Factory DVD or aftermarket

[Dice Roll]

Salesman tried to convince me the factory offering wasn’t as good as his “Ford aftermarket” setup. Two issues I have with that are he quoted it being about the same price and I trust the factory unit will work easily from the dash, last, etc. also bothered he didn’t know much if anything about it and how it was controlled, and it wasn’t listed on the email quote for the truck I drove that mostly matches the specs I want. Still could be a great deal for me if a dvd arrangement comes together.

Then on here I’ve read comments that the factory one isn’t so good. Do they not work well?

I have kids that are too young to operate an ipad or even hold one if I turned it to something for them.

Aftermarket would open doors to a trillion more trucks, not something I want to chance though if the factory provides a decent setup.

 

[George R]

the factory DVD players will most likely be integrated into the infotainment system. Any aftermarket unit will NOT. This does not mean that you can’t get a quality aftermarket unit. alpine makes a pretty decent overhead unit for less than 1k dollars.
anything the dealership tries to sell you will be aftermarket as well and have the stealership premium price.

 

[aggiegrad05]

Check out some of the threads already on this topic. There’s myriad opinions and hints. Here’s one:


2018 Rear Entertainment Initial Feedback
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/to...-Feedback.34199/&share_type=t&link_source=app

 

[AAOO]

We are satisfied with the factory FES. Could there be some improvements yes, but FWIW it functions well. This is one reason I had to send my dealer out of state to locate the vehicle. I didn’t want their aftermarket unit they wanted to sell me.

 

[Mothnuts]

We don’t care for the factory rear entertainment in our ‘19 Platinum for our 4 and 1.5 year olds, but that being said we ordered it again in the 2020. I initially was going to go aftermarket, but other then iPads, I didn’t find a great solution. I was all for iPad’s, but that’s a battle with my wife that’s another story. The factory system is just not user friendly to control from the front seat. Either my wife climbs in the back, or they just have to wait until we stop somewhere. The one in our Tahoe was controlled from the front, and would start and stop by just opening and closing it.

 

[AAOO]

We don’t care for the factory rear entertainment in our ‘19 Platinum for our 4 and 1.5 year olds, but that being said we ordered it again in the 2020. I initially was going to go aftermarket, but other then iPads, I didn’t find a great solution. I was all for iPad’s, but that’s a battle with my wife that’s another story. The factory system is just not user friendly to control from the front seat. Either my wife climbs in the back, or they just have to wait until we stop somewhere. The one in our Tahoe was controlled from the front, and would start and stop by just opening and closing it.

This. PIA to control if you have kids that are too young or just a dufus. Luckily I bread some Mensa level brats.

 

[Mothnuts]

Salesman tried to convince me the factory offering wasn’t as good as his “Ford aftermarket” setup. Two issues I have with that are he quoted it being about the same price and I trust the factory unit will work easily from the dash, last, etc. also bothered he didn’t know much if anything about it and how it was controlled, and it wasn’t listed on the email quote for the truck I drove that mostly matches the specs I want. Still could be a great deal for me if a dvd arrangement comes together.

Then on here I’ve read comments that the factory one isn’t so good. Do they not work well?

I have kids that are too young to operate an ipad or even hold one if I turned it to something for them.

Aftermarket would open doors to a trillion more trucks, not something I want to chance though if the factory provides a decent setup.

I reread your original post. The factory rear entertainment is completely independent. It only connects through the Sync in your dash through Bluetooth when you want to use the car speakers instead of the headphones. You can have a factory Ford setup just by replacing the headrests with the other ones. I wouldn’t let that be a deal breaker on finding a certain vehicle, as it can easily be added to any of them. I’m guessing the power leads might already be there to plug into.

 

[Dice Roll]

Check out some of the threads already on this topic. There’s myriad opinions and hints. Here’s one:


2018 Rear Entertainment Initial Feedback
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/topic?share_fid=20862&share_tid=34199&url=https://www.expeditionforum.com/index.php?threads/2018-Rear-Entertainment-Initial-Feedback.34199/&share_type=t&link_source=app

thanks. I must’ve screwed up the search as it kept pulling up random things with the letters in out in and not like it was a phrase.

 

[Dice Roll]

I reread your original post. The factory rear entertainment is completely independent. It only connects through the Sync in your dash through Bluetooth when you want to use the car speakers instead of the headphones. You can have a factory Ford setup just by replacing the headrests with the other ones. I wouldn’t let that be a deal breaker on finding a certain vehicle, as it can easily be added to any of them. I’m guessing the power leads might already be there to plug into.

I wish these people selling 70k+ vehicles understood all this. I’ve asked several, I mean several, dealers about adding the Oem setup and none think it’s possible. I’ve even pointed out the wiring has to be a plug in or it wouldn’t work on an assembly line. I think the biggest thing might be the head unit needing switched out if they all don’t support the menu necessary. Without more in depth knowledge of it, I dunno. But somebody in the business everyday should.

 

[Dice Roll]

So this all makes it sound like the dvd goes into the headrest and not through the dash? Seems nobody around here likes kids so I have to drive way off to see one in person. I’m used to putting it in the dash in the minivan. often easiest going down the road to just eject and reload rather than fool with the menu bs.