Best flat screen TV for a boat

CaptCrunch

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May 27, 2010
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32171
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now i'm up to small ****. just discovered the 2006 vintage sharp lcd 20" tv on the boat no longer works. so time for a replacement? I can fit upto a 24" where it is mounted. any recommendations?
 
Whatever is on sale? Prices for flat screens keep coming down. By the time you are ready for the next one, they will probably be paying you to buy it!
 
Want one that will last, is made to run on 12VDC and is made for high humidity environments? Look up Jensen LED TFT 12VDC TV's they aren't cheap.
Bill
 
We like Best Buy's INSIGNIA house brand. Now have three of them, 26", 32" and now a 19". We bought the 19" for our RV. One thing we learned looking at the small flatscreens is the SOUND in many (read that Most) of them is terrible. The 19" Insignia has sound that's reasonably clear and strong. The oddball brands do not. The 19" is also 12VDC. The plug-in is a "brick" like a laptop, except the 120VAC prongs are right on the brick. I forget what the mounting pattern is on the 26" we have in the RV for 2 years now, but the 19" mounts on a VESA 75mm pattern. Can't say what the 32" is either since we use it on its stand in the house. Regular price on 19" is $119. We bought ours on sale for $99. They also run "open box" for $79 and up. IMO the 19" Insignia is the best option, especially if 12VDC is helpful. Any you look at, be sure the Sound is good, and the remote control is useful. Some cheap sets have an even cheaper remote.
 
I have a Visio in my salon. It spent its first three years mounted in my garage in CA. I removed the original tv and installed it when I bought the bought in Jan 11. The only issue I have had is I stepped on the remote this winter while doing my floors.

The LED andLCD tele keep improving every year. I am considering replacing it his winter with an LED edge lit from Costco. The edge is narrower and the unit is slimmer. It is lighter and I can now put a 32" where the current unit is a 27". The Samsung unit there is less than I paid for the Visio and has built in wifi so you can stream Netflix, blockbuster, and even pandora.
 
They sure are getting slimmer and smaller and as another RO posted there goes the audio quality. I was able to install a 19" in place of my older Jensen LCD DTV in my stateroom. A 23" easily replaced a 19" in my salon and they fit in the same space. I just installed a set of audio cables from my KVH Direct TV receiver to my FUSION MS-700i. That took care of the audio problems......
I prefer Blue Tooth for intra vessel data streaming or 5GHz WiFi.
Bill
 
My stereo had DVD capability and the audio runs through it so I'm good on audio. I test fit the 24" Panasonic from my office and it fits so I can go with size around that. Ineed side connections for the wiring
 
Really, any no name brand will do just fine. Whatever is on sale. That's what the PO put on my boat some years ago and have never had any issues with it. It's a 110v model and it's located just inches from a 12v adapter. I picked up a cheap inverter from Lowes one day and can watch the TV anytime I want when away from the dock. The power draw on my batteries is minimal.
 
Go with whatever is the cheapest. I have an RCA 22" that I bought at Sears for about $100 mounted on my radar arch. It's two years old and still going strong. When it craps out, I'll just get a new one.
 
There is no "best", we all have our opinions and the brands and models change often. I think it's best to buy a TV that's designed and built to run on 12 volts DC (like for a boat or truck), rather than to have to run a genset or inverter to watch TV. Even a small dedicated inverter is inefficient and will waste ten or twenty percent of the power consumed.

Even if you find a TV with a "power brick" and intend to cut it off and connect the TV to your boat's battery, you may find that it expects something other than 12 volts. Also, it will not have the voltage regulation that a set made for use in a boat or truck will have.

TVs made specifically for boats usually have coated circuit boards and protected controls to lessen the effects of water and humidity.

So I bought a Skyworth a few years ago and it works fine. TV/DVD player combination.
 
Jensen TV's conformal coated boards no wall wort unless you want the optional 110VAC to 12VDC converter. The units are made for the mobile environment pretty much describes your definition of perfect Ron, other than perhaps price.
Bill
 
I tried a 32" vizio, too big have to go exchange for the 24. I liked the fact vizio has bottom mounting so it fits on wall better. a bit confused about the wiring I have though may need someone to sort it out. I have a huge mess behind the breaker panel with all kinds of modules for stereo, etc.
 
I got an inexpensive Skyworth 12vdc TV with DVD player a few years ago. It's not a marine model. The boat is in saltwater and the TV is still going strong. It's sounds pretty good, too. It's had a lot of use. Every time my wife enters the cabin the TV goes on.
 
Installed a Westinghouse 24. It appears I don't have a digital antenna but the DVD player works
 
quote:

Originally posted by Billylll

Jensen TV's conformal coated boards no wall wort unless you want the optional 110VAC to 12VDC converter. The units are made for the mobile environment pretty much describes your definition of perfect Ron, other than perhaps price.
Bill






I'm not sure they were available when I bought my Skyworth. Mine is a "marine" model. West Marine was selling them but I got mine through amazon.com.

Before I bought it I had a question about the depth. I called their phone number and got someone whose first language was not English, but with a few repeats and clarifications, I got my answer.

I doubt I would have much luck getting it fixed if it broke, but that's pretty much true of any TV today.
 
quote:

Originally posted by CaptCrunch

Installed a Westinghouse 24. It appears I don't have a digital antenna but the DVD player works





There is no such thing as a "digital antenna" regardless of what advertisers and manufacturers would like you to believe. A TV antenna is a TV antenna it picks up radio waves and delivers them to the receiver. It has no idea what the signals contain.
 
I have a Samsung 30 something in cockpit . Important things is sound quality and day light view ability . Samsung has both . I had a nice cover made and leave it in the cockpit .

Rob
 
Rob my Jensen is TFT LED very good viewing in direct sunlight. The sound on the other hand is ok but not high fidelity. That's why I couple my premium TV service receiver into my FUSION MS-700i high quality marine stereo system.
Bill
 
quote:

Originally posted by CaptCrunch

Installed a Westinghouse 24. It appears I don't have a digital antenna but the DVD player works






Agree with Rawidman, an antenna is an antenna. My mother's river house, which is at least 60 miles from the nearest TV station, has an old, roof mounted antenna she bought 15-20 years ago, long before we had digital TV's.
At night and depending on weather conditions, she gets anywhere from 10-30 channels. Daytime, around half that number.
 
There is no such thing as a digital TV receive antenna. Transmitting antennas that must transmit new cellular LTE wide bandwidth and at high power need to have a low PIM rating (passive inter modulation). This has nothing to do with an antenna used for TV reception.
Bill
 
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