12v tv or 12v converter

cbull · Posted: Mon May 11, 2009 6:39 pm Post subject: 12v tv or 12v converter

I have been looking around for 12v dig. ready tv. Looking for 13" or 15". Should I spend the money for a 12v or just use a power converter. Has anyone tried one of the few 12v dig. ready tv's out there. Thanks for any info.

lloyds · Posted: Mon May 11, 2009 6:52 pm Post subject:

No technical skills to back up my opinion, but I would go for a pure 12 volt. The inverters eat up amps and give back heat. They work, but pure 12 volt would be more efficient. I have fussed over this same thing in my camper.

thataway · Posted: Mon May 11, 2009 8:49 pm Post subject:

I have a 7" HD 12 volt TV, and I have used a digital converter with a 15" flat screen TV which had a 12 volt power supply from a brick and thus runs on a 12 volt DC supply, plus a 17" 110 Volt TV on an inverter. All on the same antenna. I would say that the best was the 110 v TV on the inverter. However this summer, I will only take the 7" TV, just because of the space.

Sneaks · Posted: Mon May 11, 2009 11:02 pm Post subject:

I suspect the cost of a 110v TV with separate 12v-110v inverter is still significantly less than a 12VDC TV. Plus the inverter can often be used for other AC devices, like a DVD player and/or a laptop.

Another choice is a relatively simple and inexpensive DC-DC Converter for TV's that are powered by "wall warts" or separate power supplies. I have a cheap LCD TV that uses 16 VDC it get from it's 110v wall wart. I bought a laptop multi output 12 volt CONverter that had 16 volts as one of the many outputs. Conveniently, it came with a plug that fit my TV so I just plug one end into the 12 supply, the other into the TV and off it goes. Pretty darn efficient, actually. Little heat generated and it's not much bigger than one of those 12 volt plugs used in a vehicle. Cheap too. Last one I got was under $40 on Ebay

Don

tpbrady · Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 1:35 am Post subject:

You could also use a USB TV tuner for a notebook computer if you happened to be carrying one of those. I have a 12vdc power supply for mine.

drjohn71a · Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 9:25 am Post subject:

A while back, someone on here took a normal 110V TV and found that the TV was converting the 110V to 12V inside. So, he just wired a 12V lighter plug into that and cut off the 110V lead.

I think it was Brent of Brent and Dixie on Discovery, but am not certain.

John

JamesTXSD · Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 10:45 am Post subject:

We picked up a 7" TV that runs off 12v, an internal battery or 110 (which also charges the battery). The brand is Axion, model AXN 8701. We picked it up on a "rewards" with a credit card we were about to cancel, so the cost was zip.

We used a different 7" TV on Wild Blue for the past couple years, but it wasn't digital. 7" may not be big enough for most folks (we now have a 16" on the boat), but this is a decent little TV. The internal battery is good for a couple hours and has to be plugged into 110 to charge (doesn't charge off the 12v adapter). It has an external antenna and auto tune to scan for channels. The picture is good (when the reception is good), the sound is a bit tinny, and it's easily portable.

Last year, when we were looking for a 12v TV with a digital tuner, the pickin's were pretty slim. No idea if that has improved since.

Best wishes,
Jim B.

cbull · Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 12:21 pm Post subject:

I purchased a 15" 12v with a built in dvd player from www.geeks.com. The mfg. is skyworth. The price is $149 plus shipping. Reman unit. Thanks for the advice. Hope it works o.k. I did some research and it looks like most were returned because dvd door would stick. I will see and post review when I get it in the mail.