Travelling with your family can be a really pleasurable experience. You get to get away and just have some serious bonding time with each other. However, it can also be also be a real headache especially if you did not plan it through thoroughly. Another problem that you might also encounter is when you have kids and they start to get bored during the long flight or drive. So what do you do to prepare for this? How do you keep your children from getting bored?
Bring an E-Babysitter
First of all, what is an e-babysitter? An e-babysitter is any electronic device that can keep your children occupied and help them from getting bored. It can either be your cellphone, a laptop, a portable play station (PSP), an iPad and etc. With our modern technology today, you will certainly not run out of options. However, seeing as most of this cannot be used during a flight (especially your cellphones!), another suggested e-babysitter would be a portable DVD player.
What is a portable DVD Player?
A portable DVD player or commonly abbreviated as PDP, is a DVD player which is in the format of a mobile device. Portable DVD players were produced in order to allow DVD enthusiasts to watch it while they are away from home. They were first created back in 1998 and were first presented by Panasonic. They are extremely practical for on the go usage.
Functions
Many PDPs are even able to perform other functions such as displaying images from digital cameras or camcorders, or even playing music from audio CDs. Eventually, more and more people started to demand something that could be taken anywhere, something that they could easily bring with them while they are traveling. And finally, in response to these demands, the portable DVD players were presented to the public. With this introduction, watching movies then became more convenient anytime and anywhere. A PDP can also be used as a gaming console. Older models of PDPs had an AV input for external game consoles however, recent selected PDPs has a built-in emulator for an internal game console. Wireless connection (e.g. Wi-Fi and/or Bluetooth) can also be utilized in a PDP. This is useful when you want to play content that is within another device (e.g. cell phone).
Advantages
Another remarkable thing about portable DVD players is that, for something quite useful, they are actually pretty cheap. A portable DVD player only costs about $ 75, and if you actually know where to look, you might even find some cheaper than that! Another advantage of a PDP is that it is easy to bring around. The most common screen size of a PDP is 7 inches (18cm) although there are some which are as large as 10 – 12 inches (25 – 30 cm). Some even have screens that can be twisted at 180 degrees and folded flat.
With these many uses and advantages, you should seriously consider purchasing a portable DVD player. It definitely is a worthwhile purchase even if you will only use it on one trip. However, before going on a flight, make sure that your portable DVD player is fully charged. You should also purchase the cheapest one you can find, especially if the intended use is really just for your kid. Your child probably will not care much about screen size or etc. as long as they can have fun while watching some of their favorite shows.