Television 12 Volt or Regular?

[silverta16]

Been looking at 12 volt Tv's trying to figure out if I should get a regular Tv and use an inverter or go for straight 12 volt. The 12 volts I looked at the picture and viewing angle was horrible. I've read reviews about the sound being horrible also. I have a 184BH and liked the idea of the simple 12 volt setup. I am looking for a 24 inch, really don't want a no name truck stop brand. What do you guys use?

[GHen]

I run my 48” off an inverter. Don’t use it much when camping but I did a test at home and it would run 10 hours nonstop before my 2 group 24 deep cycles would get down to 12.4. I certainly could use it a couple hours a day without affecting my power levels too much.

[LuckyDuck]

Our SLX 212 did not come with a TV, and I assumed I’d go with a Furrion or Jensen 12v. But after researching the heck out of everything out there, I wasn’t comfortable with the quality — and the higher price. I went with a standard AC 28” LG from Best Buy. It’s 720p, but that’s plenty for our TT. Quality is great and I got it on sale for less than $120. We don’t plan on boondocking much, if at all, and if we do, we’ll pick up a genny. Couldn’t be happier.

[silverta16]

That's where I'm at on it. The 12 volts are 2X the price and the reviews and quality are crap. I went to our local truck stop and checked out some Naxa and Sky...... brands they had and wasn't impressed at all.

This is my 2nd Jayco camper and they build them with hookups but no real way or place to mount a TV. Sure would be nice if they'd stick a stud in the way beside the hookups, or build the upper cabinets strong enough to hang a 10lb TV.

[bdreinv]

After all most 3 years added a plug and PSW inverter for my TV.Used an old extension cord from our spray painter We mostly dry camp nice not having to listed to a noisy generator.Plus it has a remote!

[Murff]

The Jensen that came in our trailer was replaced with a Samsung Smart TV for about $200.00 from Best Buy. Can stream movies stored on my phone or from any external device. Even works as an internet browser.

An inverter works well.

Murff

[Mustang65]

Originally Posted by Murff

The Jensen that came in our trailer was replaced with a Samsung Smart TV for about $200.00 from Best Buy. Can stream movies stored on my phone or from any external device. Even works as an internet browser.

An inverter works well.

Murff

Murff,
You know you are leaving yourself wide open to those that feel this should not be part of camping. I guess I would not know, as I "Don't Leave Home Without all my toys"!!
Don

My Registry

RVing with SOLAR

[Murff]

I understand, Don.

Maybe I should have mentioned that just because the TV can do those things, doesn't mean I use it for that. We watch an occasional movie during crappy weather and maybe catch up on the news while on the road. After 3 years, probably less than 50 hours on the TV.

Murff

[RoyBraddy]

I have a couple of 120VAC Drop cords with multi-head receptacles running from a Pure Sinewave Power Inverter. One is located in the Home entertainment area and the other one is located back near the bed where we sleep.

If all I was wanting to power up was the TV set I might look into the 12VDC models.

Kinda neat for us always having 120VAC available for the low wattage items we like to have running when we camp off the power grid...

Our approach was to be able to run all the 12VDC items we wanted to run in the one day/night run off the batteries and then when allowed will plug our trailer into our 2KW Honda Generator the next morning and recharge our batteries back to their 90% charge state in about three hours generator run time. Then we are good to do this all over again the next day/night run off the batteries

We have been doing this since 2009 when we got into our off-road POPUP trailer camping so it is all second nature to us now doing it this way...

Its all in the planning...

We always chuckle when we hear some folks frown on others running their HDTV sets when camping... We do it all the time when we camp - even when OFF the power grid... . It is for us to enjoy ourselves and that includes watching HDTV after supper before going to bed. Also neat to watch the live 24/7 hour LIVE RADAR alot of the TV Stations have going to keep track of those possible bad boy thunder storms with wind. We watch alittle HDTV, keep in touch with the kids over the internet, and pay a few bills when needed etc... All part of our daily camping routine.

My POPUP trailer has a pole up its side with a BATWING Antenna on it which I can rotate to pull in the local towns that are providing the HDTV signals..


Roy's image

Roy Ken

[LuckyDuck]

Roy—how big (watts) an inverter do you use? Any particular brand? Thanks!

[gypsmjim]

Our 195 isn't much bigger than your 184, so a "small" tv was mandatory. In that size we could find nothing available except a 12 V, with a 120 power cord. We only use it on 120. I think its an LG.

The other requirement we had was that it be equipped with a DVD player, so we wouldn't have another contraption to deal with. That further limited the choices.

Our camp has hit and miss TV reception. We usually only watch $1 DVDs bought at garage sales. But that's minimal as well. We are CAMPING for gosh sake. The TV is only for downpours when the awning even won't keep the water off of us.

Our cellphones are also powered down and stashed in the trunk of the car. Like i said....CAMPING.....AKA VACATION. If work wants to call, I'm not available.