12V 15" LCD TV - A bargain or am I missing something?

[Louis_5040937]

I was browsing around in Sainsburys last week and as I needed one for the bedroom, I purchased a 15" LCD TV made by the well known and respected (!) company Sonix. When I got home, I realised that it was actually a 12V DC model but it runs through the mains via the supplied adaptor. The TV draws 4 amps @ 12v (about 50 watts) so I can easily run it through a 150w inverter that I already have (I think they cost about £25 to buy). The question for this forum is that when I investigated how much 12V 15" LCD TVs were, all the caravan supplies sites were quoting prices of around £400. Have I found the caravanning bargain of the century or am I missing something obvious?? I have to say that I'm new to caravanning and my first van's due to be delivered in a month so I can't test to see whether it really works in the caravan!

 

[Kate3]

I am looking forward to hearing your replys because we too are looking for an LCD. How much does it weigh please. Thanks

 

[Adrian_5061436]

Hi Louis

I`d need to know how much you paid before I could decide if it was a bargain !! Can you give a bit more info ? Does it have teletext ? , is it multi standard ? what branch of Sainsburys ?

Cheers

Ade

 

[Louis_5040937]

I can't believe that I missed the most important info - it was

 

[Louis_5040937]

Adrian - Not sure whay you mean by multi standard but I've just messed around with it and you seem to be able to select the following "systems" PAL-I (which is the one that I am using), PAL-BG, SECAM DK, SECAM-BG & PAL-DK. Hope that answers your question?

 

[Adrian_5061436]

A multistandard TV would be useful if touring abroard and plugging into a campsite supplied service. Your TV seems to cover most popular systems. Might just be a bargain !! I can`t find a mention of TV`s at all on Sainsburys website , perhaps yours was a special purchase for your local branch only. Shame.

 

[PeterT]

Louis

I bought one, a DIGIX, from Christchurch (Dorset) Sainsbury's cost

 

[Adrian_5061436]

Peter and Louis

Do your new LCd`s have teletext/fastext?

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Louis, It seems you do have an LCD at a bargain price. A note of caution though, Quite a number of people have tried running 12Vdc LCD,s straight of the 12V sockets in the caravan, with mixed success. The reason is that when the LCD manufacture says 12V they mean 12V or something very close to it. The 12V system in a caravan can be as high as 14V when the charger is operating and can fall as low as 10.5V when the battery is nearing the end of its charge. The electronics in the LCD us usually need a stable supply to operate consistently. Some makes of LCD seem to be more tolerant of variable voltages than others, so you could be lucky or not. As you have already pointed out you could use an inverter to generate 230V ac and then use the LCD's own power pack, you would loose something in all the different conversions, but it would at least work, and of course if you have a mains hook up then simply use a 230V socket.

 

[PeterT]

Peter and Louis

Do your new LCd`s have teletext/fastext?

Adrian

Teletext - Yes

Fastext - Think so (not used that)

 

[milliesdad]

Hello Louis, It seems you do have an LCD at a bargain price. A note of caution though, Quite a number of people have tried running 12Vdc LCD,s straight of the 12V sockets in the caravan, with mixed success. The reason is that when the LCD manufacture says 12V they mean 12V or something very close to it. The 12V system in a caravan can be as high as 14V when the charger is operating and can fall as low as 10.5V when the battery is nearing the end of its charge. The electronics in the LCD us usually need a stable supply to operate consistently. Some makes of LCD seem to be more tolerant of variable voltages than others, so you could be lucky or not. As you have already pointed out you could use an inverter to generate 230V ac and then use the LCD's own power pack, you would loose something in all the different conversions, but it would at least work, and of course if you have a mains hook up then simply use a 230V socket.

Another word of caution - some inverters also only work close to 12v (smilar to the TV itself) and so the problem isn't overcome. In my example the TV worked on the inverter ok until you turned the taps on! The drop in voltage caused the inverter to give up.