What tv to buy?

[lamoz]

My older 1985 Pace arrow did not come with a TV. I want to install one
but not sure what to get. Look for a least a 32" flat screen. Are there
things I should look for?
How would I power it ? 12volt, Inverter? Generator?
any suggestions would be appreciated

[wintersun]

Get a name brand LED LCD and use it with an inverter. None of the 12v DC TV's are built well and are made as cheaply as possible in China, branded and sold in the USA under a variety of names. I would buy Samsung, Sony, and Toshiba and expect reliability and reasonable warranty coverage.

The LED type of LCD displays will use the least amount of power for their size. The larger the set the greater the power draw and faster the TV will drain your battery bank and the more weight that the mount will need to support.

[Jim_Shoe]

Another thing to think about. Measure the distance between the location of the TV screen and the closest point you'll be sitting to watch. Then check TVs out at the store standing that far away. There's such a thing as being too close to a big screen. Back when the really big home TVs came out, I was shopping for the biggest I could find. The salesman sent me home to measure the distance between the closest chair and the location of the new TV. Then he moved a chair in the showroom closer than that and had me watch. Your eyes have to scan the screen and it actually creates eye strain.
Imagine sitting 40 feet away from one of the screens in Dallas cowboys stadium. Too close.

[westend]

Another member here, had bought a Magnavox 32" LCD/LED screen for his coach and was pretty happy with it so I took a look at one when I was out screen shopping. The Magnavox had the best picture in the stores I visited so I bought it.
It draws 32 watts in broadcast TV mode. I power it with a Xantrex inverter. Any small pure sine inverter would work. Signal is received through a DIY UHF antenna I built that attaches to the side of my TT. I sometimes use my onboard 120v stereo system and speakers, the "Mic" jack from the screen outputs the audio.
Good luck with the screen hunt.

[DonJ68]

My brother an I put a jensen 32 inch in his Wini last month just in time for his trip. Of course I got to check it out but they hit road shortly thereafter. He went with jensen because that's what I bought and it's really nice. Mine was for replacing the 13" CRT in the bedroom so I only picked up the 15" (still really nice though).

I talked to the folks about the TV to find out what's really the difference with like a sony flatscreen and their jensen 12 volt tv's. They explain it like this. whether its 110V or 12V a flatscreen LCD TV uses 12 volt power to run it mother board. So even your bigscreen lcd tv is making 12 volt power inside just like your computer does.

So if you have a 110v tv using 5 amps and then plug in an inverter so you can power it by 12v -> you lose. You lose power in the inverter (anywhere from 2% - 12% in the trash) then depending on how efficient the tv is, you loose more there internally.

A 12 volt tv just uses the power the way it is. Doesn't need to convert and invert two times...

Winner -> Go 12 Volt!

What else??? 12 volt tv's are built knowing that they'll be in a vehicle so they are made a little tougher inside.

Also, they say when comparing 12 volt tv's... Jensen uses a steel frame inside which all the internal components are mounted to. Most others have two plastic halves that everthing attaches to -> including the wall mount section on the back!

My jensen 15" is wall mounted, has been for a very long time (many many miles) no problems at all.

My brothers 32" is wall mounted. I've talked to him twice since they've left and he's loving it.

[paulcardoza]

I have a 32" Samsung in the living room that was $300, a 26" Vizio in the bedroom that was $189 and a 32" Insigna in the outside bin that was $220. All have terrific pictures and good viewing angles.

2oldman wrote:

paulcardoza wrote:
Other than that, buy cheap! At less than 42", HD picture quality is nearly indistinguishable from one TV to another.

Maybe.. but have you ever watched a 'crawler' at the bottom of the screen on a news show? The cheap TV that I watch it on at the gym will stretch and bend the letters as they enter and leave the corners of the screen. Perhaps it's just that particular brand.

And the sound is another issue with cheap. They will cut costs anywhere they can (hence, cheap) and sound is one area to hack.

Buyer beware.. it's best to go to a store and LOOK at the various brands. If these anomalies don't bother you, then by all means go cheap.

[lamoz]

"1. Forget 12v TV's. Way too expensive and poor quality.
2. Sounds like you won't be plugged in to electric, so definitely consider an inverter and ample battery capacity. "

Saw a couple of brand new 12v Tv on ebay for around $200
I will like be living in the motor home for sometime so no shore power. I may just run the Generator while watching tv. I do have a deep cycle battery that is brand new. I replace the two house normal size batteries with one bigger size one.
So I'm guessing next on my shopping list will be a power inverter.

[2oldman]

paulcardoza wrote:
Other than that, buy cheap! At less than 42", HD picture quality is nearly indistinguishable from one TV to another.

Maybe.. but have you ever watched a 'crawler' at the bottom of the screen on a news show? The cheap TV that I watch it on at the gym will stretch and bend the letters as they enter and leave the corners of the screen. Perhaps it's just that particular brand.

And the sound is another issue with cheap. They will cut costs anywhere they can (hence, cheap) and sound is one area to hack.

Buyer beware.. it's best to go to a store and LOOK at the various brands. If these anomalies don't bother you, then by all means go cheap.

[paulcardoza]

1. Forget 12v TV's. Way too expensive and poor quality.
2. Sounds like you won't be plugged in to electric, so definitely consider an inverter and ample battery capacity.
3. Does your rig not have a genset either? Another consideration, but now your costs are starting to really add up!
4. Running on battery, the TV's power consumption should be a top selection criteria. Other than that, buy cheap! At less than 42", HD picture quality is nearly indistinguishable from one TV to another. 720p vs 1080 makes no difference on smaller screens either and 720 TV's are always much cheaper.

[tenbear]

scbwr wrote:
While this subject is being discussed...are there any opinions/experiences about Jenson televisions which are advertised as being designed for RV applications versus other consumer televisions?

IMHO, no personal experience with Jensen, I think they are very expensive. I have used ordinary TVs CRT and now LCD LED and they have stood up well to RV use. I don't see any reason to spend the extra to buy a TV advertised as designed for RVs.

[2oldman]

IAMICHABOD wrote:
Yes I found that getting a TV that had a good viewing angle was almost impossible.

I've never noticed any viewing angle problem with Sony or Samsung.

[IAMICHABOD]

Yes I found that getting a TV that had a good viewing angle was almost impossible.

I wanted one that I could watch at an angle. Like most RVs you can't watch it straight on. At any more than just slightly the screen will appear black or very distorted.

After 2 tries,one a JVC,the other an RCA,I found that they both were impossible to watch at an angle. So after some research I found one that has a 160 degree viewing angle. I found that the insignia brand had the best ones.

But before buying check it out at the store if possible.

[tenbear]

Many, but not all, TVs that use an external adapter to run off 120v power are really 12v TVs. Check what the adapter says on it.

[scbwr]

While this subject is being discussed...are there any opinions/experiences about Jenson televisions which are advertised as being designed for RV applications versus other consumer televisions?

[mustangglp]

lamoz wrote:
Looking at some nice 24" 12volt LED tvs. but don't now how much I can watch without running my house battery down.

12 volt LEDs are petty thrifty on power I know I could run mine all day on my two 12 volts