Factory DVD or aftermarket

[scottdm]

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.

Our factory RES in our Toyota Sienna is way more intuitive and easier to use than the Ford RES in our Expy. The Toyota allows parents to insert a disc in the front dash player and control via the headunit. The Ford RES has no wired audio connection to the front headunit and requires bluetooth audio to connect to the RES which is a pain. Every time you cycle the ignition, it has to relink, etc (think stopping to get gas with kids in the vehicle, etc). Our kids don't like to use the IR headphones, so we prefer to play the audio through the vehicles speakers. Discs also have to be inserted into the driver's side headrest, and this becomes an issue if the drivers seat is too high since the disc doesn't have space between the top of the headrest and the ceiling. At least you can burn files to a USB stick and avoid the discs altogether. Overall, it's a very poor implementation and Ford should be embarrassed. Obviously the people that designed it have never tried to use it on a road trip with kids in the vehicle, or worse yet they just don't care about good design and assume it's good enough.

 

[nobrainer]

I have it in mine (one dealer within 20mi of my house had one with the OEM RSE), my 7yr old is able to run it for my 4yr old (one remote can control either screen). they use headphones. The biggest problem for me was finding the right format to put videos on the SD card. I have it setup to the bluetooth for the audio, but never messed with trying to figure out how it worked.

Worst case, you can hook up some sort of iPad to the HDMI in, keep the iPad up front with you and control what's playing if your kiddos are younger.

 

[aggiegrad05]

From what I can tell, if you’re buying the system for adults or kids who are old enough to control it on their own, it’s a pretty good setup. If, however, you’re buying it for smaller kids who can’t, it’s a waste because you can’t run it from the front as you can in many vehicles.

Because it can’t be run from the front, and because it cost $2k, is why I just bought cheap DVD players from amazon to strap on the headrest...they’re essentially the same thing; the benefit of an OEM system is SUPPOSED to be that it’s integrated into the vehicle and can be controlled from the dash.

 

[Bow512]

A few notes from my experience:
1) A separate Bluetooth speaker is the best option. The kids can listen in the back and I still have full control of what I want to listen to up front (fade the speakers to the front). It connects on its own every time we turn it on.

2) The Expy system is better than the Navi as the Navi has no DVD player

3) If you can take the time to rip movies/digital copies to an SD card, it will make things easier.

4) My 6 year old can run it on his own. We just have the 4 year olds screen mirrored to his.

5) Worst case you can use the Ford Play app to control and even watch what’s being played on a separate phone or tablet. I have used this a couple time to control stuff from the front seat when the battery was dying on the remote.

All these work arounds shouldn’t be necessary, but it’s what I’ve found to be the easiest when dealing with this system.

 

[AAOO]

Everything is controlled from the rear and the drivers side headrest is the master device with the dvd slot, card reader slot, hdmi, and usb.

 

[NukeLife]

A few notes from my experience:
1) A separate Bluetooth speaker is the best option. The kids can listen in the back and I still have full control of what I want to listen to up front (fade the speakers to the front). It connects on its own every time we turn it on.

2) The Expy system is better than the Navi as the Navi has no DVD player

3) If you can take the time to rip movies/digital copies to an SD card, it will make things easier.

4) My 6 year old can run it on his own. We just have the 4 year olds screen mirrored to his.

5) Worst case you can use the Ford Play app to control and even watch what’s being played on a separate phone or tablet. I have used this a couple time to control stuff from the front seat when the battery was dying on the remote.

All these work arounds shouldn’t be necessary, but it’s what I’ve found to be the easiest when dealing with this system.

What Fordplay app are you referring to?

 

[Bow512]

What Fordplay app are you referring to?

On my iPhone it’s just called Ford Play and looks like this when opened. You have to connect to the RES WiFi for it to work.

 

[NukeLife]

Interesting.
It’s not currently available in the App Store?

 

[Bow512]

Never mind the link I tried to post didn’t work.

Said not available in my region. I don’t know what’s up with it not being there anymore.

 

[Dice Roll]

Ok so ford play sounds like a solution here. My wife could run that on trips pretty easy if we load one before taking off or have an Sd card. Or maybe change dvds on the fly...

that is if it works. That last post makes it sound like it isn’t working anymore?

is this like ford pass or whatever you have to pay to use after the first year?