. I was specifically looking for a DVD player that had video input to allow my daughter to play her gamecube. Both screens allow for video input.
The only trouble I am having is trying to locate a rechargable battery for the unit. I have tried target.com, batteries.com, and 1800customersupport.com. It is listed on the 1800 website, but there is no way to put it in the shopping cart. Any ideas?
I was looking at this unit in a Target store tonight. They had rechargable batteries on display with the unit. Cost was around $30. They did have the unit on display and I did notice the cable issue that will create an issue. But, my kids are old enough, they can unhook them. Besides, it beats the oversized portable VHS unit we are currently using!
I also bought this unit. Not my first choice but the price was right. What really confused me is why it didn't come with an AC adapter so it can be plugged into a 110V outlet. The kids would like to bring it into the hotel/cottage etc. to watch DVD's. Just about every other model comes with the adapter. I guess I'll go buy one. I know I could buy the rechargeable battery but like the adapter better.
Can anyone help me unlock the Audiovox D1500 because i've tried everything and i just can't unlock it i brought a dvd from Australia and I can't watch it unless i can unlock my dvd player.PLEASE HELP!
Is anybody still reading this? I have one and the screen on one side is black. The brightness control which is on the other screen has no effect. If I hold up a flashlight, I can see the image and the sound is fine. Last night on the way home, it worked. This morning, it doesn't. Any ideas?
Yep, I'm still reading this forum. I get an email every time there is a new post. It is a neat feature of the forum.
I hate to state the obvious, but it sure sounds like your backlight took a dump. I don't imagine it is easily user-replaceable, if it is replaceable at all.
To share my woes as well:
The automatic skip protection on my DVD unit stopped working quite a few months ago. It is now impossible to watch a movie while the car is in motion, as the movie resets itself to the main menu every few seconds.
I removed it from my car, and the problem persists when you have the unit on your lap, even if you sit very still. I now use the secondary screen in the car so my daughter can play her Gamecube while we travel. (An inexpensive AC/DC inverter from Radio Shack will get you going, in case anyone is interested.)
It works great in that capacity, and I'm sure the DVD unit would work great as a monitor too. I think the video-in option is a nice feature. It was a feature I was looking for when shopping for auto DVD players.
I bet if I hooked a more reliable DVD player to the video-in, I might be back in business.
Thank you Dan. So does that mean it's probably easier to buy a new one? I'm a little frustrated with how easy they seem to become useless. We had a Panasonic that started over everytime it jiggled a little. In the house it worked fine as long as you didn't touch it. Anyhow, thanks for answering!
Can someone with this player tell me what the manual states the operating temperature range for the unit is? I had a unit last year that had a max temp of 90 degrees which is ridiculous for a car based DVD player. The first hot day of the year and the player melted and became unusable.
I recently bought an Audiovox PVS69701 Dual Screen DVD player for the car. They were out of the battery at the time, but I would like to be able to take it out of the car and plug it in at the hotel. Has anyone done this and can you suggest what kind of adapter I should buy. We're leaving on soon and I'm hoping this will keep the 3 yr old entertained.
I agree with you completely, I expected a little more reliability out of the player, even considering the relatively low price. If it was only $20 - $30, or even $50, I don't think I be as frustrated.
My gut feeling is that it would be much easier to buy a new player, unless you are the kind of person who likes to tinker around with things. I've been tempted to crack mine open; I just haven't had the opportunity yet. I figure I don't have much to lose if I destroy it, since it is close to useless as it is.
I just went through the manual, and unfortunately, it did not state any specific temperature ranges for the player. The manual just stated the typical, vague, and useless legal double-speak:
"Do not use the unit in places that are extremely hot, cold, dusty or humid."
"The appliance should be situated away from heat sources such as radiators, heat registers, stoves, or other appliances (including amplifiers) that produce heat."
Hopefully I'll remember that next time I put my DVD player on the stove while I'm cooking my mac & cheese...
I've had my unit for close to a year now, and I've left it in my car almost continuously. I have not had any problems with it melting. I did buy it in mid-August, though. There were quite a few hot days, but not quite as hot at 12 noon in the middle of July. I've had good luck, but it will be interesting to see what happens in July. (grin)
It's too bad they were out of the battery, because it is a nice accessory package. It includes not only the battery, but also the AC adapter. You can use the AC adapter to charge to battery independently as well.
You certainly could use a universal AC adapter just as long as you get the voltage, polarity, and pin size correct. I haven't bought one in a long time, but I know the better adapters let you adjust all those settings. Radio Shack would be the first place I'd go to find one. Good luck!
Here is what the factory adapter says on the back:
Model: SP 090 3000 - W01 Input: AC 110 - 240V 50 - 60 Hz 1.0 A Max Output: 9V === 3.0A Polarity: (-)---C·---(+)
This unit has been a life saver for us! We just drove to Florida and back - 18 hours one way (with an extra 4 hours of traffic delays on the way home). The versatility of being able to watch a movie on one unit and play a video game on the other was terrific! This is our second trip using it. We don't let the kids use it on a regular basis fearing it won't work come vacation time. I hope that extends the life of the unit. From everything I've read, none of these units are long term.
Hi This is strange, I bought one of these units yesterday at Target, went to the Audiovox website to look at a carrying case for it, when I input the model number, it says the number is invalid (several times). Is this unit made exclusively for Target? and does that mean it's not included in their regular inventory on their website? With that said, does anyone know of a decent carrying case for this unit, since it really is on the cheaper end of the spectrum, I figure a good carrying case would extend it's life a bit. BTW, the unit was marked at $149.95, but it rang up for $129.92, not a bad deal, so I spent the extra $19.00 for the three year service warranty. So, if your in Orlando, and you need one of these, go to the Waterford Lakes SuperTarget and get it for 20.00 OFF!
Can you remember how you did the set up? I did a rough run and could get sound but no video from the Main unit when we hooked up their PS2. It worked fine on just the monitor side but nothing on the main side.
We have had our Audiovox DVD for about a year now and it is used everyday. We travel quite a bit on the weekends so it has definitely come in handy with no troubles. Until about 3 weeks ago, that is, when we started encountering the "skip to the beginning" problem. Now we can't get through very much of a movie without it skipping back to the beginning. It's so frustrating and you can surly relate. I guess I should be happy that I got more use out of it then others, but still, I want it to work again. I called Target with no help. I called Audiovox and it can be fixed in 4-6 weeks if I ship it to them and pay $40. Before I do that or just buy a different one, has anyone tryed anything at home to fix the problem and been successful? I am hoping there are things I can try here that could solve the problem for me without sending it off to Audiovox. Who says if they fix it that it won't break again in a couple months, then I have wasted even more money.
As you might have read earlier, I had the same exact problem. I agree, very frustrating.
I managed to find out what the problem was with mine without having to return it, or crack it open and tinker with it: (Please forgive my long-winded explanation.)
If you open the DVD unit from a normal viewing orientation, you will notice a small plastic tab on the upper left side of the back of the screen. This tab is suppossed to make contact with a button on the 'base' of the unit. You'll see the button on the lower left-side of the base.
The tab and button combination is what lets the DVD player know if it is open or closed. What I noticed one day, is that if a DVD is playing, and you open, and then immediately close the unit, it skips back to the beginning of the movie.
I tried a quick-and-dirty test to see if this might be the problem. I placed a very small piece of paper over the the button, and carefully closed the screen, making sure the tab and the paper made contact with the button.
Sure enough, the DVD player stopped skipping. I played a movie, shook the player as hard as I could, and it didn't skip once.
Obviously, stuffing a little piece of paper in your DVD unit every time you want to watch a movie is not an optimal solution. I was considering gluing a very small piece of plastic onto the tab, or maybe finding a very small rubber cap to glue onto it. I haven't tried either yet, but I'm pretty sure that will fix it for good.
I also considered putting a small piece of tape on the tab, but I was reluctant to put something sticky in the unit. My fear was that if the tape slipped off, it could get stuck in the read head, or maybe get glue over the lens.
Thanks Dan for your help! I tried the piece of paper trick and put a towel under the player unit for added cushion and we had three skip free rides today! Woo hoo!
I am thinking maybe a small piece of eraser slipped on the end of the plastic tab might work??
Anyways, thanks for the help. These temp solutions will definitely work until I get my new van with the dvd already in it!
Hello, I recently recieved an Audiovox PVS69701 as a birthday gift, and I've been very pleased with the performance. I noticed that the product boasts the ability to play a video game system on the screens, but I also noticed that the main unit does not have a switch to change the A/V from output to input. Will the main screen auotmatically switch from output to input with a supplied input? I would rather know before I go out and buy a DC/AC power converter and drag my game system to my car. Any info/help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
The main unit does have a switch on the left side (DVD/AV). You put it on A/V, plug your games systems' audio visual cables in and go. The second monitor does NOT have a switch. But, you just plug in the game systems' audio visual cables and it will work. You can play games on the 2nd monitor while watching a DVD on the first. My kids also both played their games on each screen (TV Plug and Play games).
Hi again. I feel kind of like an idiot, but I just checked the left side of my main unit, and there is no switch for DVD/AV. The setup is as follows (Top to bottom): - Volume - Video In - Audio In - Audio In - DC Power In Thats all that I have, unless the switch is hidden somewhere... I am a little curious as to why it would appear that my unit doesn't have it and everyone else's does. Perhaps I have different model? Mine is a PVS69701 - "Only available at Target". Any further assistance would be awesome. Thanks again!
That is the same model. However, I did purchase mine in Sep 06. It may be they changed some of the controls. My sister just bought one in May. I will have to ask my nephew how he works it with his game system and get back with you.
We bought this dual screen dvd player and it developed two issues after a few months of owning it. I was very dissapointed... well, still am. I just made a 7 hour trip with two tiny kids and no movies! The power cable has an issue. It sometimes decides to not give power to the units. And in the rare case that it does, it will skip and start over from the beginning (but this issue may be resolved if I follow the instructions of an earlier post) that is, given I have power to my units. I am going to try to find a new power cable, but it might be the receptor inside the actual unit. *sigh* I hope these arent pieces of junk. I tried to exchange it at target for a new one, but they said they only have 90 day warranties. I wonder if a new cable would even work - the current one doesn't seem to be completely damaged - just a teeny bit kinked.
I have found in a couple of units the same problem you have found. What has most likely happened is that the power connector has worked it's way loose from the main board. It can be easily fixed by taking the unit apart and putting new solder on the power connector pins. Good luck!
Just a note for those of you having the problem of the DVD skipping back to the beginning. I was cutting up an expired credit card and decided to cut a small piece and glue (super glue)it to the "button" that gets pushed in when the unit is closed. I used a piece with a raised number to get the extra thickness. My daughter watched a movie in the car yesterday for 2 hours and it never skipped. I hope this solves the problem as this is a great unit otherwise!!
That was a great idea; I wish I had thought of it myself. I ended up buying some eyeglass nose pads, and trimming one down to the size of the "button." The adhesive on the pad was strong enough to stick to it, and it's worked well in the house. I haven't put it back in the car for a road test yet, though.
I need to find a replacement DC cigarette lighter adapter for the PVS 69701 unit. I cannot find one on the Audiovox website, and the adjustable voltage version that I have from Radio Shack isn't delivering enough Amps. Any suggestions?
I am on my 2nd portable DVD player & both have died. My audiovox just stop receiving power after using it about 5 times. Any one have suggestions? This is getting so frustrating!
i have had the Audiovox PVS69701 dual screen for almost 1 year and the other day it started to give me a NO VALID DISK reading and it wont play any dvd's it starts to read but movies wont play
I bought the dual screen unit back in November and I haven't had any problems until the other day. It wont turn on. Everything is plugged in proberly and I had someone check the car adapter they say its working. Does anyone have any suggestions??
we have one of these DVD players; we also have a three month old black lab puppy...she chewed through the cord that connects the two. What is that cord called and can I just get one on the Audiovox webpage or should I go back to Target?
Well I was looking about skipping problem of this unit and found this thread. I looked into Dan Reno's solution and then I found that actual problem is on hinges. So to test it i placed a folded piece of paper and it works great. I had to come back and share my findings as I know how annoying this skip problem is. I also got a picture with my phone to share it just in case its not clear where to place folded paper. I did attach a picture on my post here, but here is link of the picture hosted on my sons web space: http://hektorbuqaj.home.comcast.net/~hektorbuqaj/audiovox.jpg
Hello I have the solution of the problem that the movie jumps to the beginning is good the sensor solves the problem as well open the tray of the player and where is the sensor that is at the bottom of type cuatrito put a covering anything but the sensor and this solves your problem I hope it works. Best regards.
We've had our unit a few years, but only use it 2-3 times a year on road trips. Was working last night, pulling out of a gas station, and it stopped, working mid-movie. We tried plugging it into an AC adaptor and it still doesn't work. Any thoughts on where to start? We can't get any power at all.
