The family took an 8-hour Roadtrip this holiday weekend.
The minivan has the DVD-Changer in it already, but I decided to take the WDTV Live+ and not mess with the physical media. So, I went out and bought me a WD Elements Portable drive and loaded about 40 DVDs on it, about 200 Gigs worth.
I plugged the Composite Cables into the AV system, and plugged the AC Wall-wart into a cheap-o 12V Inverter I bought at Fry’s for like $15.
It all worked perfectly well. The kids loved it, because they were already familiar with how to use it (since they use it all the time at home.) The only thing they DIDN’T like was that I hadn’t copied over a few of the movies they wanted. In addition, I was able to easily connect it to the TV in the condo where we stayed; everything was right there! (And I even remembered to bring the remote.)
After this, it got me thinking… This wouldn’t be a difficult addition to just about ANY vehicle. Portable LCD displays are getting rather inexpensive; you can get a 10" widescreen for less than $150 these days. Most of them come with Car-chargers. I’m thinking the Radio-shack universal Car Charger with the correct tip on it would negate the need for an inverter for the WDTV.
At any rate, consider it if you need a way to keep the kids entertained on a road trip!
