Is Avtex worth the money?

[catspyjamas]

I'm just getting a bit fed up with my cheapo supermarket tv/dvd and am interested in buying a 12v combo so that I can still be dull and boring when parked in a field without hookup.

Are Avtex tvs worth the money?

I have seen the Avtex W164DR (16") on Amazon for £299, or John Lewis for £329. John Lewis offer a 5 year warranty which is why I tend to buy electrical items from them.

I know that you can find 12v at half these prices, but would I end up regretting it? My current TV is one that you have to sit head on to it to get a good picture, and I'd like something better.

Also in the write up for 12v TVs they say that they come with a cigarette lighter power attachment. My 12v sockets aren't like that - they have two horizontal slots. Would I need another power lead? Do 12v tvs come with 2 power leads, one for 240v and one for 12v? Can someone explain this in simple language to me please?

Am I being particularly dense?!!!

Thanks

 

[Jim]

There are a few things you'll notice with the Avtex. The viewing angles are superb, it draws little power and the picture quality is good.

Are they value for money NO, IMO they are far too expensive, there are lots of 12v portables that cost less than half an Avtex:thumb:

 

[movan]

Hi Jane, I bought an Avtex a few years ago and to be honest I never watch it..... I do find the sound a bit tinny.

Mine came with a three prong plug and I have to use an invertor.

I believe they are supposed to be good but never having had any other kind I cannot compare. Joy

 

[Munchie]

Hi, we have had the 15" for around 4 years now. Yes they are expensive but if were replacing I would buy another one. :thumb:

 

[Terry]

Hi you can easy cut the cig lighter end off and wire it either through a plug or stright into the socket :thumb: Are Avitex worth it ?they certainly get lots of praise but you can get 3 cheapy ones for the price of one avitex-your call - me the cheapy one does for us
terry

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[icantremember]

We have two Avtex sets on board and the build quality does seem to be very good as does the picture & sound

 

[movan]

Hi Jane, I know you are probably not as dense as me, but just in case, remember you have to tune it up every time you park up.... I couldn't understand why mine didn't work but every time I took it back to the shop it worked again... Mind you the guy in the shop couldn't understand it either. xx

 

[Bernintboro]

I've had an Avtex for just over 2 years and it has been faultless. It had both a 240v and 12v cable provided.

If you don't wish to chop the end off the cable and re-wire, you can purchase an adaptor that plugs into your 2 pin socket with a cigarette socket on t'other end!

 

[catspyjamas]

I've had an Avtex for just over 2 years and it has been faultless.

If you don't wish to chop the end off the cable and re-wire, you can purchase an adaptor that plugs into your 2 pin socket with a cigarette socket on t'other end!

Thanks for that - that makes sense!

 

[movan]

Jane, before you do anything, contact our friend, Stuart. He will give you advice on what and what not to do..... My invertor (adaptor) is ideal for me ... gift from a lovely Funster .... but you might be best getting a bigger one to save having to change it again in the future. Joy

PS Stuart helped me with a problem on my aerial. (as did Dixon)

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[harryoxford2]

www.tv-village.net/

Have a look at these, I am about to buy from them after searching for ages for the right one.
Each tv is supplied with pvr recording/playback full hd if you get the 24 inch and dvd and freeview.
The bonus is the 12 volt cable has a current regulator which makes the 12 volt incoming nice and cudly instead of damaging.
The same with the 240 volt wire which also has a brick or current regulator, heres the really good bit..it works off 100v-240v which means i can run it off all three of my power suppliers in the rv..ie 12v(battery) 110v(genny) 240v(mains incoming)

 

[scek]

We have an AVTEX TV. Picture is superb, sound is poor. Lots of features though.
Easy to re-tune DTV from site to site.

Also on the plus side is that when we bought the TV the power lead was not suitable for where the TV sits (had a straight connector, and we needed a 90 deg connector - tight space). Phoned AVTEX and they sent out a new lead in the post FOC. Can't argue at the service.

 

[Glynn]

We bought a new Avtex recently to replace our Pyramid set. The viewing angle of the Avtex is far far superior as id the sound quality.
More over thought is that it will find channels where the Pyramid wouldn't in poor signal areas.
Go for it, you get what you pay for !.

 

[aba]

Hi you can easy cut the cig lighter end off and wire it either through a plug or stright into the socket :thumb: Are Avitex worth it ?they certainly get lots of praise but you can get 3 cheapy ones for the price of one avitex-your call - me the cheapy one does for us
terry

not always a wise idea to cut the plug off as some do have voltage stabilising electronics in them and you could end up with over voltage damage.

 

[FIDGET]

Hi we bought a MEOS TV/ DVD found it very good cheaper than Avtex

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[Gooney]

Avtex are renowned for their superb service, had a problem with the DVD drive on mine, called them and they arranged for a courier to collect it that afternoon, it was courier delivered 2 days later!!:thumb:

 

[JohnM]

I'm just getting a bit fed up with my cheapo supermarket tv/dvd and am interested in buying a 12v combo so that I can still be dull and boring when parked in a field without hookup.

Are Avtex tvs worth the money?

I have seen the Avtex W164DR (16") on Amazon for £299, or John Lewis for £329. John Lewis offer a 5 year warranty which is why I tend to buy electrical items from them.

I know that you can find 12v at half these prices, but would I end up regretting it? My current TV is one that you have to sit head on to it to get a good picture, and I'd like something better.

Also in the write up for 12v TVs they say that they come with a cigarette lighter power attachment. My 12v sockets aren't like that - they have two horizontal slots. Would I need another power lead? Do 12v tvs come with 2 power leads, one for 240v and one for 12v? Can someone explain this in simple language to me please?

Am I being particularly dense?!!!

Thanks

Definately worth the extra for picture quality and viewing angle.We have the 19'led and think for m/h or c/van its the best.

 

[Terry]

not always a wise idea to cut the plug off as some do have voltage stabilising electronics in them and you could end up with over voltage damage.

While I am by no means a leccy guy (but mate is) as stated in my attachment I have been running a tv/dvd player for ten yrs plus and nevermanaged to kill one yet.I understand about spikes and stuff but wirred direct through the battery it acts as a leveler/stableizer
terry

 

[stagman]

Hi we bought a MEOS TV/ DVD found it very good cheaper than Avtex

I agree got the same better value than Avtex . I have also in the past used a Kenmark cost around £160 19" with dvd from Curry's still got it great picture , also very similar to Avtex is Autosound TVs and a lot cheaper :thumb:

 

[haganap]

Hi Jane, I bought an Avtex a few years ago and to be honest I never watch it..... I do find the sound a bit tinny.

Mine came with a three prong plug and I have to use an invertor.

I believe they are supposed to be good but never having had any other kind I cannot compare. Joy

First of aall Joy, have you gone in to the settings on your Avtex sound system? Have you had a play with it and changed it so you get different sounds, ie Orchestral, Opera, etc etc? you need to sometimes have a play with this to get the right choice.
The sound on my avtex is excellent, but even better now it is wired through the stereo system giving surround sound cinema quality throughout the Van.

So, Catsy's
I can only answer your question in one way. This is my second Avtex, teh first I sold with my first van. I would have another and another all day long. The picture quality is second to none and even better than my house TV. As said, the viewing angles are superb and there is not a negative thing I could say about it other than its expensive.
If you can afford it, it aint expensive as Eddievanbitz said or something similar that made me chuckle a while back.

Why not wait till your next meet, ask someone if you can pop in and have a look at theirs working? :thumb:

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[callumwa]

We have both an Avtex HD, DVD Combi 19" and a cheap £100, 15" LCD, DVD Combi in the van. The boys watch DVD's on the cheap. The Avtex as said has terrific viewing angles, good sound which you can also play on the van cab stereo via the FM transmitter function. :thumb:

The Avtex tunes very quickly and picks up lots of channels on Freeview when the cheap one struggles. Both work of 12v. The Avtex has a 12V lead supplied. The cheapO came with a 240v to 12v transformer so I just made up my own 12v lead to a cigarette socket which I fitted adjacent.

You can record to USB flash drive on the Avtex as well.

You get what you pay for I guess but I would buy another Avtex if I was looking to buy again. :thumb:

 

[motorhomelover]

I'm just getting a bit fed up with my cheapo supermarket tv/dvd and am interested in buying a 12v combo so that I can still be dull and boring when parked in a field without hookup.

Are Avtex tvs worth the money?

I have seen the Avtex W164DR (16") on Amazon for £299, or John Lewis for £329. John Lewis offer a 5 year warranty which is why I tend to buy electrical items from them.

I know that you can find 12v at half these prices, but would I end up regretting it? My current TV is one that you have to sit head on to it to get a good picture, and I'd like something better.

Also in the write up for 12v TVs they say that they come with a cigarette lighter power attachment. My 12v sockets aren't like that - they have two horizontal slots. Would I need another power lead? Do 12v tvs come with 2 power leads, one for 240v and one for 12v? Can someone explain this in simple language to me please?

Am I being particularly dense?!!!

Thanks

I WOULD SAY NOT
BUY AN INVERTER AND RUN A DOMESTIC TV FROM 12V - 240V

PLUS YOU CAN RUN OTHER 240 V ITEMS OF THE INVERTER WHEN NOT USING THE TV

ITS A NO BRAINER

 

[jaygee]

We've had an Avtex for 2 years now & can't fault it.
I know what you mean about the plug - we used to have one like that in our old caravan years ago and we had a small connection lead with a cigarette lighter holder on one end and the two pin plug on the other so when it was plugged in to the socket we could then plug anything that used a cigarette lighter type socket in it - does that make sense??? We got this lead from a caravan shop.

 

[Craig Rogers]

For the sake of just the occasional use in a MH, I found the Curry's Essential perfect. Ok, you have to tilt the screen to get the perfect view (it's mounted on a multi-tilt bracket), but no issues from side on with it, or at least in our MH anyway.

My solution was;

A 16.5 Curry's essential TV @ £120
A Maplins 12v input power supply which has variable outputs (including 12V) and connectors. This just powers the TV from the 12V socket and regulates it @ £20
A USB 250gb Hard Disk loaded with 1080p MPEG-2 movies @ £already had this, so no cost, but about 50-100 if bought.

Now the techy bit..... for 1080p films, the disk had to be formatted in NTFS (as FAT32 only allows up to 4gb files). The manual states the TV only supports FAT32. Not the case, although the PVR funtion won't work, no big deal for me though as I don't need it.

I'm a big home cinema fan and have a pretty big install at home, so am a bit of a techy geek one it comes to great sound and great picture. However, for the occasional film in the MH on only 16.5" screen, it doesn't really matter.

In fact I was pleasantly suprised at the "ok" picture and sound from the £120 Curry's special.

 

[haganap]

I WOULD SAY NOT
BUY AN INVERTER AND RUN A DOMESTIC TV FROM 12V - 240V

PLUS YOU CAN RUN OTHER 240 V ITEMS OF THE INVERTER WHEN NOT USING THE TV

ITS A NO BRAINER

IMHO I don't think that that is particulaly good advice. Of course much will depend on how much TV you want to watch, but, if you go this route, Inverter's draw power from the battery and that's a fact. A 12v TV built for such a purpose of low power drawing will leave me and my family watching a DVD whilst using your method will see us retiring to bed early with a good book, if of course the lights still work. :thumb:

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[scotjimland]

IMHO I don't think that that is particulaly good advice. Of course much will depend on how much TV you want to watch, but, if you go this route, Inverter's draw power from the battery and that's a fact. A 12v TV built for such a purpose of low power drawing will leave me and my family watching a DVD whilst using your method will see us retiring to bed early with a good book, if of course the lights still work. :thumb:

Agreed.. an inverter is about 80% efficient (depending on load) ..which doesn't sound bad until you do the maths..

Take an 85ah battery.. usable power (unless you want to shorten it's life) is about 40ah ..

so using an inverter you would reduce the power by 20% .. which = 8ah .. so now you only have 32ah of useful power..

of course if you have a mega battery bank that changes things ... but by and large most have either an 85 or 110ah battery .. makes more sense to run as many things as possible on 12v or directly from the EHU

 

[catspyjamas]

Jane, before you do anything, contact our friend, Stuart. He will give you advice on what and what not to do..... My invertor (adaptor) is ideal for me ... gift from a lovely Funster .... but you might be best getting a bigger one to save having to change it again in the future. Joy

PS Stuart helped me with a problem on my aerial. (as did Dixon)

Thanks Joy.

Stuart's just phoned me and explained all about the leads, so everything's a lot clearer now.

 

[Stewart J]

We have a 19" Avtex, sound and picture quality is unrivaled in a set this size in my opinion. Our 19" Samsung has a good picture but poor sound.

Another consideration are where the TV speakers are mounted, Avtex are on the front, many of the others are built in underneath or on the rear of the TV. Hence you don't need the volume up high to enjoy the avtex and less likely to annoy neighbours

Like others I would buy another despite the price then I wouldn't be in the "if only" !!!

 

[Stewart J]

12 volt 2 pin adaptors on Ebay or any accessory shop

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[Gooney]

Avtex is the preffered choice of lorry drivers (the ones I know anyway) for their robustness.:thumb:

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