Television for RV use.

[rbpru]

I am thinking about replacing the six year old Jensen TV that came with our TT.

It is mounted on a rotating shelf so it can be viewed in the bedroom or dinning area.

I am wondering if a regular television will hold up to the bouncing and shaking of a TT.

[Bumpyroad]

Tequila wrote:
The jensen in my RV looks identical to an RCA I bought for my bedroom from Walmart at a fraction of the price. Even the menu is identical, which makes me wonder if there is realy any diference.

I would bet that a lot of these come off the same line in China.
bumpy

[Steelhawk]

We bought a 43" Samsung LED TV. It sits on the shelf next to the slideout. I route the sound through the built in speakers in the trailer ceiling via a DVD player and a connector I made.

I take the TV off and lay it face down on the bed when we travel. I've only done this twice so I can't comment on how well this will work out long term.

[Tequila]

The jensen in my RV looks identical to an RCA I bought for my bedroom from Walmart at a fraction of the price. Even the menu is identical, which makes me wonder if there is realy any diference.

[Fireballsocal]

I was all set to purchase a Jenson, to add a television to my travel trailer. After reading the reviews on amazon.com, I was scared off. I ended up with an off brand made in china 12v TV/DVD model by supersonic. I just installed it this morning so no reliability info. Sound is a 1 out of 10. It makes noise and you might be able to make out a movie if there is complete silence. The amount of connection options including an audio out jack to plug into the RV stereo makes this a negligible problem.

[westend]

FWIW, my 32" Magnavox LCD LED screen draws 33 Watts when in standard broadcast mode. Another Forum member had replaced his TV with this set and recommended it. A quick view at Sam's Club confirmed that the picture quality was good or better than others. I'm real happy with this screen.

[bobndot]

Sometimes we run off grid . If power consumption matters, looks like LED uses the least battery power.

Power Consumption Comparison Between LED, LCD, CRT & Plasma:


Screen Size

LED

LCD

CRT

Plasma

15 inches 15 18 65 ---
17 inches 18 20 75 ---
19 inches 20 22 80 ---
20 inches 24 26 90 ---
21 inches 26 30 100 ---
22 inches 30 40 110 ---
24 inches 40 50 120 ---
30 inches 50 60 --- 150
32 inches 55 70 --- 160
37 inches 60 80 --- 180
42 inches 80 120 --- 220
50 inches 100 150 --- 300

[poppin_fresh]

I had a Visio that didn't last a year in the camper before crapping out.

The essentially generic Element TV that has replaced it doesn't have the greatest viewing angle, but it has held up better than the Visio. It still works fine after a couple years of use and storage in the camper over the winter.

I almost think it's luck of the draw whether you get one that lasts or doesn't regardless of brand or cost.

[ADAD437]

bought a vizio @ walmart several years ago and it has survived about 40000 miles now. bought an lg @best buy about 4 years ago for br and it has survived about 25000 miles now. no problem with either.

[carl2591]

just like them cheap azz chineese tires that blow out all the time.

I guess i would rather have a bad TV than bad tires.. hence all my airstream tire are 16" LT tires made by michelin in US.

SprinklerMan wrote:
Just make sure its an ST television , if its not rated for trailer use it could be a big problem.

[SprinklerMan]

Just make sure its an ST television , if its not rated for trailer use it could be a big problem.

[Dirtpig]

No doubt any decent TV brand survive the inside of a trailer. I have actually seen 8 brand new in original packaging TV's fall 20+ feet onto concrete. (crazy ooops) and when all were inspected and tested all still operated completely fine. They get absolutely abused on the way from china to your local store. Think of the jarring on the back of a semi trailer, forklift, etc. I agree with above posts about Jensen being extreme low end. My choice of a TV would be one that runs on a 12 volt transformer box. Simply remove the 12volt A/C transformer and connect directly to your 12volt battery supply. I guess its easiest to just buy a 12volt TV that comes with the 12volt car adapter and this would be why Jensen is popular in RV's. FYI 14v 15v 16v all will not work, it has to be 12v.

[carl2591]

We replaces an old Magnavox that was installed in 2005 Airstream recently. We went with the insignia brand from best buy in 24 and 19" models.

We were able to take the 19" model home and got it out of box to discover the tv as a 12v model using a 120 to 12v converter.

The 24" model we received a couple days later, it was shipped in. Taking it out of the box to discover it was a 120v only model. We did a quick trip to best buy and figured out they came in both flavors, 120 only and 120 to 12v. We found a model on the shelve, they got new shipment as well 5 or so days later, and noted on teh box it was a 12v input model.

so now we have two new digital TV that run off 12v.

When i check with my watt meter plugged into 120 shows 33 watts when running. now sure how that converts to 12v but the rear tags shows 45 watts which is right at start up but running it goes 23-33 watts most of the time.

[IdaD]

Lower to mid range TVs are good enough at this point that it's not worth paying extra for the top end, imo. Been there, done that. I have three Vizio TVs and they've been great and have a lot better picture quality than the first HDTV I bought that cost more than all three of them combined. A 32" in the trailer and two bigger ones in the house. When the OLEDs finally come down in cost I'll upgrade the living room TV and throw the old one in my shop so I can put a game on while I'm working on projects/vehicles.

[gmw_photos]

32" Insignia from best buy. Been in there for several years now, works same as new. I leave it in there in heat of summer and the cold of winter ( when I'm not in Arizona ! ) and it's still fine. Considering how inexpensive they are to buy, I just consider it a throwaway if it goes on the fritz.