Choice of Telly

awellis3 · 08-08-2010, 08:19 AM

Over in the RV antenna discussion I mentioned getting a digital tv for my Solaris with a Winegard antenna. Any tv experts out there? What would you recommend in the 19" range?

Teach

**JohnB** · 08-08-2010, 09:40 AM

Hi Teach

I am far from a TV expert but here are a few things that I needed to sort out when we bought ours that may help when looking for one

Where are you going mount the TV?

Are the speakers on the back side or front?

Are you going to hang mount it from the back or base sit it on a cabinet? If base mount some of the bases are pretty big and strange shaped for small camper cabinets. Make sure the base will work with where you are going to mount it.

If it has a DVD player built in, can you get to the DVD slot with where you are going to mount it?

I am going to make a special back mount cabinet for ours and these decisions where needed to find the right features and shapes to fit the area. If you have it out in the open these are not so much of a problem.

Until I get the cabinet mount done we are using the base stand that came with the TV and we take it down and place it on a pillow on the bed face down for travel.

Good luck. The only down side to these that I have found is the channel re-establishing you have to of every time you plug the thing in.

John

Honda03842 · 08-08-2010, 12:23 PM

If you like TV when you travel an alternative is to get a satellite dish. If you have this instead of cable TV you get to have a full channel choice at both home and on the road for one price.

The size TV is somewhat dependent on where you intend on mount it. In our small trailer we mounted it from a hook and had three different locations for it. When driving we just put it on the bed face down, not disconnecting it from it's cables. It was a 15 inch LCD; more than adequate for our little space. With our larger trailer, we plan to bump up to 22 inches.

Because we have satellite we have opted not to have a traditional antenna.

**Tweety** · 08-08-2010, 12:28 PM

Our method of figuring out which TV to purchase involved asking our 22 year old engineer son who spent a summer working at Best Buy

He bought a Samsung, which of course is WAY bigger than the 22" we bought for the Tweety, but we've been happy with ours.

henryj · 08-08-2010, 12:31 PM

Another advantage of the Samsung, at least in our case, is that its remote does not turn on the radio.

Henry

Honda03842 · 08-08-2010, 03:26 PM

We have a Sylvania (I'm sure made by someone else) that we've had for 6 years RVing that has traveled cross country and cross Canada a number of times.

**clueless campers** · 08-08-2010, 04:23 PM

We also have a Sylvania and it has no effect on the radio. It is a 2O inch. After we bought this one, we found that they also make an upgraded model (LD200SL9) with a built-in dvd player. The dvd player wouldn't have worked for us though because it is on the upper left side. We don't have any wall space to mount it so we just put it back in the box with the styrofoam blocks and put it under the bed or between the bed and wall when traveling. The nice thing about the flat panel tv's is their small footprint and light weight. This one weighs 11 lbs.

**Sunline Fan** · 08-08-2010, 09:38 PM

I've got a Vizio and I'm very happy with it, though I'll admit I haven't traveled much with it.

Jon

awellis3 · 08-09-2010, 05:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Honda03842

If you like TV when you travel an alternative is to get a satellite dish. If you have this instead of cable TV you get to have a full channel choice at both home and on the road for one price.

I bought the trailer used and it is wired for a tv in two locations so I'll stick to the antenna.
The only time I've ever watched tv in a camper was on a rainy Christmas Day in Skidaway SP, outside of Savannah. T'was nice to watch football and seasonal specials while a monsoon raged outside. (Park had cable on the utility post.)
For weekending, I'd use the telly for weather and local news so I'll be looking for a no-frills, inexpensive tv smaller than 19."

Teach

MACK C-85 · 08-09-2010, 09:05 AM

We have a 15" Magnavox LCD that sits in the designed space above the refrigerator in our T276SR perfectly. We also carry it in the original packaging, snuggled in one of the bunks. No problems with remote and the radio.

Mack

awellis3 · 08-11-2010, 09:07 AM

Has anyone had any experience with a 12V telly?

MACK C-85 · 08-11-2010, 09:46 AM

Our Magnavox came with adaptors for both, i.e. the TV runs off 12v all the time. The 110v power cord has a transfomer built in-line. We rarely dry camp so I have no experience as far as running off the trailer battery.

Mack

awellis3 · 08-11-2010, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MACK C-85

We have a 15" Magnavox LCD that sits in the designed space above the refrigerator in our T276SR perfectly. We also carry it in the original packaging, snuggled in one of the bunks. No problems with remote and the radio.

Mack

Mind if I ask how much money?

MACK C-85 · 08-11-2010, 11:39 AM

Currently $198 @ Wally World:

Walmart.com: Magnavox 15" LCD TV, 15MF400T/37: Unassigned Electronics

Mack

We've had ours for three years without any problems.

awellis3 · 08-11-2010, 11:52 AM

Thanx,

Teach

Honda03842 · 08-11-2010, 01:05 PM

When we dry camp we run the 15 inch LCD TV and the Satellite Receiver off a cigarette lighter Inverter, one of those $19 jobs. Works great and seems to have little impact on the battery, probably because the TV's only run for a few hours..

shepherds2 · 09-13-2010, 11:08 PM

I really liked the Sharp 19" LCD. $169 on Amazon.com. wieghs only 8 lbs and I mounted it on an overhead door panel with special hinges that I bought at a cabinet supply store. These hinges lower as they open which allows the TV (2" thin)to clear the ceiling. Also the springs in the hinges are stong enough to offset the weight of the TV and door. Works well.

Steve Collins · 09-14-2010, 06:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shepherds2

I really liked the Sharp 19" LCD. $169 on Amazon.com. wieghs only 8 lbs and I mounted it on an overhead door panel with special hinges that I bought at a cabinet supply store. These hinges lower as they open which allows the TV (2" thin)to clear the ceiling. Also the springs in the hinges are stong enough to offset the weight of the TV and door. Works well.

That installation sounds really interesting.

Perhaps you could post some pictures and a description of it over in the Modifications forum? Since thin TV's are pretty standard these days, I am sure more than a few of us would be interested in doing the same or similar.

Also, if you could please, a link to the source for the hardware would be great.

Thanks!