Caravan TV advice.
Hello,
I have just bought my first caravan and are getting ready for our first outing.
I'm looking into getting a TV for the caravan, probably no more that 22" and with a DVD,
I have been looking into the Avtex TV's with various comments about low quality of the DVD player and picture quality.
Any guidance on a brand / model that would be suitable would be greatly appreciated.
Thank You all for your time.
Phil.
Comments
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If you plan to use your van on EHU, any telly of your choice will do. If you will not be on EHU, ensure whatever you choose will work from 12v and many 'ordinary' sets do this via a transformer. Avtex are expensive and, in my personal opinion, overrated.
Are you sure a 22" set will fit? It's bigger than anything we ever used in a caravan or MH. Also, consider where it will travel.
Btw, Phil, you can choose your own user name by going to My Profile at the head of the page.
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Avtex are not cheap but we have been very pleased with the two we have. The first a 19 inch came with our Bailey caravan when bought new and worked well for the 5 years we had the caravan. It is now in use in the house. That just had a freeview (HD) tuner and DVD, which we used a lot. When we switched to a MH we bought a small 16 inch Avtex which fitted onto a bracket on the wall. This had freeview (HD) and satellite tuners as well as a DVD, which again has been heavily used. Picture quality is first class and viewable from quite acute angles. Sound is reasonable as speakers are in the back and is actually better from the one in the MH as the sound reflects of the wall behind, where as in the caravan there was free space. If we were buying again it would definitely be an Avtex. If you are going off grid they also have very low power consumptions as TV’s go. Ours is plugged into the 12 volt even when on EHU saves messing about with the power block which is difficult to site in the MH.
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While TW is right you can use any old 240v TV if you do not intend to go off grid, be aware that they are unlikely to be built to withstand the rigours of mobile travel. 12v TVs like the Avtex are designed for travel and are more robustly built. You pays your money and makes your choice.
peedee
PS make sure it is an HD TV, SD is being phased out.
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As has been mentioned what you buy and what price point will depend on your style of camping. If you will always be on 230V EHU you could buy any of the size you require. Having said that many of the mainstream manufacturers no longer make small televisions so you choice might not be that great. If you intend camping off grid, relying on 12V supply you have a more limited range available to you. There are specialist brands in the leisure market like Avtex, Cello and Vision Plus. The trouble is that unless you have had a direct comparison between the brands if is difficult to make a judgement. For some they just want to watch a little bit TV whilst away where quality might not be important whilst others might watch a lot of TV where the quality becomes more important.
For the last six or so years we have had an Avtex TV in our motorhomes. It was chosen because of its quality and flexibility, ours also has a built in satellite receiver which was useful on our last motorhome which had a roof mounted dish. The picture quality is excellent. We do occasionally play a CD using the inbuilt player. It's a bit fiddly but it works fine.
David
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We've been happy with our Avtex tvs, they're quite robust and our present one is wall mounted. I think if you're away a lot and you like to watch TV and use satellite etc it's good to get the best you can afford. We like the picture and sound quality on ours and occasionally use a dvd. Ours is just for basic use. Bear in mind that laptops and phones etc can also provide good TV coverage so there are various options.
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My 19 inch Avtex must be about 8 years old and has not given any trouble at all. My only criticism of it is it is very slow to tune and the sound quality isn't that good. Perhaps newer models are better? I have to live with the slow to tune function but I have overcome the poor sound quality by connecting an Avtex sound bar to it which also gives the other advantage of being able to play music or radio programs through it via bluetooth from other devices e.g. my tablet or phone. I hardly ever use the DVD/CD capability but have recently equipped it with a Firestick to allow streaming from the internet.
peedee
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Another vote for Avtex. After owning a 10" version for a few years we bought a 2nd hand L165DRS about 6 years ago. It has a built in sat tuner and dvd. We also think sound, quality, viewing angle and display all excellent. If you use the initially naff looking coat hanger style Avtex suction mounted TV aerial you will be pleasantly surprised. This combo enables the TV to feed power to a built in signal amplifier in the aerial. Before we go away I look up the local TV mast on https://ukfree.tv/maps/freeview So far I've always been able to get a good picture.
I've just noticed the comment on HD and looked up the spec on our unit. It says HD ready so I do hope all will be fine.
The Firestick mentioned earlier interests me. I've sold our Snipe Sat dish but have a Firestick. When in France I cannot work out if we will be able to use this. I think I may be able to access our [sons] Netflix account but I doubt UK TV will be available to view.
Colin
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When replaced, or more accurately, added to out van TVs with a Cello. We chose a model with built in satellite tuner which we are pleased with.
Viewing angles not so good as the Avtex but otherwise no issues. On the occasions we have used the sat tuner it has worked well.
Size wise its ideal for us, it is far more oblong than square, and sits well in front without blocking the view too much.
https://celloelectronics.com/model/televisions/traveller-tvs/
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Unless you intend to tour without electric hookups then buy a 12v TV if you don't then don't bother instead buy a quality 20" or more TV if you have a smart phone with plenty of data and subscribe to Netflix or prime or you wish to view iplayer you can by tethering your phone.
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Another vote for Avtex - ours is a series 7 and must be 6 or 7 years old now and has been faultless. I've tried the cheaper brands but was disappointed with them all and eventually bit the bullet and shelled out for the Avtex. Ours is a 24" and sits on a substantial bracket at the side of the fridge which has a positive lock on it to stop it moving around when travelling. Despite there being a sticker on it saying don't travel with it attached, our dealer said it would be fine - so there it has sat (and travelled) for the last 4 years without any problems. Viewing angle is excellent and this is where it scores over cheaper models.
Being that sort of vintage, it isn't 'smart' but a Firestick soon solved that problem - plugs into an HDMI slot and takes it power from a USB port on the TV - so no trailing wires.
I also use a TP Link router and Poynting aerial on a 10' aluminium mast clamped to the jockey wheel for internet which gives us the facility of having catch-up TV.
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One thing to consider is size. The bigger the TV, the more electricity it uses, particularly if you are thinking of using it whilst off grid. In my first motorhome, I had a 16" Falcon Traveller TV which as built-in DVD 12v & 230v. leads. Falcon are the people who run a big full page ad for caravan gear in the CAMC magazine.
My current motorhome came with a built-in Avtex, so it's sitting in a cupboard. If you don't mind "smallish", you can contact me by Email which you can find in my profile.
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This is currently on Amazon:
C24EE2KF2UBM
We purchased the one below in 2019 & very happy with it.... 12/24v +240v & half the price of Avtex.
Sharp 24" Smart LED DVD 12v/24v TV with Freeview Play, Satellite, Saorview, PVR, LC-24DHG6132KFM
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Our first traveller type TV was a Cello, built in DVD player, freesat, free view and a USB port. It's still going strong but the sound is not that great.
We now have a new one with all the same features, the sound is much better.
We had an excellent portable TV unfortunately the screen on it broke, not sure how. I have now made a hard padded cover for the screen that is held in place by velcro straps. It travels on the front seat of the caravan surrounded by cushions.
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Hi,
As A&J, we have been using Cello tv's in our caravan, they run on 12 volt and 240v, very light and with slim profiles are easy to store.
Both are non-smart TV's but we use a roku for streaming / catchup via hotspoting from a mobile.
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Hi,
OP, I would be very reluctant to make a big financial output on a fancy new terrestrial input TV in 2023 for mobile / Caravan use constantly re-tuning on new sites & fiddling to get reception with the dwindling terrestrial choices of channel / programmes input on often tree lined rural sites.
We have moved over to watching just the online streaming of specific TV programmes we like, with very little except current News now watched live 24/7. We just use our existing iPad & a simple cheap multi signal input mifi (Wi-Fi), a NordVPN for security, a signal reception booster if really needed. Actually much simpler once your up to speed, few if any cabling & clutter, uses our existing hardware & Wi-Fi desire & many channels & programmes are actually freely available.
Appreciate many prefer to just persist with Terrestrial signal input TV’s, oh and likely share (unaware) their security passwords and details on the budget but it’s ‘free’ communal site snail Wi-Fi systems …M
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I think your right when it comes to the future Montesa. I don't think it is quite there just yet, we need better and wider 5G coverage for it to be really sucessful. I have followed >this thread< and have been experimenting with the equipment for a couple of months now and find at least at home 4G can be very vairiable in speed and use.
peedee
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peedee,
To maybe assist you / others knowledge ….
I am merely a user and am not at all Techi ….
My Mifi unit - Huawei 8A50, a very simple small basic unit (with very small internal aerial) - we bought it about 4 years ago from Motorhome Wi-Fi at Harrogate show as a package deal. We were very frustrated with rubbish slow site Wi-Fi that we needed on site when away. Many other Touring folk now have similar personal set ups. We also carry it in the car for Wi-Fi on the go.
Larger input Aerial panel. The Huawei has a small clip down panel to enable our 3” x 4” larger reception aerial panel attaching ( two wires) which then has plastic suckers to put the aerial it onto a window on site, helps greatly improve the scope of reception options and signal quality - highly recommended. There are also fixed aerial reception units for MH roofs etc. NB Don’t confuse with site Wi-Fi ‘Booster’ units.
Today at present (SE Spain) we have a 4g signal (normal) on 3 bars and Ookla test says 43 down load / 28 upload with our 4 devices online. It shows multiple input sources. We are running Nord VPN on all devices (my VPN barely slows the speed). My wife is watching a streaming TV programme, I’m typing on here & 2 phones are logged in. This truly use anywhere Mobile set up is now getting fairly common in Houses in snail Wi-Fi areas or with no fibre 4g etc.
In poor stormy weather or in very restricted areas we can experience some TV picture buffering blurring (a weaker signal ?) so we usually switch off some unused devices that are sucking some signal strength and it resolves.
It basically receives a Wi-Fi signal and transmits it for personal use - with a password for security. Can say absolutely we have never failed to get decent Wi-Fi anywhere in UK or remote EU and the signal scope improves constantly.
NB Mifi units are routinely sent out by BT etc when your home Wi-Fi fails as a stop gap.
We have an O2 data chip on an unlimited monthly Data contract - as it is / was with no EU limit or loading. There are some who use their Mobile Phone to do a similar TV watching set up (called tethering ?).
Great Wi-Fi (& TV) so why struggle with old tech ?Hope this helps ….
M
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I am not sure I could sit and watch TV for any length of time on a 10 inch screen! Even when I watch YouTube on my computer I have a 24 inch monitor and I am only 18 inches away from the screen! I can see that technology will eventually change but suspect that having a TV in the caravan/motorhome will continue for some time yet? Also a TV with a reasonably sized screen can be seen from various angles depending on where people are sitting.
Now having said all that I did see something on a Vlog recently where the occupants streamed a movie in their van conversion but used a projector to show it at a reasonable size. It was difficult to tell what the resolution was like but that might be another future possibility?
David
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DK ( & others ?),
If a bigger screen output ( at a greater distance away is demanded) then a simple wireless Bluetooth connection to a recent or existing smarter type of domestic Bluetooth enabled TV resolves.
We actually find a modern iPad screen is just fine to view due to very high quality picture and we just watch it at say 1 to 2 metre distance anywhere we so desire.
Tech moves on continuously reacting to the demands mainly of younger generations (most of whom are like me and not at all tech savvie).
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I will be installing my TP link Router and my Poynting XPOL-1-5G V2 Outdoor 4G LTE/5G aerial in my motorhome before my next trip. I can get internet TV and radio via an Amazon Firestick plugged into the HDMI socket of the TV or direct onto our tablets..
FYI to get HD TV all you need is a download speed of 5Mbs or greater and SD TV will need even less speed.
peedee
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