The “unregistered” originator of this thread has the verbal style of a PR person for digEplayer. I am suspicious. Maybe wishful thinking on their part?
As a little background, digEplayer is a small video unit that resembles a portable DVD player but without the DVD. All the entertainment offerings are programmed into the unit. The unit is rented, the movies played, and the unit is returned. By one means or another, the programmed entertainment will be erased after the battery dies so, in theory, there is little value to stolen units.
There are a handful of airlines that offer the system (Alaska is one). The big advantage is eliminating the need to hard wire and install an entertainment system in either an aircraft or a train. With so many cars, the cost to Amtrak to put airline-style seatback Video on Demand units in even just the Superliners would be prohibitive.
But, whether this unit is a good fit for Amtrak remains to be seen. With battery life at about seven hours, the units would need easy access to AC power to be usable for any normal Amtrak trip. Also, unlike on a flight, the units might be rented for days, not hours, thus providing greatly reduced turnover and rental revenue. And I am still not clear on what prevents someone from walking away with a unit. By their very nature, trains make multiple stops at towns big and small and I can see a real problem keeping track of who has a unit and where it is.
So, even assuming the original posting is correct, whether this will give Amtrak “new life” or will be another Am-fiasco is unknown.
Here is link to the Alaska Airlines page describing the system. BTW, Alaska rents the units for $10, not $7 as suggested by the original poster.
http://www.alaskaair.com/as/www2/Flights/d.../digEplayer.asp
