What 12vdc TV set in the 22" would you recomend?

[Jim Krause]

Originally Posted by typhoon

I shopped around for a while and bought a Samsung 22 inch 5000 series tv. I wired it diectly to my house batteries because it's native voltage is 12v , just got rid of the transformer. It had to be thin to fit in a lift I built , I hate looking at a TV when it is not on . It draws 1amp and has a great picture , and sound i can actually hear , some small tv's are very weak in the sound department and I really didn't want to get into a sound system , after all it is a boat.

This is the lift working with the tv .

Regards

OK - That was awesome. Nice engineering job!

[ColdEH]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Yes, I agree that items meant to be powered off of 12V vehicles batteries are somewhat flexible in their voltage requirements, but a TV with a "brick" may not be one of those items, it may work out OK, or it may not.
Hopefully they used some kind of readily available power supply and hopefully it was built for vehicle use, hopefully

Anytime my bank is being charged it's usually in absorption at 14.3 VDC, float is 13.3 VDC, now at night, assuming the generator or the main engine isn't on, is the only time I'm only on battery power and am usually in the upper to middle 12 V range, but if the sun is up, I'm at 14.3 V or close.
I had thought about a brick converter I believe they are commonly called, but decided against it as being more trouble than it was worth, but may wire direct and see what happens.

This is actually my third tv on board . The first one had a dvd player built into it and it worked fine on the ships power, but it was to deep to put in a lift so i gave it away . The next one , a RCA with a 12v external power supply cooked itself as soon as I hooked it up to the ships power , I guess 13 volts or more was to much , what a big puff of smoke it made . The next one is the one i have now the Samsung, and it likes ships power just fine mind you the ouput of the power supply was closer to 13 volts then was was written on it which was 12v. You can get voltage stabilizers on ebay from china that are dirt cheap if you don't want to risk it , I have one on my sony dvd player just in case ,

Thanks for the kudos on the lift

Regards

[colemj]

Originally Posted by newhaul

I don't understand why you think that the TVs with external power supplies are a thing of the past. I can go to best buy today and find at least 4 models that have that feature from 19 inch to the 32 that we have . The cost difference is minimal most are under 200 USD . Also as the TV gets larger the sound quality seems to improve as well.

I based that statement only on recent experience of looking for another TV and finding almost none that were powered by external transformers. However, I suspect this design choice goes in and out of fashion depending on who is making the set (many of them are made by someone else and sold under many brand names - for example Insignia and Toshiba are clones). So maybe there are many more choices in this now.

I wouldn't expect a cost differential between a brick and a hardwired set at all.

Larger TV's have larger speakers and more room for resonance space, so yes, they do generally have better sound.

Mark

[seasick]

Inverter run TVs tend to have static in my experience. We have two 12VDC Jensens on board now for five years and love them. RV shops carry them. Buy an extra clicker or two as universal remotes don't work with them if you lose one.

[colemj]

I've never had any problem with static on two different TV's run through inverters. Given that ALL of them use inverters internally (or slightly externally for the brick ones), this static experience doesn't hold up in general practice.

A bad inverter may cause issue, though.

Look, I don't have a problem with truck stop 12V TV's, nor anyone's choice to have one. But in general, the quality and functionality is much less and the prices are at least twice as much (A 22" 12V Jensen HDTV without USB movie capability is $340 and the 19" is $300, for example.) . If one wants to justify saving $30 on a small inverter and up to 1 Ahr/day in power with one of these, then that's fine. But that is a lot of compromise in both functionality and price for a principal that does not bear out in real life.

The inefficiencies in converting 12V-120V in a 100W inverter running a 30W TV is so small that there is no practical reason to discuss it. After one understands this, then going to Walmart or a box store and getting a holiday sale on a high quality inexpensive TV, while picking up a small cheap inverter, makes tremendous sense.

Mark

[brianlara 3]

I've read all of the replies and I now suspect that the brand FUSION isn't available in the US. NO?
My 22" FUSION (as per the OP's requirement) hasn't missed a beat in 4 years @ probably 5 hours per day. HDMI, USB, dvd, etc and sold as a marine specific appliance. 12 volt and gets signal from an "OCEANTALK TWIN ANTENNA FULL HD TV." More detail, Google 'whitworths marine and leisure' dot au. FUSION has the market in OZ except for where a 19 to 24 inch doesn't cut it. Can't believe only OZ sell FUSION MARINE TV & STEREO. World standard stuff IMHO.

[colemj]

There is a popular, and high quality, marine stereo brand called Fusion in the US, but not TV.

I attempted to look up the 22" Fusion TV in the site you mention, as well as a general search for them elsewhere. It appears that they are no longer being made, and no longer show up in Whitworth's website. They show up as "unavailable" or "discontinued" in most other vendor sites.

In a few other places that did have stock, the 22" model costs $550USD. I don't know how familiar you are with US electronics prices, but you can buy 4-5 similar home TV's from Walmart for that price.

Again, when one just thinks about it a bit, being stuck on a 12V TV just doesn't make any sense. Instead, buy a higher quality, less expensive one from a box store and cut the cord (if applicable) or use a small inverter.

There is a reason that the 12V marine and RV TV market is shrinking out of existence, and that the prices of currently available models are so high.

And that reason isn't quality or the intrinsic cost of making a 12V set.

Mark

[a64pilot]

You can get very good, high quality TV's up to 32" for less than $150 from many sources.
I just looked at Tiger Direct and there you can still get TV's down to 13" if desired

[brianlara 3]

Hi colemj/Mark.
After my post (after!) I went to Whitworths website on to find to my embarrassment the facts which your personal search did viz: that FUSION have pulled out of the TV business. Vsorry about causing unreliable hope/interest.
When my FUSION dies no doubt I'll replace it with an AC unit and cop the extra amp or two on the chin. However, living alone on a small boat does cause me to NEED my Seinfeld, Forrest Gump, Bucket List etc.etc. dvd's. AND Swamp people, David attenborough etc.
Cheers Brian

[Swiss sailor]

Ok, many of you recommended to install an inverter. Now the question is, whether to buy a true sin wave or modifyed wave model. If it is just to run the tv, charge some small electronic appliances such as a laptop, usb-devices, etc.. Will I really face a difference / getting an advantage from a pure sin wave inverter?
Marco

[a64pilot]

For about a whole year I had a I think 400 W modified sine that I got from Walmart that seemed to run everything fine, everything admittedly being only the TV and a charger or two. Before that I had a 300 W pure sine that I got off of Fleabay, now I have a humongous pure sine, they all worked just fine for me, although now with the big one, I run all kinds of stuff I didn't with the smaller ones

[brianlara 3]

Swiss Sailor. FWIW
A pure inverter will run anything whereas a modified will often give up the ghost in the first few hours, that IF it works at all.
In this thread we are talking about needing to power fairly low current appliances as so the costs are low compared to, say, a 1500 w unit.
I will never again buy a modified wave inverter even if 'pures' become ten times dearer.
Multiple mistakes made with inverters. eg, my 1500 modified ran my bread maker for two years until it got sick of dirty electricity and died. My next bread maker, a better thing, blew its guts and wouldn't start at all...no warranty!
THEN....another new b/maker AND an 800W pure to drive it....all because I try not to be too supermarket dependent.
Clearly, !living on a 24' yacht, I'm pretty poor but cheap electronics (like Raymarines tiller pilots) are in my past.
A cheap inverter may possibly run your laptop but why risk valuable dollars? IMHO.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by cabo_sailor

I don't see why you need to restrict yourself to 12v TV's. The new flat screens don't need that much power. We simply bought a 400 watt inverter, or something like that, at the local hardware store. Hooked it up to a battery bank and the TV ran just fine. I think I paid about $40 usd for the inverter. It was designed to run small power tools. I think I've been seeing TV's of the size you want for less than $200 usd. The swivel mount cost almost as much as the TV!!

What he said.

Just use an inverter. Or look for a TV with a DC input, and by a DC/DC converter to supply that voltage.

But they use so little power now, that it's hardly worth messing around with. What you save by figuring out a direct DC power supply will not amount to more than a few watts of power, which you will not feel on a modern boat.

[W3GAC]

A sine wave inverter is always better on electronics and with both modified & sine wave inverter falling prices, unless you really are on a tight budget I'd recommend installing a sinewave inverter. If you believe you will ever install/ use marine SSB equipment or enjoy off-air tv viewing, sinewave inverters are RFI quieter and won't interfere with weak signal reception. If you like to monitor your (120v voltages, sinewave inverters will give you more accurate voltage comparisons to your expected shore power experience. And sinewave inverters run quieter. Things that you use will run just a little more efficiently/ cooler on sinewave power. If you are a 'high end' cruiser and have such luxuries as dimmers on your 120v cabin lights... they will function better on sinewave power.


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[hamburking]

Originally Posted by Swiss sailor

Ok, many of you recommended to install an inverter. Now the question is, whether to buy a true sin wave or modifyed wave model. If it is just to run the tv, charge some small electronic appliances such as a laptop, usb-devices, etc.. Will I really face a difference / getting an advantage from a pure sin wave inverter?
Marco

I powered my samsung 19" flat panel (and DVD player) with an el cheapo (square wave) 150watt inverter. Worked great with power to spare. It did however, burn out two power supply "bricks" for my laptop.

The tv specs will list the max power requirement to calculate the size of inverter required. be sure to turn down the brightness too; saves significant power.

I suggest you get the smallest inverter which will power the tv, to keep wasted energy to a minimum.

I still think a cheap 12volt tv (power brick type) is a better...no wasted power.

Next you'll want a decent antenna, mounted up high. I used an old VHF radio antenna...worked, but barely.