TV advice for a newbie

[wavester]

Hi
We have finally put down our deposit and collect our little baby next weekend. No doubt i will have 101 questions over the coming weeks, and i have been really helped by some of the info from this forum re insurance, rear seat belts etc. My first question is really to seek advice on what kind of TV to purchase to put in my motorhome. i have a budget of £250 and have seen some 15" flat screens. My Hymer has an aerial, Tv socket etc, but are all sets compatible, do you experienced people out there have any advice before i buy something completely incompatible!! Need something to keep kids quiet when its raining!!
thanks
Wavester

 

[dylan]

Welcome to the fun forum Wavester, I am sure someone will come along soon to answer your question:thumb:

 

[Geo]

Hi Wavester, My opinion only but here goes
The only things that need a decision realy is what method of powering the TV do you have in mind if using an Inverter then any TV will do the job only size being the choice to make many a good budget TVs about for a lot less than your budget. if you want flexibility check out the Voltage on the rear of the tv, a good few are 12 volt by default, and the mains tranformer simply reduces mains to 12 volt, try to find one with a round plug on the end of the transformer (as oposed to some one off type you can not get a replacement for) it will make using it in the van easyer,
last tip you dont ned a special TV as sold by some motorhome dealers for 4-6 x the cost of an ASDA or Tesco TV, however they are purpose built/selected for the job, arn't they????
Geo

 

[Jim]

My advice is to save a lot of money and go for a 240v TV and an inverter for when you are not on a site with an electric hook up. Buy a 150 or 300w inverter for those times that you rely solely on your batteries. If you are going to camp without electric often then you will need to have at least a couple of leisure batteries in good condition if you want to watch any TV whether its 12v or 240.

 

[N Luyetund]

worth exploring using a laptop if you have one... TV, DVD, Radio and wifi connections where available...

We always use el hookups and managed for years with a bog standard portable lump

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[wavester]

Thanks for advice, i'll certainly invest in an inverter and then down to tesco's for the TV. Hadn't considered the laptop option, bit IT ignorant is TV available through t'internet then? Better find out some more sounds interesting:thumb:

 

[walburga]

I recently bought a Proline LVD 1580 from Comet, approx £200. It was highly recommended by several people on the out&about forum.

It is an LCD TV with Analogue, Freeview and a DVD player all built in. It is supplied with a mains transformer to step down the operating voltage to 12 volts, and I'm assured it runs on approx 3 amps.

But, I couldn't get a digital picture on a recent week at the CC site at Braemar, although analogue reception was good.

Hope this helps.

regards

Allen

ps If you are attending Newark this coming w/e you can see it in action !

 

[Terry]

SIMPLE GUIDE TO 12 VOLT LCD TV FOR MOTORHOMES
LOTS OF TVS WORK OFF 12V---ASDA, TESCO, COMET, CURRYS ETC.
MAKE SURE IT SAYS 12V ON THE BACK
MAKE SURE IT HAS A PLUG TYPE AS IN PICTURE not four pin etc,


THESE PLUGS ARE READYLY AVILABABLE OFF GAMES CONSOLES ETC,
YOU CAN USE YOUR 240 LEAD ON HOOKUP OR MAKE UP A LEAD FOR 12V VIA CIG LIGHTER OR CROC CLIPS (PORTECT WITH IN LINE FUSE)
OR WIRE TO YOUR ARIEL PLUG

IDENTIFY POSS AND NEG THEN MAKE UP YOUR LEAD
IF YOU WANT TO YOU CAN PROTECT WITH A VOLTAGE STABILIZER
OR AS IN MY CASE JUST WIRED DIRECT TO ARIEL PLUG.
IF USING VOLTAGE STABILISER YOU MAY FIND THAT IF VOLTAGE DROPS TO 11.5V IT WILL NOT WORK, BUT IF NONE USED YOUR TV MAY WORK AS LOW AS 10.5 V (LONGER)
AS VOLTAGE DROPS THE PICTURE WILL GO OFF BUT STILL HAVE SOUND, SO PLENTY OF WARNING TO CHARGE YOUR BATTERY BEFORE ANY DAMAGE OCURS.
terry