How to Play DVDs in a Car

Recently, many family and luxury automobiles have come with DVD players installed. These are great distractions for long road trips and help keep bored passengers and antsy kids at bay. Many people who have not owned a car with DVD capabilities can be confused by how they work.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Purchase a car with a DVD system or have a DVD system installed in your current automobile. There are several different options depending on the style of car. Some come with screens in each head rest, while others flip down from the ceiling to allow everyone to watch.

2. Buy headphones for every seat in your automobile. While watching DVDs can be a great distraction for your passengers, you do not want it becoming a distraction for the driver. Most DVD systems offer a number of headphone jacks so the movie's sound can be muffled. This is a must-have option if you are purchasing a DVD system.

3. Choose a wide selection of DVDs for your trip. Depending on the passengers, you should bring a large quantity of movies to meet everyone's taste and have a continuous stream of movies playing during the trip.

4. Insert your movie into the DVD player. Some systems look exactly like a CD player but are denoted by a DVD logo. Newer models have a touchscreen in the center console; you must press a DVD button to slide this panel down and insert the movie.

5. Select the "Play Movie" option from the menu. This will begin your movie. Check to see that all of the screens are functioning properly before getting on the road. This will prevent you from having to pull over and fix the problem during the drive.

Tips & Warnings

• Select a DVD with a remote control, so you can adjust the kid's movies without climbing over the back seat.
• Bring long movies that the kids like. It will save you time in changing the DVDs in the players, if your kids aren't old enough to change out their own movies.