tv for tm

[grayghost]

;D
we're getting closer to picking up our 2720sl tm. the
dealer said it should be there by friday and our plan
has been to go there (mattoon, illinois - cross county rv) the week-end of the 15th. soooooo, my question is what tv do y'all recommend and how do you secure it whilst traveling. we saw a flat screen tv in a catalog we got. i'm sure that would be very light weight (but way out of our price range).

any suggestions?

thanks - an almost tm owner

[Windbreaker]

Around the start of school (now and Christmas) Wal-Mart get little 12 inch VCR/TV combos and sell them for under $100, that is what we got. We set it on top of the Frig for viewing and in the floor braced by couch cushions for travel.

[Happytrails]

That's what we use as well, fits perfectly on our TV stand in the front, and can easily be moved to the back on top of the microwave for when we're in bed. (Our microwave sits where most of your wardrobes sit, our wardrobe is in the bathroom where your tubs are). 13" is plenty for the camper as you're never really sitting too far away from it. Being a telecorder, it's nice to have the built in vcr as well. For DVD movies, I got a playstation for both kids to play games on in rainy weather, and us to watch our favorite DVD's. For travel, we set it on the floor in the corner between the couch, and front end, and surround it by the couch cushions.


Happytrails.........

[red_apache]

We just bought the 9 inch tv/vcr combo at Walmart, it is a/c-d/c so our grand daughters can watch it in the back seat while we travel, then we move it to the TM when we stop. It was $143.00, but we felt it was worth it for us to be able to use it in the tow vehicle.

Jack & Gayle

[kdrickard]

We ended up with a Sylvania 9" AC/DC (6509) TV / DVD combo. It was a bit less expensive than the similar Sony and the picture seemed a bit sharper. My wife initially wanted something a little larger, but being able to use DC without an external inverter was the main factor in determining size for us. On our 2720, the TV set over the refrigerator is close enough to the table that the screen does not seem small, and there is still counter space for "stuff". One thing I don't like about the Sylvania is the remote -- the labels are hard to see even with all the TM lights on and I got in trouble more than once with the kids when I pressed the wrong button and stopped the DVD they were watching :'( . It rides in the back of the tow vehicle, but if we were to do a multi-stop trip I'd probably find a nice padded place on the TM floor for it.

Kevin

[grayghost]

:) thanks all for your tips - as far as a dvd goes, we have a small apex (48 bucks at walmart) that plays dvds, cds, picture cds, mpeg3 (whatever that is) and we will take that along.

soon to be tm owner

[Brightsu]

We purchased a Toshiba at Sam's 13in, with DVD,CD player totally cool it was 178.00 the best price I've found, it sets great on the counter above the frig. you know the antenna on the TM is alot better than I thought, those digital tv's are like bing at the theater except small, but since you're sitting in a smaller place its the next best thing.

Pam

In case you want to save your counter space, I found a small lightweight bathroom cabinet at Home Depot. We put our TV ( 9" Panasonic/VCR combo. ) on top of it. Works very well. We keep it on the sofa when the camper is down.
Red

[efelker]

Have the same Toshiba 13" with built-in DVD that Pam described. It's awesome and has a great picture (better than the 27" in our living room).

[Brightsu]

:P I seem to have forgotten but we took the hanging cabinet and used it for a tv stand, it works great and more counter space.

Pam

[Carol]

Hi!

We got a 13" RCA without the VCR/DVD, etc. since we don't have kids and don't bother with all that stuff when we're camping! We store it on the floor in front of the couch when traveling. I use the TV in the kitchen at home when not camping.

One important feature to look for (and it may come on all models now), is the ability to scan for channels easily and set them up for viewing. One of the first things I do at each campsite (after everything is setup and we can relax a bit) is to scan for all the available channels. Sometimes this has to be redone once the optimum antenna direction is established.

Flat screen TV's may be heavier than the old fashioned kind like we have, but definitely better viewing.

Carol

[grayghost]

carol, thanks for the tip. some friends of ours had
just bought a small tv for their camper and the husband had left the manual at home and couldn't get the thing to work. i fooled with it and got 3 chanels. one came in fuzzy, one was a station they were not interested in and the one that came in sharp and was a 24 hour news channel, which he loved, was in spanish. they still thanked me for getting it to work.
eileen


One important feature to look for (and it may come on all models now), is the ability to scan for channels easily and set them up for viewing. One of the first things I do at each campsite (after everything is setup and we can relax a bit) is to scan for all the available channels. Sometimes this has to be redone once the optimum antenna direction is established.

[Happytrails]

Ahhhhhahaahhhh <--Kramer look.....did you say Apex DVD player? TAKE IT BACK, TAKE IT BACK! I've owned two of them, they were both cheap, paid 75 for the first one, 55 for the second one, the first one lasted a couple/three years having played only about 20 or so movies on it, the newer one lasted a few months. Aside from NOT ONE UNIVERSAL REMOTE having the codes for it, they don't last at all! At first, you'll think your DVD disks are scratched, or dirty as they'll start to only play certain dvd's, then the list of "no plays" gets larger and larger till they will only play one or two of your dvd movies anymore. Our newer one less than a year old got so bad that we could only play two of the 30-40 movies we have in it, replaced it with the older one from downstairs, it lasted about 2 weeks before it started doing the same thing, but not as bad. Went to wally world and bought a Toshiba (still cheap, but at least not an Apex). Been doing good for the last month now. Trust me, it's worth the extra ten bucks or so. Even broke a new "used" dvd that cra**ed out on me halfway through the movie thinking it was bad, and swearing up and down I'd never buy another used DVD from that place again......only to find out later that it was the player itself that cra**ed out! On the brighter side, if your goes, and ya get another Apex, you'll find the remote from the old one will work for the new one. If ya wanna pay shipping, I'll ship ya the two DVD players with remotes if ya don't mind they only play every 10th movie or so! (I can do it for about 11-13 bucks or so my cost). (No, lol, I'm not kidding). If ya take it back, simply tell them "not sure what's going on, think the laser's off or something, and it won't play any movies, keeps coming up with "disk error", either that, or "no disk"........I'm sure they've heard it enough not to ask any questions anymore.........For the record tho, my playstation has never messed up on me as far as playing DVD's.....tho it's an interesting animal alltogether even with the fancy remote ya can get for it! (I need to give it to my 5yo girl to figure out, and explain it to me).......lol But noooooooooo stay well outta the way of APEX. Their only claim to fame was in the very first models, which I'm sure don't work anymore anyway, you could hack into the places where you, as an end user, weren't supposed to be able to go, and do strange stuff with them, tho they fixed it in the second generation models. (Remember? I used to work for Circuit City a few years ago, and got the lowdown on neat things you could do with stuff you're not supposed to in consumer electronics...... Hidden menus, etc......) Anyway, just a few thoughts before the time runs out on being able to return it!

Happytrails.........

[jbowen]

We purchased a 15" plasma flat screen for our 3023. It weighs 8 lbs. Picture is perfect. We have a separate DVD player. Bought the plasma on ebay at a great price. We tried regular 20" and a 13" tvs before we settled on the plasma. It takes up less room, weighs less, has a better picture and stores easily. We also added optima speakers for surround sound. While the flat screen was a bit more expensive we feel it was worth it. Everything is stored in the TM in the wardrobe between the pillows.
Jim and Rozz

[grayghost]

hi, boy that kramer image made me laugh. but it's not funny about today's electronics. i had a sharp camcorder that needed to be "repaired" 3 times. finally circuit city took it back and gave me a store credit. i was like a kid at christmas, picking up all kinds of things. i got a sony dvd player (which retailed at almost 300 bucks) and when it cra**ed out which prompted the use of the apex. so far so good.

the main reason i bought the apex is because it does play back kodak cds.

guess we have to use it and see what happens.

one week to our tm :) :) :) :)

[Happytrails]

Chuckle, glad ya got that, he's great isn't he? (Kramer), as an interesting side note, during the Seinfeld show, during the period where they were auditioning for people to play themselves for the "Seinfeld" show, (the show about nothing), the guy that was a spot on match to the "Kramer" charactor.......was the REAL KRAMER! (Isn't THAT scary?) Actually, in all seriousness tho, a few hours ago I was looking around a mall, and happened into a Radio Shack, (yes, I know, overpriced for the most part, and stuff usually junky unless building it yourself from their componants), but they had a DVD player with remote, with all the features of your APEX, but it was only 8 inches wide, 2 inches tall, and 10 inches long.....for $59.00! Looked like a walkman by today's standards being presented along side of the DVD player with the screen that is basically the typical walkman DVD player of the day running $360.00, and not much bigger.........Again, buyer beware, but 59 bucks, heck.......something small enough to go anywhere.....shoot, I'd give it a try! (It even plays Mp3's!)


Happytrails..........

[grayghost]

i'm willing to bet that radio shack item was made by apex. our local radio shack had it for that 59 price and they were out of 'em. so i went next door to wally world and there was the apex for 48 bucks. actually it was a customer of walmart that explained the features to me (she had done an internet search). she sold me on it, not the store clerk (surprise?).

speaking of seinfeld - the real kramer did actually do that bus tour thingie ;D

Grayghost,
If you haven't already purchased a TV, Sears has a 13" TV with DVD player on sale for $169.99 until August 16th.
I just bought one for our trailer, tested it, and it's actually lighter in weight than our old 9" TV. Only thing we don't like is the remote. It's hard to see the writing on it. It does have a really nice picture though. Hope this helps,
Red

[grayghost]

hi red, we did buy the emerson 13" tv/vcr combo. we plan on making tapes of shows before trips to view while boondocking, so the dvd part wouldn't help us.
it was under 100 at wally world.

just curious, the tv/dvd models - do they allow you to record from the tv to a dvd? just curious

thanks for the recommendation - maybe when we upgrade.

[Happytrails]

No, DVD recordables run in the 300-500 range.......and definately not a part of any telecorder at this time, but I expect in a few years they will...........after all, VCR's did!

Happytrails.......