12v Television recommendations

Jun 2, 2015
605
0
18,880
Visit site
Can anyone recommend the best (and reasonably priced) 12v Television brands please, and which ones should perhaps be least recommended (I appreciate that we are on dodgy ground openly decrying a product as being rubbish).
I than you all in advance for your help.
 
Feb 3, 2008
3,790
0
0
Visit site
Argos used to do cheap mains TVs but they were actually 12v via an external PSU adaptor. We bought one and just used the last couple of feet of 12v cable and terminated the cable with a caravan 12v connector. Used it for several years until we weighted the van and contents. :( The TV was 5 kg so we bought a new low wattage mains one (complete with internal DVD player) weighing 2.5 kg online for about £110. But I see you are looking for a 12v one, and specialised 12v ones are several hundred pounds.
 
Jun 24, 2005
704
1
18,885
Visit site
The Avtex tv/dvd player that came with my Unicorn had a great picture but the dvd player packed up quite quickly. I use a 12v media player so that wasn't much of a bother though. A new 18.5" one can be bought online for about £280.
 

Mel

Mar 17, 2007
5,338
1,280
25,935
Visit site
The thing to do is lie down on the floor in Currys and look UP at the TV and check that the picture doesn't go peculiar. OK, security may ask you to leave, but you will know if you can watch the TV in bed in the van
Mel
 
Jul 15, 2008
3,633
649
20,935
Visit site
........don't bother with a 12 volt TV.

Buy the mains TV of a reasonable size that you like and run it from a 12 volt inverter which you can buy for around £25 for a 150 Watt model...........modified sign wave inverters are fine for this job.
Some TVs are manufactured in bulk to run off 12 volts DC and are supplied with a mains power source to supply this voltage that is specific to the country of sale.
These TVs require a stabilised 12 volts........not 11.5 to 14.2 volts that may be the case in a caravan.
it is better to run this type of TV via an inverter through the power source to get a stabilised 12 volt supply.

Specific 12 volt caravan TVs are expensive as they are manufactured specifically to cope with fluctuating voltage.
 
Mar 14, 2005
17,557
3,051
50,935
Visit site
Gafferbill said:
........don't bother with a 12 volt TV.

Buy the mains TV of a reasonable size that you like and run it from a 12 volt inverter which you can buy for around £25 for a 150 Watt model...........modified sign wave inverters are fine for this job.
Some TVs are manufactured in bulk to run off 12 volts DC and are supplied with a mains power source to supply this voltage that is specific to the country of sale.
These TVs require a stabilised 12 volts........not 11.5 to 14.2 volts that may be the case in a caravan.
it is better to run this type of TV via an inverter through the power source to get a stabilised 12 volt supply.

Specific 12 volt caravan TVs are expensive as they are manufactured specifically to cope with fluctuating voltage.

I'm sorry but I can't agree with the recommendation of using a 12Vdc to 230Vac modified sine wave inverter.

I have tried to use a laptop on a modified sinewave inverter, and it failed miserably. Fortunately no apparent damage was done, but I have no way of knowing if the power waveform may have weakened any components which may lead to premature failure in the future.

Modified sine wave inverters are the most efficient converters, but they produce some rather nasty quality mains voltages. They are not the nice smooth constantly changing voltage of a sine wave, but they step between set voltages to poorly mimic a sine wave. They are fine working into purely resistive loads, such as incandescent lamps and heaters, but as soon as any device with reactance or inductance is connected, (eg motors, and many modern electronic items that use switch mode power supplies (SMPS), The output voltages and currents often produce quite nasty artifacts that can can prevent equipment from working and may actually damage connected equipment.

Symptoms include the equipment generating more heat than is usual,
Laptops and TV's not working or visual disturbances on the screen.
sometimes audible squealing and uneven running from motors and running slower than expected.

If you get any of these symptoms you must stop using the inverter immediately.

If you must go for an inverter make sure its is a Pure Sine wave model. These produce a full sine wave and avoid the nasty step changes and transient oscillations of the modified sine wave inverters. Unfortunately, they are more expensive, and less efficient, but a far safer option if you are using expensive appliances.

I do agree with gaffer that many of the smaller TV that actually need 12V from a an inline power supply do require a high quality of DC power, and my may not work properly if just connected to the caravan's 12V supply, but to use an inverter then to reconvert it back to 12V is not especially efficient.

As an alternative solution, there are what are called buck converters. These only cost a few pounds, and the type that do both up and down conversions often can be preset to produce a pretty stable 12V dc output even with inputs as low as 5Vdc. The trade off is the current draw of the converter rises as the input voltage falls to maintain a constant power conversion. These have become more popular as they allow the variable outputs from renewable energy generators (wind, and solar) to provide the optimum charge for storage batteries.
 
Jul 15, 2008
3,633
649
20,935
Visit site
ProfJohnL said:
I'm sorry but I can't agree with the recommendation of using a 12Vdc to 230Vac modified sine wave inverter

Interesting ........since I have been using a modified sine wave inverter to power my mains TV for over a 10 year period and similarly my lap top for about 8 years with no issues.
Just used it extensively whilst off grid for 10 days on my last trip out with my caravan.
 
Mar 8, 2009
1,851
334
19,935
Visit site
Some TVs are manufactured in bulk to run off 12 volts DC and are supplied with a mains power source to supply this voltage that is specific to the country of sale.
These TVs require a stabilised 12 volts........not 11.5 to 14.2 volts that may be the case in a caravan.
it is better to run this type of TV via an inverter through the power source to get a stabilised 12 volt supply.


Interesting that, been running tv's off my 12 volts in the van with no problem when not on hook up. Even run it in the car from the socket. Do have a 600 watt inverter but never found it necessary to use it on the tele. Just unplugged the mains transformer and run a lead to the 12v (nominal) caravan supply.
 
Apr 20, 2009
5,482
827
25,935
Visit site
Whilst away last week, could only get BBC 1 and nothing else and as it has the DVD combo that wouldnt work either. Tried first time install, hook up to main bollard, signal finder (on the van) Nothing,
So went out and got One of these plugged it in and hey presto, every thing worked :) But what you do with the Smart part of it I havent a clue :(
Lovely picture and good sound.

Got the old one home and tried it AND IT WORKED on every channel EXCEPT BBC1 !!!! even the DVD worked.!!!
 
Apr 7, 2008
4,909
3
0
Visit site
Gagakev said:
But what you do with the Smart part of it I havent a clue :(
For the smart side of the tv you need to connect to the internet, if you are on a site that has got it even better ;)

We use a MiFi but you have to be sensible with its usage ....
Our MiFi will let us connect up to five different items at once, they are easy enough to use and although we have the 15gb monthly limit we haven't gone over it.....That's using the laptop & the firestick at the same time
 
Apr 20, 2009
5,482
827
25,935
Visit site
Sproket said:
Gagakev said:
But what you do with the Smart part of it I havent a clue :(
For the smart side of the tv you need to connect to the internet, if you are on a site that has got it even better ;)

We use a MiFi but you have to be sensible with its usage ....
Our MiFi will let us connect up to five different items at once, they are easy enough to use and although we have the 15gb monthly limit we haven't gone over it.....That's using the laptop & the firestick at the same time

Ah thanks sprocket, got the chromecast at home we sometimes use for the i player. had the Mifi for christmas two years ago, upstairs in a drawer, never used it !!
 
Jul 15, 2008
3,633
649
20,935
Visit site
saint-spoon said:
Can anyone recommend the best (and reasonably priced) 12v Television brands please, and which ones should perhaps be least recommended (I appreciate that we are on dodgy ground openly decrying a product as being rubbish).
I than you all in advance for your help.

.............this old post from over 5 years ago may be useful and Parksy may want to update you on his solution and how he got on :huh:
 
Apr 27, 2015
128
1
0
Visit site
We bought one of these (from the same suppliers, Tesco, refurbished) and plug it into the mains in the van (along with a Sky box and/or laptop and/or tablet). We paid £85, this specific listing is potentially heading towards being a potential bargain.

When we're off mains elec we tend to just use the laptop for recorded stuff and in those cases an inverter has been fine for us.
 
Jun 24, 2005
704
1
18,885
Visit site
Sproket said:
Gagakev said:
But what you do with the Smart part of it I havent a clue :(
For the smart side of the tv you need to connect to the internet, if you are on a site that has got it even better ;)

We use a MiFi but you have to be sensible with its usage ....
Our MiFi will let us connect up to five different items at once, they are easy enough to use and although we have the 15gb monthly limit we haven't gone over it.....That's using the laptop & the firestick at the same time

I'm interested in the "3" Huawei E5330 Mobile Wi-Fi but as I live in France how would the coverage be? If I only bought the £8 permonth, 2gb package, how much time would I get on my Amazon FireStick? I'll write to "3" but am really looking for impartial views from fellow forumites.
 

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts