Avtex vs Mobile TV LCD Freeview TV

[Jeff-Pontypridd]

Hi,

Am looking for a 15inch LCD TV with Freeview and DVD. Both these (Avtex 7 in 1 and Mobile TV) are being advertised in the Caravan Club mag. They are both 12volt and are PAL/SECAM. The Mobile TV is about a tenner cheaper. Does anyone own either, and have any recommendations?

Are these purpose built sets any better than a standard Freeview/analogue LCD TV with DVD built-in, available from countless outlets at far cheaper prices?

 

[colin-yorkshire]

hi jeff

performance wise there is little differance between the LCD freeview tv sold commertialy and the 12v ones as with any digital reciever its the ariel thats important

as with anything that can be used mobile ie on 12v the price doubles instantly for no apparent gain in performance. the only real question is do you intend to use the tv on 12v if the answer is yes buy one, other wise why waste money on some thing you will not use.

personally I dont have a tv in the van because I have a laptop with a tv card in it and use that instead.

colin

 

[richardpalmer]

Colin, I too use a laptop with TV card. However, my TV card is digital only. At Sandringham C&CC site I couldn't get any signal. I have a free-standing aeriel. Not sure if that's because there was no signal?

 

[Rioja]

I now use a laptop too, and that has either mains or 12v. We bought a 12v portable Colour TV at a hugely inflated price but found that we couldn't use it anyway as the battery went flat in no time. We might as well have bought a mains set at a fraction of the price.

 

[colin-yorkshire]

hi all

thats basically what I said and agree with all the comments so far

 

[Donnalesley]

Check out the cheaper offerings in the supermarket or electrical store - all the ones I have looked at recently operate on 12 volts via a mains adapter.

So all you would need to do would be get a lead made up to suit.

Haydn

 

[Rich]

The 12V comment about it doubling the price is only true when used with traveling in a caravan or motorhome ect. We have a 17 inch LCD TV at home and it runs on 12 volts! it is not sold as a caravan tv or anything special, it is just a LCD TV. It was a good price and although we did not but it with the freeview option the choice was there and it would have been cheaper than the specialist options sold at caravan dealers. All you need to do is go to the Currys or Comet or wherever and look for the transformer box which plugs into the back of the TV and check the output is 12v. Easy and will save you money if you need to buy a TV.

Like Colin we use a Laptop with a duel TV card so we can watch both analogue and digital TV. It works brilliantly and I can also work away from home without carrying more stuff.

 

[Jeff-Pontypridd]

Cheers for this help, folks! Appreciated.

Still not sure which way to go, though, as the specialist sets don't half appear to have better resolutions than those available from Currys etc.

Does anyone own one? If so, any comments?

 

[Rich]

Jeff,

The resolution should be about the same. More than 720 lines or a resolution of more than 1024 X 768 means a regular image has to be interpolated to make it fit the screen. We spent loads of time looking into this and unless you plan on watching High Def TV it is not worth the added cost.

But for the van we do use a laptop which has a higher resolution but it does run a high spec graphics card to help with making it a real High Def system. But normal DVD's and tv do not look better than our home LCD TV in the kitchen.

 

[Jeff-Pontypridd]

Having been around all local accessory shops, I just bought the Avtex W152D. Seems to perform much better than the alternatives. On unpacking, however, no remote control and two sets of instructions/remote batteries. On way back to dealer now....

 

[RogerP]

I've got the Avtex 7 in 1 unit.

Main reason was I wanted a single unit that was a TV , freeview and CD/DVD player all in one - no messing about connecting up units and several power leads!!!. At the time this one seemed the best and was cheapest by about

 

[Richard_5040072]

Only just seen this posting as we've been away.

I have just written a report on these two sets (but without DVD).

Report is here:- http://www.caravanchannel.co.uk/V2products.html

Bear in mind that sets that are designed for mains only operation are very dependant on a smooth voltage from the transformer that is supplied with them.

The 12v supply from a caravan battery can vary a great deal and cause problems for electronic circuits.

Sets such as the Mobile and Avtex are designed to operate with a wide range of voltages from mains and battery.

 

[Karen_374312285]

Only just seen this posting as we've been away.

I have just written a report on these two sets (but without DVD).

Report is here:- http://www.caravanchannel.co.uk/V2products.html

Bear in mind that sets that are designed for mains only operation are very dependant on a smooth voltage from the transformer that is supplied with them.

The 12v supply from a caravan battery can vary a great deal and cause problems for electronic circuits.

Sets such as the Mobile and Avtex are designed to operate with a wide range of voltages from mains and battery.

Hi - we purchased a Video Plus Portable Digital TV with freeview that ran on either integrated 12v batteries or mains adapter. This TV was specifically designed for the leisure market and has been (and still is) advertised in the Caravan Club and Practical Caravan magazines. When the unit is plugged into the mains the batteries continue to charge. Unfortunately our batteries became overcharged and exexploided and the TV unit caught fire. This resulted in an insurance claim for a new caravan. I would NEVER buy a unit with integrated batteries again.

Karen

 

[kirstycolin86]

Hi i have avtex tv 7in1 12 v w152d

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

Hi Kirsty
I'm not sure the OP is still posting on the Forum as the previous post is nearly 8 years old. At least the new search engine appears to work.

 

[gcds50]

Forgive me if I am wrong but all this talk of LCD t.v is it not better to go for LED t.v don't they use a fraction of the power to LCD. ?????

 

[Sproket]

Forgive me if I am wrong but all this talk of LCD t.v is it not better to go for LED t.v don't they use a fraction of the power to LCD. ?????

Maybe that was the start of the LCD / LED tv technology as this thread was first started nearly 8 years ago......