My $320 Rear Seat Entertainment System

[R00K]

I was skeptical at first, I found a Dual Headrest DVD System on Ebay for $320

Dual 9" DVD players with wireless headsets, dvds could be played on either player or both, FM transmitter to listen to over the radio, zippered covers for discretion when not in use....

Who would have thunk it seeing how these systems usually go for $1500 and up.

What the hell - I'll give it a shot.
This was what I did:

Disclaimer: Making these modifications is at your own risk. I make no claim that these modifications will keep you from having problems with your car, nor am I aware whether or not these modifications will void your warranty. Please don't email me or stalk me because you screwed up your car or voided the warranty - I already told you that this is not recommended. Once again - Following these guidelines is at your own risk. These instructions are written with the assumption that you are going to use the kit like I bought on ebay. They also assume that you have a decent knowledge of automotive wiring and a modicum of common sense, in other words - Think about each action before doing it.

1 - remove old head rest, that wasn't hard.
2 - insert 12mm adapter rods into seat, turn the one with the button until it clicks in.
3 - run cables down the holes
4 - Insert head rests
5 - unhook 2 elastic straps from beneath the seats, bend open one (or more) upholstery clips.
6 - reach up and grab the wires, pull out longer one. Wriggle male end of shorter one and attach female end under cloth, struggle to electrical tape together so it doesn't come undone.
7 - Route wires, replace upohstery clip(s) and elastic straps
8 - Repeat steps 1-7 for other seat
9 - pull upwards on center console cupholdes (the one with the Snow and DSC buttons) I was able to prop it up enough to wriggle my hands underneath and disconnect the 12V power supply connector. Also unplug any buttons you have. Pull wiring harness to the passenger side and have it stick out the side between the to cup holders. Toyota doesn't give you much slack - it took some wiggling.
10 - splice into the 12V power connector and run a wire down into the center "Store and go" bin. I used a soldering iron to melt the wiring insulation, then solder the connections. Wrap with electrical tap.
11 - Test system before re-assembling the center console! Just twist the reds to the reds and the blacks to the blacks.
12 - If all works - reassemble center console.
14 - Drill tiny hole in passenger side of the bottom of the center console and run power cable under passenger seat.
13 - Hook up rca cables and power cables. Tape/solder connections where needed.
14 - Route cables. I ran the drivers side cables under the rear edge of the center console to under the passenger seat. I zipped tied all of the cables into one big rats nest. Tracked both seats forward and back to ensure no binding of cables. It would be possible to go directly thru the console with the holes hidden by the seats, I decided against that for now.

Violá - installed dual headrest entertainment center. Total install time 2 hours.

Pros - I saved a fortune, plays burned backup discs, tons of other features (see listing below), Powerful FM transmitter overpowers even strong radio stations - so no "fuzz" as you travel. Resume where you left off (unlike my old system)
Cons - Headrests slightly of color (Seems the camera exaggerates the difference, it really isn't anything like that. For the Grey - black or tan may have different results) should have gone with the 7" Screens for $240 as the 9" headrests are huge! Had to use a little electrical tape around the posts to take out some wobble.

Links - to the kit I purchased on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=130346522531

to the sellers ebay store with all of his items:
http://stores.ebay.com/jsat69k

I am not shilling the ebay sellers items, nor am I beiing compensated in anyway - this is a deal I found and wanted to pass along to my fellow TN brethren. Mods - if this is posted in the wrong area, please move to proper area and/ or link in a DIY section.

Rook

[R00K]

Here are my photos, sorry - taken with my cameraphone:

Installed photo from front


Installed photo from back, with zipper flaps closed


Installed photo with DVD players playing same movie


Routing of cables around center console


Rook

[lexasuam]

Thanks very much for posting. I was wondering about the quality of the system and the install. Have been looking for something like this - very timely. Are you happy with the quality of the DVD screens?

[R00K]

Originally Posted by lexasuam

Are you happy with the quality of the DVD screens?

Yeah - they show the video in very good resolution. I had to adjust the settings to 16:9, for some reason the default setting was 4:3 which makes no sense on a widescreen monitor....

Also - it has a Pal/NTSC or Auto is set to PAL, I set mine to Auto and it appears it checks the disc at Pal first - shows a scribbly screen then switches to NTSC which fixes the picture. I'm sure if I set it to NTSC it wouldn't do that when it first starts a dvd.

[TrailDust]

Nice write-up!

[Dman1]

Originally Posted by R00K

Yeah - they show the video in very good resolution. I had to adjust the settings to 16:9, for some reason the default setting was 4:3 which makes no sense on a widescreen monitor....

Also - it has a Pal/NTSC or Auto is set to PAL, I set mine to Auto and it appears it checks the disc at Pal first - shows a scribbly screen then switches to NTSC which fixes the picture. I'm sure if I set it to NTSC it wouldn't do that when it first starts a dvd.

Wow, that looks great. Nice job. Wish I could see it in person to see the difference in color to the OEM leather. Amazing price.

[naturoses]

Technically good installation, But in the pics the color looks so off-scale.

I was planning to this installation for a long time but the color matching has put me off. Now it is confirmed.

[black_sedan]

Nice. I've pondered this before as well but 2 reasons made me not go that route.

1. Safety: Those are aftermarket headrests with no kind of R&D thought put into them. The factory ones have been tested and proved to be deemed safe during a collision. I'm not willing to risk injury to my c-spine.

2. Attention: I don't want to worry about vandalism or theft. The flaps are brilliant! but when in use, it's a big eye sore.

Why not just get a flip down instead? You can get a 15" LCD high resolution monitor for roughly 120. Portable DVD players are even cheaper.

[R00K]

Lemme say that the color in the photos are way exaggerated then they are in real life. They hardly look much different and my wife didn't even notice I changed out the headrests until I told her.

As for the safety - there is a good 2" of padding on the seated side and the headrests lock in just like the OEM rests. I see no reason why they would effect the Active headrest system or be deemed "unsafe" in a collision.

As for the Flip down units - I find it odd you claim to be worried about safety then recommend blocking my entire rearview and attaching an over sized flat screen to my roof - which has not been tested and proved to be safe in a collision.....

[naturoses]

Originally Posted by R00K

Lemme say that the color in the photos are way exaggerated then they are in real life. They hardly look much different and my wife didn't even notice I changed out the headrests until I told her.

As for the safety - there is a good 2" of padding on the seated side and the headrests lock in just like the OEM rests. I see no reason why they would effect the Active headrest system or be deemed "unsafe" in a collision.

As for the Flip down units - I find it odd you claim to be worried about safety then recommend blocking my entire rearview and attaching an over sized flat screen to my roof - which has not been tested and proved to be safe in a collision.....

R00k, You are right with the flip downs PLUS may be drilling involved on the roof as well, right?

But, coming to the head rests: The color looks really odd though may be because of the camera or something. They look like Ivory or light tan against the light grey/Toyota dove grey back ground. Could you take a good pic for us, may be during day light, so that this will convince my wife and I to buy one set for my son in the back child seat? Are these leather covers? The zippered ones are lot secure than the non-zippered ones.

Thanks

[Dman1]

Originally Posted by naturoses

R00k, You are right with the flip downs PLUS may be drilling involved on the roof as well, right?

But, coming to the head rests: The color looks really odd though may be because of the camera or something. They look like Ivory or light tan against the light grey/Toyota dove grey back ground. Could you take a good pic for us, may be during day light, so that this will convince my wife and I to buy one set for my son in the back child seat? Are these leather covers? The zippered ones are lot secure than the non-zippered ones.

Thanks

I checked out the eBay link and read up a bit on them. They are leather and the grey and beige are available with the zippered covers, but the black is not. Like you guys, I am interested in this, but I would need to see it in person to see if the color difference would bother me. That price is very attractive, though, as I recall these being $1300 last year.

We currently have the Venturer (WalMart) DVD player and we only use it on long trips (2+ hours) and not on a daily basis. These work fine and will likely end up being all that we end up with.

[R00K]

I will try with a better camera, earliest I can do it would be Wednesday

[naturoses]

Originally Posted by R00K

I will try with a better camera, earliest I can do it would be Wednesday

No Rush, Take your time...Many thanks

[dirtraven1]

Originally Posted by black_sedan

1. Safety: Those are aftermarket headrests with no kind of R&D thought put into them.

This is true, I have a set of Pyle headrest in my Odyssey and they are set very far back from compare to the original factory headrests.

[black_sedan]

Originally Posted by R00K

Lemme say that the color in the photos are way exaggerated then they are in real life. They hardly look much different and my wife didn't even notice I changed out the headrests until I told her.

As for the safety - there is a good 2" of padding on the seated side and the headrests lock in just like the OEM rests. I see no reason why they would effect the Active headrest system or be deemed "unsafe" in a collision.

As for the Flip down units - I find it odd you claim to be worried about safety then recommend blocking my entire rearview and attaching an over sized flat screen to my roof - which has not been tested and proved to be safe in a collision.....

Padding doesn't mean squat if it isn't correctly braced structurally on the inside. Mounting over head monitors doesn't involve messing with any of the car's integrity. The monitor comes with a brace mount that hides under the roof liner and the monitor mounts to that.

There are plenty of cars/vans that do not even have a rear window (ie. cargo vans and etc). When I'm driving the HL, I do relaxed driving with minimal lane changes and always check my blind spots. Or you could simply close the monitor momentarily if you really need it that bad.

I didn't mean to offend you but I'm just stating why I lost interest in headrest monitors. All the while, offering other TN members alternative options so that they make their own decisions when it comes to modding their vehicles. Different strokes for different folks.