TV in the "van" (1 Viewer)

[Teuchter]

Been a few threads about TV in its various forms lately - dish setting up - terrestrial tv - streaming from tv etc. We have been caravanning/motorhoming for close on 40 years now and don't have a telly in the van (do at home)

We read a lot and have laptop in the van for internet (weather forecasts, planning next site, facebook etc. and of course Funsters Forum!! and truthfully do not miss tv even when we are away for a couple of months at a time.

Nothing against having a telly in the van (might even decide to have one some day ) do have to chuckle sometimes though when watching neighbours arrive and out comes the sat dish on legs and the next half hour or more is spent, usually by the man, making frequent minute adjustments!!

Just wondered if we are a just a bit Neanderthal or Dinosaur like by not having a TV - would be interested to know how many others travel without one

 

[chaser]

Never felt the need for a tv in Europe

 

[Janine]

We don't have a tv in the 'van either.

When I used to fly solo I had a teeny, tiny tv with a 5" screen. It was quite challenging watching the rugby on it

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[jezport]

You could get this to watch tv on your laptop or phone http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/tvman-pocket-mobile-tv-hotspot-a90nj

We use it in our van and don't have a separate TV

 

[2657]

In our 5'er, which is now static, there are 2 TV's ( one of them quite large) neither of which have been used this last season (October to May) in Portugal.

In our PVC which we use for excursions and travelling there is a TV in one of the cupboards, never got it to work anywhere with the crap aerial that is attached to it.

We do however download some TV (BBC only) onto iplayer for watching at our convenience on the laptop which fulfills our limited needs

 

[Teuchter]

You could get this to watch tv on your laptop or phone http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/tvman-pocket-mobile-tv-hotspot-a90nj
View attachment 160221
We use it in our van and don't have a separate TV

Thanks for that but I'll "put it on the back burner" for now as we don't really want TV in the van yet

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[simsy56]

We had 18 weeks in Portugal, and Spain over winter a couple of years ago, and the best thing was NOT having a goggle box! We did things we haven't done for a long time. NO not that! We walked, played board games, cycled, and even......talked! It was so nice, and so much better without the blasted thing. The that is on the box, especially at the weekend, isn't worth bothering with.

Craig

 

[clanjones]

Interesting thread. We do have a TV in the motorhome and I record programmes for viewing when we are away. Been away for 6 weeks and haven't watched a thing!

We do like to stream the odd BBC radio channel when we can though. Internet availability is way more important to us.

 

[vwalan]

i use a polaroid tv from asda payed 49 quid for it about 5 yrs ago . use a mercury antenna with 12v adaptor off ebay about 25 quid . in uk great gets all diggi chanels . when abroad pics up loads of local digi channels . use the language transfer on the set to possibly get the foreign stations but english speaking . in spain there is always lots to watch in english . portugal as well. even in morocco quite a few can be changed to english .

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[pyro]

As said in another thread on another topic, one of the best things about being on the road is the absence of TV. Sure, we have one, but only ever use it for playing back the occasional downloaded film

But we're tourers, just the two of us (kids grown up), so we seldom stay in the same place twice or any place much more than 24 hours at a time. That's one of the reasons why we got a 6M M/H (fits on drive, easy to park, etc) Might feel differently if we had kids with us or were staying on sites. In which case it would be streamed TV, not satellite

 

[Langtoftlad]

I can see the attraction of no telly for MH couples & families - but for us solos, it can be a welcome distraction on an evening or a rainy day.
Though I must admit I use mine mainly as a screen for playback of prerecorded programmes & films rather than soaps or serials.

 

[scotzsue]

We have a tv which John likes to watch, especially the news. In 7 years I have set it up about the same number of times, then put it away before coming home, rarely having watched anything. Do sometimesappreciate it on cold dark nights though, but prefer to read. Now if I had no internet over a long period, that would be a problem.

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[Madeinengland]

We bought a very small reconditioned tv from Maplin, Set it up to see if it worked, then packed it back in the box, and there it's remained. Still like knowing it's there though, just in case.

 

[JFD]

We inherited a to, plus aerial, plus a whizzy satelllite dish and receiver when we bought our Moho. We raise the dish for visitors, who find the self-seeking fascinating, but have never used it ourselves. We did use the TV once, to watch some DVDs we had borrowed, but that's all.

Scrabble is much more entertaining that most of the TV programming available nowadays!

 

[Huwmari]

How refreshing to find that there are lots of you out there, like us, who couldn't care less about watching TV while you are away. The lengths which some people go to, eg fiddling around with satellite dishes etc, (usually in vain) never fails to entertain us. Long live the board game, the art of conversation and the good book to read!

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[Reallyretired]

We have a TV in the dedicated cupboard it slides out of. It's very rarely used though. We have a multimedia player and a 1Tb drive with around 500 films on it (.mp4 format), though we go months without watching one.

 

[vwalan]

How refreshing to find that there are lots of you out there, like us, who couldn't care less about watching TV while you are away. The lengths which some people go to, eg fiddling around with satellite dishes etc, (usually in vain) never fails to entertain us. Long live the board game, the art of conversation and the good book to read!

some like me just turn on the telly . give a search and then possibly have 15 english speaking programs to watch . you dont have to . forget satellite etc just use digital tv . there really is alot of rip offs out there but tv can be very cheap abroad or here in uk.

 

[WSandME]

10 years in the previous Hymer without a TV. Our current Hymer has a satellite TV system, but the only time we've used it was to see whether it worked, and to see what it could receive in Southern Spain and the Algarve.
What it could receive reinforced our disdain for TV in the Motorhome

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[Ralph-n-Bev]

We have one , and use it. Not through the day , when we are out and about enjoying where ever we are. But usually,once we've eaten out somewhere local , we go back to Pug , crack open a bottle , flick a switch. The oyster cytrac dx finds a programmed satellite automatically . No fiddling , faffing , arguing ? Wrrrrr, wrrrrrrrrrrr, wrrrr Done.
Then we can watch what we want , if we want to. Sometime ( usually!) it's too late and we crash into bed!
We don't play cards, or board games never have done. We go out and do our thing all year round , all weathers . But only watch tv on an evening. And It's not as though we ever sit there not talking to each other when it's on either ??
Then again neither of us have , or have ever wanted to be on face book. Can't see why folk spend so much time and effort on that. Each to their own I suppose. Be weird if we were all the same.

 

[Infinity31]

Not at all Neanderthal or Dinosaur like, no TV here either. We tend to be 'campers' so spend most of our time outside the van, out walking, on the bikes, cooking (no oven either) having a beer out somewhere or sat by the van.

On darker winter nights it's in the van reading, chatting, cards or a good old early night. Can't really see us ever having a TV in the van.

 

[denisejoe]

We watch TV occasionally when we're away in winter in the UK but when abroad we don't bother. We mainly read or play cards during the evening. Amazing how many books you can read in a month in the van!!!

Denise

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[sdc77]

Having just watched Britain's got more talent in the van .. I can admit
Yes
We have a tv
We watch it often when we're in the van.. esp in the UK
Breakfast news in a morning and if its not good enough to sit outside we will watch something in the evening.
We have an ipad as our bedroom tv and stream to that
We talk too
We don't play indoor games much... such as cards..
Strangely enough .. I'm not ashamed to admit this.

 

[gus-lopez]

Van never had one & a friend asked when I was in the UK where the tv & oven were . Following year he couldn't believe I hadn't put a tv in
" What do you do when you stop " he asked
" Walk dog , eat , go to bed " . & if I need to do something I'll read for a while .
As I usually travel alone it doesn't bother me. I don't watch tv at home since the need for a dish as big as house became necessary & I could never watch it in the UK when working .

 

[FJmike]

Generally we can do without TV but would never be without being able to watch Motogp. We have even gone home so that we can watch all the action.

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[davidbaldam]

Don't watch the telly in the van just read and relax, half the stuff on the box is rubbish anyway. So open the wine and relax that's what it's all about.

 

[cliffanger]

We have a telly - not afraid to admit it - we also have a hard drive at home that we record films, and TV programmes on to watch in the van when we are out of satellite dish range.

We also read and sit and watch the sun go down, but like to chill with the telly before going to bed.

In threads like this I always end with - it may not be for you, but it suits me - whatever makes you happy - works!

 

[Gromett]

I got rid of my TV almost 10 years ago. Never looked back.

For entertainment I have lots of DVD boxed sets I have ripped to my hard drive and use Amazon and Netflix when on wifi. 8 years of fulltiming and never felt the need to get a proper telly.

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[DL42846]

We have a TV which came with the van. Used sometimes during the winter months. I can also play films through it. The wife likes to watch a soap she follows when we are on the road and I like to watch the F1. On nice summer evenings though we prefer to take in the views or walk. Its there so we use it sometimes but I don't think I would rush out to buy one. We have a normal antenna not a satellite. If I want to watch TV I would stay at home I think.

 

[Viennese]

I bought an old '6 in 1' Avtex machine from a builder in Milton Keynes which is a TV, DVD player, radio, screen for computer and display for SD card (holiday pics!). Can't remember what the sixth is, and we only (rarely) use it just for DVD. We don't have a TV aerial, and prefer to read, and we are also fervent Scrabblers...

 

[deleted-member02]

We ditched the TV a while ago.
It was taking up valuable cupboard space and rarely used.
Laptop and tablet make better media devices in our experience, no more tuning or faffing around with DVD and hard drive.
If we really want to watch something live (Joshua vs Klitschko for example) it's perfectly doable...
Television will soon be the dinosaur imo.

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