PUCampin
Castaic
Senior Member
Joined: 07/28/2003
View Profile
|
I don't know if they are still the same, but just a few months ago we bought a Insignia (Best Buy house brand) LED backlit LCD. They come in 19" and 22" (we bought the 22") and use an external power brick like a laptop or the vizio.
I picked this TV for several reasons.
1. Most of our camping is without hook-ups, I wanted a TV that did not have to use an inverter (I have nothing else that needs one). This TV has the external power brick and 12V input.
2. I wanted a low power draw. The 22" Insignia states on the back it "Max 40W" The power brick output is 12V 3.5A.
3. The warranty for Insignia is 2 years, and you bring it in to Best Buy if it fails, no shipping it somewhere.
4. The Insignia has standard physical buttons on the side of the TV for operation.
My 18' TT has a spot for a TV in the overhead, with a standard 12V power port. I bought the universal car adaptor that plugs into the power port and can accept a variety of tips. The price of the adaptor included one tip, so I physically brought the TV in and used the sample tips to find the correct one. This allows me to power the TV via the power port, and to unplug it when not in use. I keep the power brick for places we may have hook ups, and there is no obvious cut or splice that would void the warranty.
The default spot for the TV is a shelf, and difficult to see from nearly any seating position. I bought a 3-way swing mount from monoprice for about $25, and mounted to a stud in one of the cabinets. Now it can swing out and be seen from the couch and half the dinnet, or fliped and seen from the main bed.
We have a portable DVD player with a AV out jack that is run to the back of the TV. It can also be run off a car adapter or it's internal battery. This is what we use so the kids can watch afternoon quiet time shows, or something while getting ready for bed.
As to the tuner, I can't speak. We have not tried it yet, just used DVDs
I have been exceedingly pleased with the results! The picture is very good, sound is not good but what I expected and adaquite for kids shows. Impact on battery life is pretty minimal.
On a camping trip a couple monts ago, the baby was teething and totally miserable. Nothing made her happy. She was the most quiet and relaxed lying in her playpen and watching something. The TV got a workout that weekend! Total use for the long weekend was probably 14-16hrs. I have 2x 5year old deep cycle interstate group 24s. No problems, did not impact the batteries hardly at all. Batteries lasted the full 3 days and even at the end, the TV still worked and had not reached it's low voltage cut-off.
End of June we went for 4 days dry camping. Batteries lasted the whole 4 days without a recharge. We ran the water pump, fridge and assorted detectors, lights in the evening (LED conversion) charged cell phones, and a good amount of TV use. Again, no problems and it did not reach a low voltage cut-off.
As long as it is still being made with the power brick seperate, the 19 and 22 inch Insignia LED backlit LCD TVs are a great option, and use even less power than the vizio. Just don't ask someone there if they have a 12V TV (like my FIL did), you will get some strange looks! 
* This post was
last
edited 08/05/10 10:02am by PUCampin *
View edit history
2007 Expedition EL 4x4 Tow pkg
2006 Pioneer 180CK (No more PUcampin!)
Nights in 10: 15
Nights in 11: 9  Rained out, sick kids, flat broke, you name it! Bad year for campin
Me DW and the 3 in 3 
DD 6/14/06, DS  11/27/07, DD  11/11/08
|
booster
Minnesota
Senior Member
Joined: 10/14/2007
View Profile
|
Ours works well off off the Amperor stabilizer, which is very interesting. What we did find is that when run on direct 12 volts, rather than the brick, we had a lot of ground loop noise and needed to put in isolators on the audio and video lines. It didn't show up with the problems you are seeing, however. Some of the problems that folks have had with the Vizio are related to the prox screen, so you may want to take it back and get another one before you give up.
Does it work off of the remote?
|
AsheGuy
Raleigh, North Carolina
Senior Member
Joined: 11/15/2004
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
|
Ours has been in use for several trips this year (about 6 continuous weeks all together) running directly off our LTV's 12V (without the brick) with absolutely no problems (so far). I'm out with two grandsons for a week now and it has been in use every day and is on now. I know some feel this is not a reliable setup.
The Vizio picture is great, the TV is very slim and fits our spot perfectly, and it works for us.
David & Margaret - 2005 LTV 210B 3S
- Our Blog -
|
phlyphyshr
Quiet corner
Full Member
Joined: 08/03/2009
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
|
It works just fine off of the remote.
Booster & Asheguy, do you have the same model as mine with the touch screen controls?
I have no reason to return the set as it's performing flawlessly with the supplied brick.
Do you have the Amperor plugged into a cigg outlet? I don't like that type of connection and hardwired it.
|
booster
Minnesota
Senior Member
Joined: 10/14/2007
View Profile
|
Mine is the same as Asheguy, the 19" with the proximity controls that come on in the lower left when you get close to them.
Mine is hardwired, using the Roadtrek power and ground wires run to the audio cabinet in our 07 C190P. The power goes through a (led indicated) switch that controls all the 12 power to the cabinet (as I found a lot of the stuff like the antenna pulled power even when off), and then through another switch that turns on the tv (also led indicated), and then through the Amperon to the TV. As I said, I did have ground loop noise from the tv into the input cables and dvd player, so that may be an issue.
Do you have the same problem if all the inputs and outputs are disconnected from the tv except the power?
|
|
|
AsheGuy
Raleigh, North Carolina
Senior Member
Joined: 11/15/2004
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
|
phlyphyshr wrote:Booster & Asheguy, do you have the same model as mine with the touch screen controls? I have the same model as yours, the VM190xvt. Our "proximity touch controls" work fine although we normally use the remote. It looks like the only difference between your installation and mine is I am direct wired to our LTV 12V supply and you have the Amperon surge protector in between your rig's 12 supply and the TV.
|
phlyphyshr
Quiet corner
Full Member
Joined: 08/03/2009
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
|
Booster, I have virtually the same set-up as you, even the same DVD player. I get no discernible noise interference. When connected through the Amperor, I cannot even turn the set on, unless I use the remote. I've found that if I plug in the power supply adapter with the power switched on the set controls work. However if I make the connection, then turn on the power supply they don't. Also if they are working and the power supply is shut down and restarted, the controls cease to work unless "cycled" with hot power.
I do have a pure sine converter that I use for a CPAP and the controls work the same with that as when connected to shore power.
For those wondering why I didn't go with an inverter straight away, it's because of the location of my set. There is no easy way for a direct battery connection to the inverter and I really didn't want to use such a small one as to allow a 14-16ga wire connection as used in most cigg lighter circuits.
|
booster
Minnesota
Senior Member
Joined: 10/14/2007
View Profile
|
Just to make sure I understand. If you turn use the brick, with AC power not on to it, and then turn on the AC power to the brick, you get the same problem of the controls not working? Does the light in the corner come on when the power is put on it?
I think you may be looking at some odd voltage things happening when the power supply is powering up, same with the Amperor. We always turn on the 12v power switch first to allow the Amperor to power up, then the TV. I don't remember if I ever tried it with the 12v running straight to the Amperor and then TV without the other switch, but I could see how the TV may not like it.
|
phlyphyshr
Quiet corner
Full Member
Joined: 08/03/2009
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
|
booster wrote:Just to make sure I understand. If you turn use the brick, with AC power not on to it, and then turn on the AC power to the brick, you get the same problem of the controls not working? Does the light in the corner come on when the power is put on it?
I think you may be looking at some odd voltage things happening when the power supply is powering up, same with the Amperor. We always turn on the 12v power switch first to allow the Amperor to power up, then the TV. I don't remember if I ever tried it with the 12v running straight to the Amperor and then TV without the other switch, but I could see how the TV may not like it.
Booster, I took another look at your set up and some readings from my Amperor on start up. I now see where I went wrong. I was powering up the stabilzer and the TV at the same time. As soon as the TV sees 9.5v or better, it tries to come on. I need to, as you did, have another switch to isolate the power supply so it can have those few milliseconds reach full power then throw another switch to supply the TV.
Thanks for your input.
If anyone is looking for one of these voltage stabilizers, follow the link Voltage stabilizer
* This post was
edited 08/08/10 06:28pm by phlyphyshr *
|
booster
Minnesota
Senior Member
Joined: 10/14/2007
View Profile
|
Glad you got it running. Keep us posted on how you it works over time.
|
|
|
|
