Watch DVD & Play Video Games on My Prius 2010+!!!

You need to select the vehicle info from the drop down menus in order to see the prices.

 

What you are saying is you don't have a parking brake, right? I never use mine but I would never mod my car like that. I hope you remember to fix it before you sell your car.

 

Obviously you don't even understand what "grounding" means. To answer your question, NO you are wrong, I still have PB.

 

Okay. It's an electrical mod then I assume.

 

Watch DVD's and Play Video Games ON your Prius?

I wouldn't want to get in a debate over the safety of any modification to allow this. But I would say simply, I think more potential distraction, IS more potential danger.

We've come so far. When I was kid? We didn't have DVD's and screens in the headrest. The "entertainment" system of a 1967 Mustang...was called, "Sit Down, Shut Up and Look Out the Window"...

I don't know? Why do we want DVD's and Videos and Games...everywhere we go, and every minute of our existence?

I know, I'm once again sounding cratchety and old...but I swear it wasn't that long ago, when the primary enjoyment of a vehicle was being able to drive it, NOT how much of a media platform it can be used as...

Also when I was a kid? Television, Movies, and yes, eventually even Video Games...were "treats", things we looked forward to. They weren't aspects of life we expected to carry around with us constantly. There is something lost, even if young people don't realize it.

My love for automobiles today is somewhat born out of what they were yesterday. I really enjoyed as a kid, "riding in the automobile" which meant, the engine, the drive, the shifter, the dashboard...

Going anywhere...meant going there, in the car. It wasn't simply another place to sit and continue to watch the movie, or another place to sit and continue to play the video game.

There's no going back. Safe or Unsafe. Good or Bad. But I think there is a danger in a culture that has embraced the portability of electronics and entertainment to the point where we can pretty much go our whole day without having to look outward and see the world beyond our Lap Top, Smart Phone or now- our vehicles...

I saw a lot, I learned quite a bit while growing up, sitting in the Mustang and looking out the window. I'm NOT so old that we didn't have television and movies and entertainment waiting for us at home. But I didn't desire it or even expect it, all the time.

I've gone to the auto shows. Connectivity is the buzz word. Integrating your smart phone, and the ability to connect electronics and use electronics in your vehicle is HUGE.

But why do I just want to tell people to sit down, shut up and look out the window?

 

What about this along with LKA??? Then you wouldn't have to concentrate so hard on driving!! (and could enjoy the movie)

 

I program my trip computer before I start driving. I don't have to look at it, it tells where where to go. Here in LA it works just fine for me! If Honda feels it's drivers can program a nav system and drive on the freeway at 65 or better, stupid, but OK. Lawyer fodder!

Well after some clown drives up your nice person, or someone you know or care about, while watching Jerry Springer on his car TV, you will probably have an opinion on what you think other people should do. Especially when all of the above is happening at Freeway speeds! Hopefully this event will never happen, but wait we are dealing with humans here. If the car drove itself, fine watch TV, if you are driving, PAY ATTENTION!
You got kids, get a headrest TV, kids belong in a car seat in the back anyway!

 

I agree with you but I do feel a little hypocritical. I am "jacked in" to the internet many hours a day and sleep next to my laptop on most nights. It acts as my alarm..... my connection with the news....it's my media hub, personal email, work email, personal finance, schedules, photography, various forums (PC, home theatre, watches), I stay current with sports.....geez....what don't I do with computers? And it's only gonna get worse with the world of tablets infiltrating our lives.

I have often lamented that kids today need constant stimulation to stay focused. You see all these vans with DVD screen on the back of the headrest, kids plugged in. I'm thinking, what ever happened to daydreaming, learning street names, looking for weird license plates, talking to mom/dad, or picking your nose and wiping it on your brother?

I was gonna write a post exactly like yours but I got to thinking..... On a flight, don't I listen to music, read magazines, or poke around on my iPhone? I do, so what's the difference if I play a little Uncharted 3 on a long car ride?

Anyways, I do understand and share your opinion on the current addiction to connectivity but I also recognize my own weakness. It's up to us to exercise our restraint to not let it interfere with our ability to interact and communicate with other people face to face.

 

I have 2,500 posts on Prius Chat. If you're a hypocrite? So am I. I spend a lot of time "plugged in".

Unless I want to lock myself up in a mountain cabin and pound out a manifesto on a portable manual typewriter, we have no choice but to make personal decisions as to what tools we wish to use and embrace.

Am I just afraid of change? Maybe. But it does seem to me, that more and more we are allowed and able to go through the world around us, wrapped in a world of our own creation.

I don't mean to suggest it's all bad, infact it clearly is not.

I mean, I'm willing to understand a world where we need Vehicle Proximity Notification Systems...I hope we never live in a world where we walk around with Personal Proximity Notification Systems.

Am I a hypocrite. Yes. And I'm okay with that, as long as I remain a hypocrite that occasionally looks out the window.

 

I think it's great that the original poster did this. The FIRST thing I did to my car was buy a RAM Mount laptop mount and put a 17" screen in front of me. I drive 200 miles round trip to work and back....all Interstate. I pop in my dvd, or my usb drive, or connect a hard drive, and start my movie. Makes my trip SO much more enjoyable. I have the Kenwood Excelon DNX9980HD unit in the nav location, but I find looking down, at a MUCH smaller screen than the laptop, to be more distracting and more difficult to do. The laptop is directly on top of the shifter, under the rearview mirror, at an angle toward me, so I can watch the road, and my mirror, and my movie, and my side mirrors, ALL at the same time, and I don't feel the slightest bit dangerous for doing so while behind the wheel. I DO feel that looking down would be a little too difficult for me while driving, but if he can do that ----- then more power to him! Bravo for your mod!

 

We can reminisce about the good ole days of "Sit Down, Shut Up and Look Out the Window" but times have changed. Kids these days are different than the kids of a few decades ago. Kids back then don't have psychological problems like the kids of today. ADD and ADHD? Wth is that. Kids back then are actually afraid of their parents. Parents today are the kids that got smacked back then. Many have changed the way they raise their kids. My friends will not spank their kids. The most discipline their kids get? a freaking time out. Wth is that about. Their kids are not afraid of them and talk back at them. Get them in the car and you can bet that all hells gonna break loose. To calm them down?, keep them busy. You guessed it, pop in a DVD and keep them glued to the screen. Calm kids makes a calm driver.

Another thing is that technology has evolved since the 60's, 70's and 80's. Back then TVs and game consoles are the size of a freaking cabinet. Good luck fitting Pacman and Donky Kong in the back seat with your kids. There were no portable TVs or game console back then. Kids back then have no choice but to "Sit Down, Shut Up and Look Out the Window" occasionally ask "Are we there yet". Since the evolution of technology in the late 80's, portable devices have saturated the market. In the 90's we see advancements in automotive electronics technology, LCD technology, video tape technology, optical disc technology and game console technology. I had my first video system in my vehicle in 1992. By 2002 the system got replaced by a custom built PIII 1ghz 160GB HDD carputer that does pretty much everything you can imagine. Back then, there were no laws that said that I can't burn DVDs and browse the internet at 70mph.

Watching video while driving is nothing new. If you grew up doing it, it becomes second nature. One thing that's burned into my head from the very start is that safe driving is the top priority. Everything else is last. If it's safe to take my eyes off the road for a second to look at the screen, then I'm gonna do it. It's no different than taking my eyes off the road to change the HVAC settings or to look at the rear view mirror for changing lanes. Besides, I don't watch the movie. I only listen to it. Human eyes can process images quicker than you think. It only takes a few frames to know where which part of the movie it's at.

If you can't control yourself not to stare at the screen while driving then you shouldn't be doing it. No one knows this but you. Just don't pass your opinion to someone else. We all know how we feel about F350 drivers coming to this forum passing their opinion about Hybrids on to us.

 

I lurk around but never posted, however what some of you said are so funny that I can't resist, it just doesn't make any sense.

Just because someone enables his vehicle to do certain things, that doesn't mean he (the driver) is going to be the one benefiting from it. There are actually other people called passengers.

If you drive a car and can't even consciously control what you do and look as a driver, you have some serious problem. A responsible driver will be able to decide what he should or should not do, this even includes when to adjust AC temperature or radio volume control, etc... videos or navigation operation is NOTHING different. If you are over certain age and can't perform those actions safely or consciously, I fully respect that but that's another story.

Don't even try to argue with me again on video playback inside a car. I will simply ask, what about the radio playback and controls? Why the heck are drivers allowed to listen to music and able to adjust radio channels and such? It's the same exact thing. You tell someone in early 1900s to drive a car and listen to radio and they probably tell you that's nuts and super distracting.

FWIW, a lot of higher end vehicles, they have all these video capabilities and people do find ways to enable video playback while the car is moving. Most of them actually want that so the passengers can have entertainment on long trips. I don't see any report saying those higher end vehicles have more accident rates?

When I drive, I am very clear on what my priorities are and when I need to focus. My passengers can be watching videos, I won't. They can be talking, I can join the conversations. I might feel hot and adjust the AC. But when I know it's time for me to focus on the road, I won't take my hands off the steering wheel, and I disregard everything my passengers say. Very basic driving skill.

And don't even start on post counts, they mean nothing to me. I have seen people with thousands of post but they have little logic and knowledge. At the same time I have seen very smart people with very few posts.

It's so sad that a cool threads like this about enhancing the capability of the Prius to turn into something completely BS. I wish I was able to get more information regarding the units like cost, how hard the installation is, how's the video quality, anything to watch out for, etc...

And BTW, for those who are interested, for 2012 Prius, if you have certain packages, your head unit will be able to play DVD videos. This is for fully US spec vehicles, not other regions.

 

Looking out the side windows are are distraction too, heck the rear view is too! Looking at a screen period is, whether adjusting the climate or scrolling through radio stations... Looking at the pretty hybrid screens are too, so is talking on your cellphone or talking to another passenger in the car... Singing to the radio, sight seeing... Shall I go on?
We should not be told which distraction is ok while moving unless your going to remove them all in every car..... Why should we be penalized?
I can't sue Toyota for crashing while looking at a movie anymore than for looking out the clear side windows they provide.