# TV size



## ched999uk (Jan 31, 2011)

OK so I am getting carried away (collecting used MH early April).

I am trying to work out what the maximum size TV I can fit in the TV cupboard. The cupboard was originally designed for a 14inch CRT TV.

I would like the biggest TV I can fit in the cupboard. I know it uses more power but I am used to watching a 84inch projector screen.

So what size TV have you got in your TV cabinet?


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## Patty123 (Oct 4, 2010)

Not got a TV, we store food etc. in TV cabinet.

We took the TV out as we do not have time to watch it!


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## Richard_M (Dec 17, 2010)

I have 9" :wink: 

I get it out when my wife wants me to, and I put it on the table.


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## Perseus (Apr 10, 2009)

Surely there must be SOME evenings when you wished you had a TV?

Regards,

John


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## brens (Aug 11, 2009)

Nice big 19inch Avtex in our last van with all singing all dancing camos dome for sat system.Now a tiny 10inch Avtex which to be fair is fine for how much we watch it. brens


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

We spend a lot of time off hookup so I have a really low power 10" and Camos Dome. Its big enough in the van to be honest as your not far from the screen. The reason we have it is the big ones use loads of power whereas we can watch ours for days and it hardly takes any power.

We have a flat screen 240v 17" as well for on hookup wich we inherited and it feels massive after the little one.

If your going to be on hookup all the time though go for a big un.


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

Measure the cupboard opening then visit Currys armed with tape measure ?????

I run a 17" 240V set (digital, analogue and DVD player bought off ebay fro £95 delivered) and a Sky box off an inverter, so far I have never run out of battery power. The longest period was 5.5 hrs after which I got bored and switched it all off. I do however have 2 x 110 AH batteries and a 100W solar panel !!

The cost of a 240V TV and an inverter works out at MUCH less than a 12v TV AND it can be used in the house as well!!


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## Spacerunner (Mar 18, 2006)

15" for us. 

Much bigger would be too big and it would have your head going back and forwards like watching a tennis match.

Just remember you wont have the viewing distance you have at home.


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## philsil (Jul 24, 2007)

I found that when we swapped over TV we had to move the back of the cupboard back to fit the "better" swivel mount in correctly


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## Richard_M (Dec 17, 2010)

TV is a personal thing.

We have a good telly at home, together with Sky+ HD, and we enjoy a good film, drama or doco. The few programs we do watch we always record so it just doesn't matter if we see telly or not when we are away. We do have a small 9" LCD telly in the MH for mainly keeping up with the news/weather, but some (most?) nights it is not used.

I do think that too many people watch too much telly because they have forgotten what else they can do in the evening. Switch it off and read, play a game (we like scrabble), go for a walk, anything but sit there! You mighty even have a conversation with your other half/kids 8O 

:lol:


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## bertieburstner (May 1, 2005)

19" fits fine in our overhead locker. As previous posters have said measure the width of the cupboard. I had to drill the mounting plate with new mounting holes.

Make sure that if the TV has a "stand" that can be removed.


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## Stanner (Aug 17, 2006)

Mrplodd said:


> The cost of a 240V TV and an inverter works out at MUCH less than a 12v TV AND it can be used in the house as well!!


You can get a 240v TV and an inverter for less than the "was £99.95 now £89.99" - 12v TV from Richer Sounds??

PS the Richer Sounds one comes with a mains adapter so can be used in the house as well.


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## CliffyP (Dec 19, 2008)

ched999uk said:


> OK so I am getting carried away (collecting used MH early April).
> 
> I am trying to work out what the maximum size TV I can fit in the TV cupboard. The cupboard was originally designed for a 14inch CRT TV.
> 
> ...


84" :roll: , should your name not be Magoo :wink:

On subject 15" , plenty big enough.


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## Patty123 (Oct 4, 2010)

I agree with Richard M, we don't have a tv, i like to watch it very occassionally at home but when away in "Mobi" spend the time with radio, chatting, planning next day or next trip.


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## ceejayt (Nov 25, 2005)

Two 28 inch hd TVs, one in living area and one in bedroom with dome and hd freesat Works well


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## ched999uk (Jan 31, 2011)

ceejayt said:


> Two 28 inch hd TVs, one in living area and one in bedroom with dome and hd freesat Works well


Nice, very nice. That's the sort of thing I would like but at the moment budget wont allow  I will have to work harder


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## ChrisandJohn (Feb 3, 2008)

bandleader said:


> Surely there must be SOME evenings when you wished you had a TV?
> 
> Regards,
> 
> John


We don't have a TV in the van and I've never missed it. I don't watch it much at home anyway, and one of the good things about going away is not having a TV. If we want to watch something we have loads of DVDs we can watch on a Macbook, mostly recorded from TV.

For alternative entertainment we have radio, ipod, Kindle and Sony readers, cameras, cards and games, magazines, maps, crosswords, art materials, sudokus etc.

If we were full-timing, or going away for several weeks, I might be worth having a TV, but only if we also had a much bigger van with loads of storage space and payload.

I don't have a problem with others having one or more TVs in their motorhome, I'm just answering John's question.

Chris


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## Briarose (Oct 9, 2007)

Hi the original poster asked a question regarding the size of he can fit into his new motorhome. So he obviously would like a TV.

What I don't understand here on MHF is why some folk reply with the 'you don't need one type' posts. We choose to have a TV ESP as we motorhome a lot in the Winter months.......it doesn't mean it is always on, and in the Summer months when the nights are light etc then it is used a lot less than in the Winter. But it's there when we want it.

You pays your money and you makes your choice as they say, so just enjoy whatever enhances your particular requirements.

To the OP we have one of the newer Avtex 19 inch. Although it sounds quite big it doesn't look it, we have been very pleased with it.


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## Bob45 (Jan 22, 2007)

We bought the biggest that would just fit in the TV locker - 15 inch Avtex and it is absolutely fine for us.
We watch some TV and videos which I record throughout the year.
Bob


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## Richard_M (Dec 17, 2010)

Briarose said:


> What I don't understand here on MHF is why some folk reply with the 'you don't need one type' posts.


I think it is because that _some_ people watch a lot of tv at home and so when they get a MH they automatically think they need to watch the same amount when they are away. They don't even try to go without a tv.

I work for the ambulance service and I would say that 90% of all houses I go into when working, whatever the time of day, have a tv on.

It is just white noise. Some people have forgotten how to communicate with each other/that there is life beyond the on switch.


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## ched999uk (Jan 31, 2011)

I will freely admit I 'watch' a lot of TV. I work from home for myself and have the TV on for back ground noise. 
I do stop work at about 10-11pm and then 'watch' TV properly for a few hrs i.e. with no work just the TV to concentrate on.

A TV is many things to many people, to me it is important. Thanks very much for all the comments from those with and without TV's.

I think that as there seems to be so much variation, 9"-19", we will have to wait and see what we can easily fit in the TV cupboard.

Thanks to all.


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## Richard_M (Dec 17, 2010)

As for size, we find our 9" can run for two hours on it's own internal battery before you need to plug it in to 12v or 240v.

Just something to consider if you are away from EHU and don't have big battery(s).


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## ChrisandJohn (Feb 3, 2008)

ched999uk said:


> snipped ...I will freely admit I 'watch' a lot of TV. I work from home for myself and have the TV on for back ground noise.


I understand this, I do the same with the radio. Sometimes I have them on in several rooms in the house so I can continue listening while I move around doing things.

I only joined this thread because Bandleader seemed to feel that people without TV must miss it sometimes, and I was saying I don't, or if I do I miss it in a good way. I wouldn't want to be without the radio though, so I can understand people not wanting to be without the TV.

Chris


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## Sonesta (May 10, 2005)

Hi Chedd,

We have a 50" tv screen at home, so we are used to and enjoy watching programmes and films on a fair sized TV screen. However, in the motorhome we have an Avtex 18.5 LCD and we find that in the MH that is just about right and anything bigger I think would look out of place. We have a large motorhome (30ft long) but even so, an 18.5" TV screen is more than adequate. 

Just remember that in a small confined area such as a motorhome, a small television will look a lot bigger and it will look far bigger than it did when you probably saw it displayed amongst the much larger televisions for sale in the same store! So take my advice and bear this in mind before you commit yourself to buying anything too big! 

Generally the storage/cabinet/wiring for televisions in most motorhomes is located pretty close to your lounge seating area and therefore, would you enjoy watching a really large television if you were right close up to it? 

I hope this helps? 

Sue

PS Welcome to motorhoming - you are going to love it!


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## ched999uk (Jan 31, 2011)

Just had a thought. We are intending to take our netbook and you can buy USB freeview tuners.

Has anyone used a netbook with a usb Freeview tuner and the MH aerial?


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## Spacerunner (Mar 18, 2006)

ched999uk said:


> Just had a thought. We are intending to take our netbook and you can buy USB freeview tuners.
> 
> Has anyone used a netbook with a usb Freeview tuner and the MH aerial?


Yes.
I use a 
*kworld*, works ok. Some say use it with Windows Media centre but I get on ok with the supplied software.


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## ched999uk (Jan 31, 2011)

Spacerunner said:


> ched999uk said:
> 
> 
> > Just had a thought. We are intending to take our netbook and you can buy USB freeview tuners.
> ...


Cheers. Any idea which model as there seems to be a few about. Nice prices though, did yours come with a remote?
Thanks


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## Spacerunner (Mar 18, 2006)

ched999uk said:


> [
> 
> Cheers. Any idea which model as there seems to be a few about. Nice prices though, did yours come with a remote?
> Thanks


Its the KW-D-395U. Take a look here.

Can't remember if it has a remote or not. Certainly a good picture on my Vaio laptop though.


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## peedee (May 10, 2005)

I would have thought with the technology around today, flat thin screens, you need not limit yourself to trying to buy one to fit into a locker? A little bit of research reveals there are guide lines for screen sizes :



> Replacing a CRT
> The difference in ratios between a old-style CRT and the more modern LCDs and plasmas should be noted if replacing an old TV. A commonly advertised measurement for screen size is the diagonal length. When purchasing a 32-inch TV, you are purchasing a television with a 32-inch diagonal length. What should be noted is a 32-inch CRT television is not the same size as a 32-inch widescreen flat panel LCD or plasma. A 32-inch flat panel TV will typically be shorter than a 32-inch CRT. Due to these differences, even the overall screen area is smaller on a 32-inch flat panel. To get the same screen area, multiply the size of the CRT by 1.06 to find out the flat panel size you need. This will still be a shorter TV, so if you prefer a television of the same height, multiply the diagonal length of your old TV by 1.22 to find the size you need.
> 
> Content
> ...


peedee


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## ched999uk (Jan 31, 2011)

I was thinking of using the overhead storage as then it wouldn't be permanently on view. Looking at the sizing chart looks like at 7ft away we 'need' a 28" TV  Somehow I don't think that will fit. So I guess we will just try and get the biggest we can fit. 

Cheers


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Why do we feel like we have to justify watching TV in the Motorhome like its some sort of sin?

I love telly. I love the great outdoors as well but if your not in the pub and its dark at 4 oclock in the depths of winter what do you do all afternoon and evening?

In the summer I want to be outside but if there is something I want to watch I will watch it.


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## Ozzyjohn (Sep 3, 2007)

Hi,

We have a TV cupboard that was obviously designed for something from the CRT telly era. At home we have an old 14" portable CRT which just fits in the TV cupboard of the motorhome. We don't use it because the dealer fitted a couple of 15" Avtex TVs - one in the cupboard and one in the bedroom. It took me a while to get the viewing angle right for the one in the cupboard - I suspect the CRT one would be dreadful if used in the cupboard because it is so high above eye-line.

In summary, a 15" flat screen will probably fit in the space intended for a 14" CRT. Other flat screens may have less border enabling you to go larger.

Make a cardboard model from cereal boxes to find the maximum size - then get buy a suitable telly that will fit.

Regards,
John


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## Briarose (Oct 9, 2007)

Hi I just wanted to add that the new Avtex we bought last Autumn, which is the L185DR is ulta thin even with the DVD player.........it neatly slides into our cabinet, and although nearly 19 inches it certainly doesn't look that big. In fact it is a lot slimmer etc than our previous 15 inch Avtex.

Although we have a sat dish and humax box, there have been occasional times when we have put the dish down due to high winds....we were told that this new Avtex was particularly good for tuning in with a normal status aerial. And we have found that to be true in comparison to our other Avtex. We had a crystal clear picture last week in Yorkshire.......which I was pleased about as it was so windy we daren't leave the dish up.


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