Please help--want advice on an idea pro vs. con. Thank you in advance

[Kevin L]

Hi guys.

I have an immense collection of books, but I want to go a step further:

I want suggestions on a dedicated, portable, battery-powered DVD player.
I'm interested in a certian degree of ruggedness, but I realize that a DVD player is not intended--but it's very purpose--to be handled like a sledgehammer or a Ka-bar.

I want it battery powered so that I can have commonality with all of my batteries and battery charger.

I want to get a massive collection of DVDs on survival, nursing care, gunsmithy, chemistry, basic small-scale agriculture, and so on. Also some fun DVDs.

And I plan to keep this all in a climate-controlled metal safe--which will also protect them from EMP.

If I can find one affordable enough, I'll purchase 2 or 3 of them . . then I'll have backups, or they'll be an immensely lucrative barter item. Either way is fine with me.

So, what do you guys recommend? Thank you in advance for your time.

P.S. I, myself, have never bought a dedicated portable DVD player. I'm not sure what to ask for, although I have a good idea of what I want. I know DVDs can be played in a laptop, but laptops get viruses, they're kind of fragile for my purposes, and so on. I also believe that a dedicated DVD player can't get viruses because it's not hooked to the Internet.

 

[TexasFreedom]

Kevin.... just get a notebook computer. They make ruggedized notebooks. Not only will it play DVDs, you can store a ton of useful data on them as well. Monitor wifi cameras, etc. DVD player, battery, display, all in one.

 

[Kevin L]

Kevin.... just get a notebook computer. They make ruggedized notebooks. Not only will it play DVDs, you can store a ton of useful data on them as well. Monitor wifi cameras, etc. DVD player, battery, display, all in one.

I do plan on ruggedized notebooks, but I still want a battery-powered (ie: D, C, AA, AAA, or 9V) DVD player for certian reasons.

 

[TexasFreedom]

Fair enough Kevin. But you can see the redundancy in this? I'd find a DVD player that works with those lithium ion 18650 batteries. As they can be recharged hundreds of times. But I have no idea what models of DVD only players are out there any more. Let us know what you find.

 

[Kevin L]

Fair enough Kevin. But you can see the redundancy in this? I'd find a DVD player that works with those lithium ion 18650 batteries. As they can be recharged hundreds of times. But I have no idea what models of DVD only players are out there any more. Let us know what you find.

Ok.

My issues have to do with the idea that devices should be simple.

Texas, I'm not sure how to counter your argument. I often have most use for my swiss army knife or my Leatherman tool (invaluable at any time, let alone after SHTF) before I use my dive knife, or one of my many Ka-bars.

Even so, I like the simplicity of "Play", "Eject", "Pause", and, obviously, rewind, stop, fast forward, volume, maybe a low battery light . . . and that's it!!!

An old person, someone who's terrified of electronics, a person who isn't computer savvy and is intimidated by drop-downs, pop-ups, all of these questions the screen asks you . . . I just want to put fresh batteries from my solar charger into the machine, turn it on, and view cleaning instructions on a new gun that I've never used before.

And so on. I calculated that one large suitcase can hold 2 such machines (if they are about as big as most laptops), a decent supply of batteries, a battery charger, and about 4,000 hours worth of DVDs.

Things on medicine, guns, agriculture, home repair, basic chemistry, survival techniques, how to process an animal hide, perhaps rappeling (although I concede that if one ever wants to rappel, by default get a certified instructor who knows what they're talking about. Not from a "how-to" video), and so on.

It seems that a video library--especially if it's inexpensive--would help with a lot of issues.

 

[Proud Prepper]

I suggest a DC powered mobile DVD player that you use in automobiles. I picked one up a garage sale years ago for $5 it works great and I can power it with batteries.

 

[Kevin L]

I suggest a DC powered mobile DVD player that you use in automobiles. I picked one up a garage sale years ago for $5 it works great and I can power it with batteries.

Thank you. I'll look into it. Maybe ebay or Amazon.

 

[BillMasen]

Convert onto modern Flash drives and then you can read on any device, or if you want to go hard core survivalist have the collection stored on microfiche then you can read it with a very simple magnifier.

 

[JackDW]

I think Rellgar has the answer. Start watching yard or garage sales in the spring. Or check out a flea market for used players. This used to be a very common item but they are becoming rare as things move to other storage media. You should be able to pick up several for fairly cheap so you could have backups. Heck, even PC and notebooks no longer come with DVD players.

 

[Kevin L]

Thank you all very much for your input.

 

[Maverick]

Truckers have 12/24vdc that are dvd/screen combination, check trucking sites. you can use solar to keep the batteries charged.

 

[DrHenley]

With a 12V unit made for a vehicle, it's already designed to handle varying voltages, you can just string the requisite number of batteries together in series to get your power supply and let the unit handle the voltage changes. Just about any kind of batteries. Alkaline, Li-Ion, etc. Automotive systems usually deliver between 13 and 14 volts. My truck inverter has a voltage meter that typically reads about 13.4 volts when the battery is fully charged but can be as low as 12.8 when the truck first starts up. Note that is not the voltage at the battery, but at the interior of the vehicle. In other words the actual voltage an electrical device will be getting. Of course you will want a parallel/series setup to get more capacity. The more capacity, the higher the voltage will be under load.

I LOVE those 18650 batteries. The flashlights I have that use them seem to last forever on a charge. Seriously, I took a flashlight that used a single 18650 battery on a hunting trip, using it heavily, and when I got home and put the battery on the charger it was still at 91%

 

[Kevin L]

With a 12V unit made for a vehicle, it's already designed to handle varying voltages, you can just string the requisite number of batteries together in series to get your power supply and let the unit handle the voltage changes. Just about any kind of batteries. Alkaline, Li-Ion, etc. Automotive systems usually deliver between 13 and 14 volts. My truck inverter has a voltage meter that typically reads about 13.4 volts when the battery is fully charged but can be as low as 12.8 when the truck first starts up. Note that is not the voltage at the battery, but at the interior of the vehicle. In other words the actual voltage an electrical device will be getting. Of course you will want a parallel/series setup to get more capacity. The more capacity, the higher the voltage will be under load.

I LOVE those 18650 batteries. The flashlights I have that use them seem to last forever on a charge. Seriously, I took a flashlight that used a single 18650 battery on a hunting trip, using it heavily, and when I got home and put the battery on the charger it was still at 91%

Thank you very much.

I'll be getting a bonus at my job in a few weeks, so I'll post info on how this project is coming along.

Part of my criteria--if I go with a device that has a built-in rechargable battery--is to buy more of the same kind of batteries, and swap them out as they wear out with time and use.

I really like the idea of thumb drives storing video, but there are nuances to work out that I'm not computer savvy enough to navigate around.

I like the idea of something like an iPad that I can:

1) Switch batteries as they near the end of their cycles.
2) Play videos on "how-to" for after SHTF.
3) Be solar rechargable.
4) Contain everything in thumb drives or on-board hard drive without any connection to the Internet.
5) Bonus points for durability.

 

[Helen Back]

You bring up a great point. Books are heavy. My wife is strong, but I don't want to hear her complaining if we have to go far. What DVDs do you recommend? Let's get a list. The thumbdrive idea is excellent too. I also love those 18650 battery flashlights! I get them on Amazon for $20. Charge on the cpu and last forever, work great. I have one on every rifle and my 590A1.

 

[TexasFreedom]

I also love those 18650 battery flashlights! I get them on Amazon for $20. Charge on the cpu and last forever, work great. I have one on every rifle and my 590A1.

$20 is a bit much? Ebay, I get the flashlights on ebay for about $3, $1 battery, $1 charger (free shipping). Add the rail attach for a couple bucks. Search ebay for 3000LM 3 Modes Lamp XML XPE LED Focus Tactical Flashlight Outdoor Torch Lamp HOT

I buy them a dozen or two at a time.

 

[Maverick]

You bring up a great point. Books are heavy. My wife is strong, but I don't want to hear her complaining if we have to go far. What DVDs do you recommend? Let's get a list. The thumbdrive idea is excellent too. I also love those 18650 battery flashlights! I get them on Amazon for $20. Charge on the cpu and last forever, work great. I have one on every rifle and my 590A1.

In the end, books will outlast anything electronic/digital format, It's best to have both.

 

[Helen Back]

$20 is a bit much? Ebay, I get the flashlights on ebay for about $3, $1 battery, $1 charger (free shipping). Add the rail attach for a couple bucks. Search ebay for 3000LM 3 Modes Lamp XML XPE LED Focus Tactical Flashlight Outdoor Torch Lamp HOT

I buy them a dozen or two at a time.

Good eye. I was building up the curse words then I checked ebay for the ones I buy on Amazon, and they are $27 to $40 on ebay. I get these WOWTAC A1 LED Flashlight

For a few bucks, I will definitely get a few of the ones you recommend. The batteries have to cost more than that.

 

[DrHenley]

I use the SK98s (XML T6 emitter) and was getting them on eBay, but found these on Amazon last time (currently unavailable). $30 for five of them, so $6 each. The SK98 is the flashlight that started the low cost high performance flashlight trend.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07G87LZMF

 

[TexasFreedom]

Good eye. I was building up the curse words then I checked ebay for the ones I buy on Amazon, and they are $27 to $40 on ebay. I get these WOWTAC A1 LED Flashlight
For a few bucks, I will definitely get a few of the ones you recommend. The batteries have to cost more than that.

Nope. If you buy 50 batteries, they're about $1 each. And the chargers are about $1-2, and that's with free shipping (yes, insane). I buy a bunch of all of these because I give them as gifts to friends/fellow preppers. The flashlight+2 batteries + charger are still $5-6. Recipients are always really pleased, and think it's a $20+ gift.

 

[Kevin L]

In the end, books will outlast anything electronic/digital format, It's best to have both.

I couldn't agree with you more.

We have books that are, literally, over 4,000 years old. There is no way that I can believe that any electronic format would last 1/100th as long . . . and even that's really stretching it and being--perhaps--somewhat overenthusiastic about the real possibilities.

Even so, the correct electronic system can be an intermediate survival aid, with thousands of books on agriculture, carpentry, veterinary science, any number of medical issues, military science, gunsmithy, basic through advanced chemistry, small engine repair, and so on.

I've calculated that--with a large suitcase--I can have two portable DVD players, two solar rechargers, and about 500 DVDs, with about 8 hours available on each.

That's enough for a truly huge amount of live-saving info.

This suitcase is easy transportable, easily concealed, and easily set-up and used.

Does it replace books? Absolutely not!

Books last forever because they can be recopied by hand onto successive copies.

So . . . I maintain that electronic media and book media complement each other.

Plus . . . paper books can be created later by transposing material from the electronic media. This would--no doubt--be a very tedious task that reqires both patience and an exacting nature.

This type of work should be spread around, but people recovering from illness, who are elderly, or possibly pregnant may be offered this kind of work if they rocognize the live-saving importance behind it . . . and that such work not interfere with any convalescence and/or complicate things medically.