Can anyone recommend the best?

Hey there all. Do any of you use video monitors? I am wanting to get them for Christmas and they all have such mixed reviews. Are the handheld ones any good? Or is it better with a larger screen? Can you really see what is going on when the room is dark? I just have so many questions and as you know these things are way expensive!

Also I want the dual dvd players that mount on to the headrests in the van. Anyone feel like any certain brand is good/bad? Will take all the advice I can get!!
TIA~Leslie

 

No video monitor experience, but we got the Polaroid brand dual DVD and it is great. I got a cheaper one first from Target and it never worked. I had to return it and buy the Polaroid one at Circuit City. HTH

 

Hey Leslie! I was just telling DH the other day that I wished we had a video monitor so that I could actually see what my two monkey's are up to! So, if you find a good one, I would love to hear about it.

I bought our dual DVD player before a trip we took this summer. What a LIFESAVER!! I think the brand name of ours is Unique Media. I bought it in June at Sam's for $179.99. It comes with 2 DVD players that go over the driver and passenger headrest. They are really neat because with these DVD players, you have the option of playing ONE DVD that shows on BOTH screens or you can watch a different DVD on each screen. Right now, my boys always watch the same DVD but I figure when they are a little older the ability to watch two different DVD's might help curb some fights over who wants to watch what! I have also seen something similar at Costco, too! Hope that helps you out a little, it was the best $180 I ever spent!!

 

I don't have advice on the video monitor.

We have a Disney dual screen DVD player we got at Target (on sale). It works great for us. It kind of snaps together and makes it's own carrying case too.

 

We have a the color TV monitor for our twins! It is the most reliable thing that we have in our life! I don't know how you all do it without one? We are not getting up and keep checking on them daily. We had so much fun watching them doing funny stuff in their crib. Did you know you could have record it on TV for those funny moments. At the time we had the camera a bit close to the crib. One day he finally figured out how to pull the cord. At the same time his eyes were fixed onto the camera like a ghost. It was so funny! We recorded it and will save that when he grow up to see what he was doing in his crib. We move the monitor on the side of our crib that is out of reach this time. A reminder you will have a cord going down on your wall. It is not that BAD but if you have a shelf you can put it there as well. We did not want a shelf on that wall where the crib is because my twins are banging on the wall between the rail or above the rail.

Anyhow, we have the color video tv monitor by Summer for $169.00 at BRU Store. It is also a hand held to carry around and even work in my back yard while they were napping. They do get a bit static at times with switch A/B on the monitor. I LOVE ours and wish they had sell 2 camera with 1 video tv monitor for (A/B). We had to buy the 2nd camera through ebay. The black and white is still good as the color monitor. We just got these as a shower gift when we registered.

I would HIGHLY recommend especially if they are becoming toddler and having their own room with the crib or bed. I would have panic if I don't have a camera to watch what they are doing every day.

Again, they may have better tv monitor out at BRU store than what we had a year ago. But I think they still sell the same one as we have. It is WORTH the $$$$ if you see something goes wrong with one of the twins or start climbing out you'll be saving them from getting hurt!

Good Luck!
Diana w/Rianna and Justin (13 mos)

 

One more thing -- Yes we are buying a 3rd one for our basement play room! I am not going to run down each time I hear quiet or loud noise. Since we have 2 cameras once my son, Justin move into his room we will have one in each room to watch. Yay!

We are going to check out with ebay before going to BRU store.

Diana w/Rianna and Justin

 

We also have the above mentioned Disney dual dvd player. We keep it mounted on the headrests in the car. FYI - one monitor is the "main" screen and the other monitor displays whatever is one the other screen. The only con that I can think of is that the "main" screen has to be on and playing in order for the other screen to work. Sometimes one child does not want to watch the dvd (or has dvd privileges taken away), but if it's the child that is in front of the "main" dvd player, he/she has no choice. This is the only portable dvd player that we own so I don't have anything to compare it to, but I think the quality is good. Plus it comes with a remote control. HTH!

 

We also have the Poloroid DVD player. It has been great so far and it's like an instant silencer...seriously. We have had such peaceful drives since we got it. We got it at Costco here in Canada for $199.
It plays a single DVD. I like that it does not have to be run on a battery pack if you don't need it. We just plug it into the lighter or battery plug in our van.
My one complaint is that the straps are set too wide to fit properly on the headrest. You can cross them and it works fine. I wish I had a carrying case for it, because it has all these wires that get in the way and I don't want to lose them!

This is the best investment we have every made!!!! LOL!! Next to our Bob Jogger....