Sometimes small systems are plenty

[HiTech]

Friday my wife suddenly got the urge to camp. Immediately.

All the TT has is the original Group 24 battery, 5w solar to maintain it and a 700w/1500w inverter I've never even run under significant load. I didn't really need the system to do a lot since at 103 degrees in full sun we will be absolutely doing full hook ups.

Fired up the fridge at 8 am on propane. Pupmed the over chlorainated full water tank almost dry to be ready for use. Ran the compressor from home on the inverter to air up all 4 tires and headed to work.

At noon the freezer and fridge were cold so she loaded but did not even run the fan as the camper still held the cool from overnight.

1:05 PM we headed out for Fredericksburg and wine country.

The current set up is barely above factory, but the battery was brimming with charge and the inverter did everything we would have wanted except for the AC.

I actually think it is the ability to use the microwave that will finally push me to get the Deka AGMs put in the TT. Putting them in will mean i pit in the solar charger to maintain them without cooking the, dry or leaving the discharged. Other than the microwave though, there is just no burning need for us at the moment.

Now if I went crazy and got enough batteries and inverter to run the AC for an hour 15 times a year, that would he a horse of a different color.

😉

Jim (sipping a nice glass of 2010 Brennan Dark Horse)

[mena661]

pnichols wrote:

I'll guess I'll keep my 17.3 inch laptop for a wee bit longer. If I had that kind of RV money to spend I'd probably opt for a methanol fuel cell battery charger instead. 😉

The fuel cell does look compelling at that price, doesn't it? 🙂

[Old___Slow]

It seems from what I notice around these parts, the young folks don't require size to intertain themselves. Old folks fixin' to go over the hill think big, when they reach the top, they get'er out of control going down. Then, like me, this big rig wants to fly and I don't have a medical certificate. So, DW says, darling, time to down size. Me thinks life is a kick in the two-two. Even tho' I want to go sliding in on it. I'll take it as it comes:B



At my age, "Sometimes small systems are plenty"

[pnichols]

Mena,

Thanks a bunch for that Newegg link - I hadn't been to their site in quite some time.

Yes indeed .... there are many laptops with LED backlit screens!

However, only 7 of the laptops shown by Newegg have 17.3 inch LED LCD screens with full 1920 X 1080 widescreen resoluion - like my laptop. Only 3 of those 7 show a battery life value and all 3 battery life times are longer than that of my laptop. 1 of them being head and shoulders above the other 2 ... at 5.5 hours ... which is fantastic for a high processor speed 17.3 inch full HD resolution screen laptop.

That long battery life time is exactly what I would expect from the advantage that an LED backlight gives. I'll bet that 5.5 hour battery life laptop would just sip RV battery current, too, when running off the RV's batteries. I wish I could afford it - it's price is listed at only a mere $4,873.99!!!!!! (Of course for that price you get not only a Blu-Ray DVD player - but a drive that WRITES Blu-Ray DVD discs, too.)

I'll guess I'll keep my 17.3 inch laptop for a wee bit longer. If I had that kind of RV money to spend I'd probably opt for a methanol fuel cell battery charger instead. 😉

[mena661]

Almot wrote:

But they don't think - except for most dumb ones - that all their stuff is good. It's been like this since the day one - 9 crappy movies for each good one. Crappy production goes straight from the theater - with half empty seats - to video rentals and TV (non prime time).

No argument from me here.

PN, there are LED LCD laptops. Check this list of laptops on Newegg.

[SaltiDawg]

pnichols wrote:


You're just a youngin' ... try on for size being born in the early 40's! I was around 14-15 when the very first round tube color consumer TV's showed up in my dad's appliance store. I built our own color TV in my early 30's and was amazed at the technology that both lead up to - and wound up inside - a color television ...

Similar story here. Born in 1942. Saw first TV at age 11. Built my first color TV at age 26.... a Heath GR-295. (Vacuum tube, of course.)

[Almot]

mena661 wrote:
About movies and TV shows, IMO each generation thinks their stuff is the best.

But they don't think - except for most dumb ones - that all their stuff is good. It's been like this since the day one - 9 crappy movies for each good one. Crappy production goes straight from the theater - with half empty seats - to video rentals and TV (non prime time).

[Almot]

The thread belongs in "technology" forum now.

Anyway... How small is "small". Iphone screen is small for a good movie for sure. Primitive shows with cartoon-like colors and standard "props" are OK for that, I guess.

Squeaky Iphone sound sucks, and it is still poor in a laptop, and not much better in 27" flat TV. Old CRT boxes had better sound even if it was a single speaker, because the box was big and heavy and speaker wasn't too small either. 27" TV is still small for a really good watching of widescreen movie, but for killing an hour in rainy weather it will do. And so will 17" laptop, especially for one person, so what the heck... I would love to watch everything from laptop on a screen bigger than 17", but this would mean a separate big monitor, not my idea of a "small" system, more energy draw and one more item that can break down or get stolen.

[mena661]

Almot, I don't enjoy watching movies or TV on small screens but to each his own. I consider my 23" to be the absolute smallest but you won't see me watching more than part of a show on it when I do (DW uses it WAY more than I do). Most of my TV watching is done on my 55" at home and the 26" when camping. About movies and TV shows, IMO each generation thinks their stuff is the best. I tend to have an open mind and enjoy old and new stuff.

[Old___Slow]

Okay,

I have the HP 17 with BR and the works, so guess DW and I are ready for the 'B' and other small systems that hopefully will be plenty.

O&S

[pnichols]

KJINTF wrote:
I guess we are old farts here at RV.net (Now I am speaking for myself only) For me born in the very early 50's - I prefer (while at home) a large screen and large surround sound not the PC varity but 6ft or greater screen size with at least 7.1 surround and while on the road surround sound with a 32" screen that is when we actually WATCH TV when camping (only when the weather does not cooperate)

You're just a youngin' ... try on for size being born in the early 40's! I was around 14-15 when the very first round tube color consumer TV's showed up in my dad's appliance store. I built our own color TV in my early 30's and was amazed at the technology that both lead up to - and wound up inside - a color television ( ... and they dare call companies like Google, YAHOO, etc. "technology" companies - what a bunch of malarkey).

I'm with you regarding the content of today's movies and how the "kids" degrade them even more by watching them on low resolution teeny weeny iPhone screens with squeaky mouse sound - what a waste. As a contrasting example, I recently once again watched "Once Upon a Time in the West" on a friend's big screen with a real sound system complete with a Velodyne subwoofer - what an experience! Just last night I watched again part of a teenage movie (T2) on our home theater system ... the kid's today don't know what they're missing even with respect to their own movie material, such as good old T2.

My laptop is an HP "Entertainment" model. It outputs full HD via HDMI to an external larger screen, if desired. It has a plug-in TV tuner card for over the air TV reception. It pretty much does it all from Photoshop, to wireless Internet, to BluRay DVD movies, to live video chatting - all in one convenient box. It's internal sound system and speakers are even actually usable for enjoying movies. If it wasn't for the data limits in my plan, I could even watch Netflix movies on it out in the middle of nowhere via the RV's long range Internet access system that I've installed.

There is one minor thing I can't understand regarding all laptop computers - at least as far as I'm aware. Since laptop computers are battery powered unless you want to mess with bricks and cables - they are current draw sensitve. So ..... why don't laptop computers now all use LED screens ... instead of LCD screens with their power-sucking fluorescent backlighting?????? If someone is aware of new laptops with LED (or Organic Light Emitting Diode) screens- please educate me.

[Old___Slow]

Well, There exceptions to most rules. Glad the 'Sometimes" is in this thread. Never thought about it when I started posting here. I'm the older fart with the new 37" HDTV and s/sound in the RV. I guess the older one gets what happened yesterday is forgotten but can remember 'the girls' names from his youth. Hmm. But I continue looking to downsize everything, even what I see in front of me:)

Back to RCP. DW wont drive the A's or C's, TV with the 5th wheel so now can't find the right 'B' to buy.

Quit working @ 50 so at 79 the pocket is shallow. It's has to be an oldie but goodie.

O&S

[KJINTF]

I guess we are old farts here at RV.net (Now I am speaking for myself only) For me born in the very early 50's - I prefer (while at home) a large screen and large surround sound not the PC varity but 6ft or greater screen size with at least 7.1 surround and while on the road surround sound with a 32" screen that is when we actually WATCH TV when camping (only when the weather does not cooperate) - That said we all have our personal preferences what a boring place it would be if we all had similiar tastes

The fishing today is poor and the sun is too hot

Yes most of todays Movie material is******at the best of times

Check out your PC it might be similiar to my rig's PC's blue ray player which has an HDMI output and provides 1080p to a external monitor when desired

Off to a customer with a defective LG HDTV - should be another easy $90.00 in the pocket they are typicaly simple to repair

[Almot]

This is not an off-topic.

17" laptop is exactly what "small" is about. It does draw slightly more than 26" TV, even if used for playing saved movies only, but not more than BD or DVD + 26"TV. One person doesn't need more than 17" laptop, to watch movies in RV, and in my subjective opinion, TV broadcasting can and should be ignored on short trips.

The presence of BD or DVD in a laptop, while usually a standard feature, is not crucial for playing movies. On screens up to 32" whether it is BD, SD DVD or file compressed to 75%-80% of the ripped original - there is hardly any difference. I am not even sure that my home 36" 1080 TV gives me a "better" viewing experience than 720, when watching not videogames but regular shows and movies. I don't need to see every wart and makeup on the actor's face, this is not the most important thing about the movie, normally.

Besides, old classic shows and movies - I have a lot of them - are within capabilities of 480 or 720 resolution. 90% of new film production is cr-p, it's not about my taste, it's official - they don't make sales in the box-office and are removed after one week. Collection big enough to be worth keeping - if you want it to be a quality art - has to go back to 50s and 60s. Unless you were born in 80s or later - then movies and shows from 60s will be boring, difficult to comprehend.

[pnichols]

Continuing to still drift a bit off-topic:

I always want a BR player "everywhere" now because some movies I buy or get as gifts are Blu-Ray. In our RV I usually just use my laptop (powered directly from a 12 volt RV receptacle) for movies by sitting about 4-5 feet from the screen, as it has a 17 inch HD screen and a built-in BR player, but I can take the 26 inch LG LED from the house and use it in the RV on trips. I use TotalMedia Theater 6 software for all video playback on the laptop ... which renders both outstanding HD and upscaling of standard resolution. I have a couple of auxiliary sound systems in the RV that I can pipe either the laptop's or 26 incher's sound through.

BTW, when are all movies - every one - going to be released always in both BR and standard res?? This HD rollout is taking forever. Lower resolutions are now a dinosaur. I even see that some DISH channels have "sponsors" for their HD version. That's ridiculous - all programming should now be only shot and broadcast in HD and HD cameras should be the only type available.

Our 16:9 widescreen home theater reference monitor CRT projection system's bandwidth is capable of rendering up to and including true 720p and true 1080i, which was bleeding edge technology in 1999 when we purchased it. It's images are still spectacular, including rendering of BR in "only" 1080 interlaced. It's downside is needing cleaning of the lens, individual beam re-focusing, and multi-point re-convergence periodically. Every video parameter can be individually optimized via this system's digital control circuits, with many of them being individually adjustable by source - whether it be VHS, Super-VHS, DVD, satellite television, or personal camera video. BTW and FWIW, our overall system even supports high end VHS and Super-VHS image reconstruction (VHS player with Faroudja processing) so we still occasionally watch VHS/Super-VHS movies - IF and ONLY IF they are in widesreen format - not "Reformated to fit your TV" format. I have some (rare) Super-VHS widesreen movies with image quality rivaling that of modern upscaled standard DVD.

OLED (organic light-emitting diode) screen technology looks real promising - as it has for years. It's time is about finally here for us in the masses. I can hardly wait for it be affordable enough so we can carry large roll-up screens along with us in an RV! I'm definitely a fan of the image being composed of individually lit red/blue/green points, which is also what a 3-gun CRT system provides via 3-color sweeps individually modulated horizontally and vertically pixel by pixel. OLED will provide this ... and current point-lit LED screens (if you can find and afford one) kindof simulate it. I'm not a fan of today's current massed produced edge-lit and area-lit LED TVs - they are a (very) good video quality compromise, but nevertheless still fall short. However they do consume less power for RV drycamping use. OLED screens may consume even less power for RV use ... but I'm not sure yet on this.

I apologize for the many off-topic words above ... I think about this stuff when it's raining during RV trips or when the fish aren't biting! 😞