Purchasing a TV Advice.
Any recommendations/advice please on 12 volt/mains TV's. New to Motorhoming, we have a bracket already in place and it looks like we would need just a small 16" screen.
Have done some research on line and find the makes Cello and Avtex - Quite a price difference, Avtex being the greater.
Any thoughts/experiences please ?
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Hello and welcome to the wonderful world of motorhoming and CT.
There is at least one thread on here somewhere about this but the search facility, along with other bits, is rubbish 😲. Sorry I haven't found it.
We have a small domestic TV from argos I believe, with a built in dvd player. Works fine but we do get black screen if you're not sitting in the correct place or have not made adjustments to the position of the TV. Suits us fine was about £70 7 years ago.
I believe the thread had comments similar to those above and that both Cello and Avertex seem to be good but huge price difference.
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If you intend to use 240v EHU then any old telly that takes your fancy will do.
If you will not be using mains lekky, you will need a TV that works on 12v. Many 'ordinary' sets have a 12v transformer built in so there's no need to dig deep for the specialised sets.
We have an Avtex as it was fitted in the van when we bought it. If it packs up it will be replaced with whatever I can find on the shelf in our local supermarket.
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There is also a company called Vision Plus that makes or at least sells a good range but their smallest is an 18". We were looking at one yesterday and were impressed with the picture quality.
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Hi and welcome
We also have the Avtex, considering the price we're not overly impressed with it, nothing wrong with it but in my opinion nothing that makes it stand out from cheaper models. We bought one with the DVD player so that if you can't get a signal (despite all the paraphernalia to enhance the signal) then you can at least watch a DVD
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we have a Vision Plus 12v tv at the foot of our bed (18" possibly) and it is a great little tv, connected to our Sky box gives a lovely clear picture.
very pleased, especially as our very nice dealer supplied and fitted it FOC
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Are you sure that you can only fit a 16" screen? The latest Avtex TVs are very slim and virtually frameless. My 21" is a lot smaller and lighter than my previous 19" model.
The position of the TV in the van may be higher than the position you normally watch TV at home so the viewing angle becomes more important. If mounted on a swing out bracket, then these usually allow the TV to be tilted down so avoiding a black screen.
Voltage in a caravan/MH can vary somewhere between 14v and 11.5v, so a 12v TV must be able to cope with these fluctuations.1 -
Peegeenine, I have a 19" for home and took it out to check for size in the Motorhome, where the bracket is situated is just above the Dinette Chairs and when it has to be folded back to go flush with the wall there is a wall unit that is housing the arial limiting the space, so I think a 16" is the only option.
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We have a Cello e bought last year after going on a rally with no e.h.u.
it has worked good so far, we are now looking for sites with no e.h.u.
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Avtex have wide viewing angles, low power consumption and quick tune facility. They are supposed to be constructed for the rugged conditions encountered camping. I have had mine for several years and would buy another. It works well on both mains and battery.
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We have a Avtex in our caravan, and find it very good, it is also very easy to tune in with just pressing one button.
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The ease of retuning is an important consideration given how many times your are going to be doing it but I suppose most modern sets have an automatic feature for this.
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As KenofKent, we have an Avtex and would buy another. It came with our new van 3 years ago and is well built and easy, if slow to tune. I have found this the case with other TV's as well. I am not sure why as the Freesat HDD box we have tunes in in about a quarter the time. The Avtex will record onto a memory stick, although this is fiddly and does not pause live TV all that well, even with a high spec stick. Viewing angles are however very good, better than on any other TV I have used.
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There is this one advertised on ebay, and way below the prices of Avtex and Cello:
16 in Flat Screen TV with built-in Freesat, Freesat HD, Freeview, Freeview HD - and there are other more well known makes second-hand.
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Another Avtex user here, very happy with it especially the picture quality. In normal circumstances we spend quite a bit of time in the motorhome each year so feel the extra investment is worthwhile. Particularly like the built in satellite receiver which works well with our roof mounted dish.
David
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with sets now showing 'digital' pictures (as opposed to the old analog signals) most give a good picture as the signal is either present or not, we dont get bad signals now, just present on a particular channel or not.
viewing angle might be one of the most important factors to check out, depending on how you sit in relation to your tv.
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Last year, I bought the caravan TV and satellite dish from Aldi which were both cheap but ended up taking them back. The TV kept losing signals in areas where I had not previously experienced any problems and the satellite dish was a faff to set up. Bit the bullet and bought an Avtex 24DRS and flat satellite dish with 'Easyfind' technology and both have been brilliant. Simple to set up, built in satellite decoder in the TV - good viewing angle and very crisp picture. It was an expensive purchase but worth it in my opinion. My only slight criticism is that the sound isn't brilliant but this tends to be the case with most ultra-slim TVs, these days.
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I would consider not using the bracket....could a larger tv not be place elsewhere. Avtex does seem to be ridiculously expensive for a tv, all modern TVs are easy to tune and the quality will be as good as the avtex at a third of the price.
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Thank you David2115, Unfortunately there is nowhere else to re-site the bracket because of the plug point, the two other points we have in the M/H are not suitably sited.
I did see a secondhand 16" Avtex on E Bay with a buy it now price of £100, but am reluctant to risk buying because of not getting a guarantee.
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Paulsy, what type of MH do tpu have, someone with a similar layout might be able to offer an alternative solution.
Btw, IMHO its better to have the TV where you want it and to 'move/manage' the power supply to it rather than placing a tv where ypu dont want it, just because the plug is there...
moving a socket or aerial point isnt difficult and could even be managed with an extension cable (or two).
this would then allow ypu to bu the size tv you want rather than the size the designer 'designed' it for.
good luck.
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BoleroBoy, We have a 2012 Hobby T500 MH, the actual siting of the TV bracket is in a very good position it is where we would have chosen it to be, if we were installing it.
I am now learning that some of these 12 volt/mains TV's have a built in satellite receiver, so perhaps another aspect to think about when considering a purchase, of course these are more expensive. Axtex are retailing at £300.
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