A Great Little DVD Player, BUT.....!!!!!!

We too got this as a Christmas gift! The dvd player was great. You can rotate the screen to hang it from your car roof (if you figure out how to rig it up there!). It comes with all the cases, cords, and accessories necessary to either play in the house, or car. It is also a cd player, which worked out well for our children. Our battery too, does not stay on. I just thought this was because we let the children use it, but from other reviews, it appears to happen often.
Set-up was a breeze and it wasn't hard to figure out. The children enjoyed it right away on Christmas morning. They enjoy sitting on the floor and watching their favorite movie. The battery is easy to charge (just plug and charge, you can even view movies while charging). My children also enjoyed using this during a storm, as we've said, turn the TV off, but the portable DVD player is OK!
We've used the dvd player in the car lots of times! With 3 kids in a row in the car it has been difficult to share the screen, so keep that in mind. It is hard to figure out a good place to put it in the mini-van, so one child is usually holding it, while the other fusses that he can't see (baby is in the middle and just takes it all in). The cord to plug it into the car is easy to use and even charges the battery while plugged in. Another cool feature....double headphone jacks. So both children can listen with headphones!! A bonus for mom and dad! The screen does flip and the picture will rotate for easier viewing.
One thing to note though - if you hold the dvd player in your lap it makes a whirling noise and motion when it is running. So, if mom decides to watch a movie in bed at night - and you can't have it too far away since the screen isn't huge, it is awkward to hold on your lap. It will get warm after some time too.
Now to the problem - other than the battery falling off since the lock is broken (you just try to keep it on and hope it stays, if not the children get upset since the movie has to go back to the beginning). We recently used it for an extended time and now it will not play. It's just continually loading the disc and will not play. We've used this for 10 months and I must now decide if it's worth fixing. This may have happened because of the children using it a lot, but it still shouldn't have happened. So, I would recommend very close adult supervision!
So, when it worked, it worked out fairly well, but hasn't lasted like I thought it should!
Update: The did come "back to life" and worked for a little while. But now, I'm afraid, all is lost. The screen doesn't even work and it's useless. If the battery falls off try duct tape!!