I'm looking at the same, copying our DVDs (legally, using
this process) to our external hard drive. We have a few dozen DVDs, so to save space I'll transcode them down to a very low resolution. I had been able to get them to less than 1MB/minute. It's crumbly-looking and poor quality but you can still follow the plot and hear the audio. It's good enough. As a bonus, the low bandwidth requirement won't overwhelm the wireless network or the CPUs on the older Android phones. (And when I say old, I mean old. As in, the very first Android, a G1.) On a small screen it should look just fine.
I'll share them out using free software such as VLC or a web server to our multiple Android phone-tablets. The laptop, an older Macbook, will sit in the trailer on a 75W inverter. I'll have a USB-powered wireless router (that can also act as range extender) that I picked up off eBay for $12. If that fails, I'll try my old hotspot device; It has a router built in, but its security may prevent communication between devices. Or, I can setup an ad-hoc network (routerless). I'll also configure our Windows laptop to do the same as a backup in case the Macbook doesn't work right. I'll also plan to have at least two ways of connecting from the Androids to the file server, in case one path isn't working right. Two is one and one is none. FTP, SMB, DLPA, HTTP, and VLC are all options I'm considering. All of these protocols have free server software available for Mac and Windows.
The whole contraption will sit against the front wall of the trailer, which is fiberglass, so there should be no problems transmitting the signal to the vehicle. The laptop may sit behind the propane tanks and hard door of the car, which is why I want the router, so I can move it higher on the wall to get a better line-of-site. There is a waist-high cabinet on the front wall, and I'm having a shelf installed for the laptop, with slits in the side for ventilation and cable pass-through. When parked, a monitor and keyboard can be set on top of that cabinet to use as a workstation.
I'll sit the laptop on the shelf, draw its outline, then drill holes into the shelf around the outline. Then I'll insert some pins into those holes. This should keep the laptop from moving during travel.
I anticipate being able to assemble this solution with parts on hand and just the time needed to copy the DVDs and setup the software. I do wish I could just make the kiddos read books the whole trip -- I'm old-fashioned at heart -- but for reasons that go beyond the scope of this post that would not be wise.
