TV/DVD Combo With 12V Connection.

I found and purchased a TV/DVD combo unit from the internet, Amazon, I think. The unit is made by iSymphony and works on both 12volt and 110volt. It comes with a cigarette lighter plug and a 110volt adapter. It is a 19" unit, but I have others up to 23". It works well. My only complaints are that the sound volume tends to be a little low and it is hard to see in direct daylight, which I believe most are anyway. Overall, I am happy with it. It is now mounted in the cockpit of my boat on a bracket on the radar arch.

 

For me I purchased a true 12V model while you might get the ones with a brick to work when you bypass the brick you have no or only your boat regulation and it might not last. The true 12V model has some regulation. I used a Naxa model 555and it fit right where the old Panasonic 13" model fit no mods necessary 5years later and bouncing around the bay chop still going strong.

Sent from my Galaxy S3

 

Pix? That sounds like something interesting.

 

Here are some pictures of the installation.



Don't know why the pictures are upside down.

i ran 110 volt to the arch from inside the cabin (from outlet for Refrig). Also ran coax cable from a splitter I installed between the Direct TV box and the salon TV. So, the salon box runs both the salon tv and cockpit tv. The small item on the counter with the antennae is a Radio Shack repeater that allows me to change the Direct TV bis from the cockpit. (I can also just point the remote through the door at the box)

it is a little hard to see during the day, but we usually won't watch anything until nighttime.

 

Nice!!!!

 

Do I have to worry about the 12v killing my batteries?

 

Ah, Mike...you beat me to it!

I purchased this EXACT model last Friday, and it is well worth the price. I am currently using it as a temporary bedroom TV until boating season (for us) starts. The picture is amazing for a cheap TV/DVD combo unit! What is particularly noteworthy is that it is only 720p resolution, but rivals my 1080p TV from another manufacturer. The tuner in this TV is very strong. I have hooked up this new one and another year old brand TV into the same set of cheap rabbit ears in the exact same location, and the Insignia picks up 6 more channels that the other TV misses completely during the scan process. The DVD is a huge plus!

I will admit that the sound is not great, but you give up quality sound when you are buying a TV with this limited form factor. The "frame" is extremely thin and leaves virtually no room for speakers. I think the speakers are a little bigger than my thumbs. So, you are not going to get theatrical sounds from this unit. However, I plug into a home stereo system, so it's a moot point for me.

I have a tilting/swiveling arm bracket on order that once received, will find itself attached to the outside wall of the head compartment and pointing the TV directly at the V-berth. I bought a variable power 12V plug/transformer from Radio Shack that comes with an assortment of different tips. Plugs right into the TV and a nearby lighter socket. I sat in the boat the other night and watched THE MUMMY with the TV audio output plugged into the boats sound system. Awesome! I can't wait to be watching it out on the water...instead of in the backyard on the trailer. I will post pic's once it's installed. I recommend this TV/DVD combo for boat or bedroom use!

Cheers!

 

Hey Mike,

how did you know it was a 12V unit, before or after you bought it? Just curious

 

I bought a Naxa 12V / 110V tv/dvd unit.
Works well

 

I also bought this exact model at Best Buy. I cut the brick and wired it for 12v and use it as my cockpit tv. Very happy with it so far. Bright screen and good sound.

 

[FONT=&quot]To answer your question more specifically...the TV only draws a maximum of 3 amps, and that is with the DVD player running and the sound at maximum volume. It is probably only drawing 1.5 to 2 amps while watching TV only with volume low.

To put those numbers into perspective...my Kenwood car stereo head unit which is rated at 100 watts total (4 channels) has a maximum ten amp draw. So that means the TV is only using 25% of the power your typical car stereo uses (at full blast)

The flip side of this, as Mike points outs regarding inverter use, is that a 150 watt inverter can draw 20 to 30 amps of juice just to waste that battery power on dissipated heat to provide the paltry 3 amps the TV wants. Whenever you can go 12V to 12V, you are maintaining power transfer efficiency. 12V to 120V inverters drain batteries simply through the conversion process. Which is ridiculous when you consider that a 120 volt TV uses a transformer (wall wart) that then re-converts the 120 volts BACK to 12 volts for the TV to use. So the bottom line is...if you're a cove overnighter like us, any native 12 volt appliance is the preferred method over power robbing inverters. I'm also converting to LED cabin and nav lights to further the low voltage draw[/FONT].

I know one of the engineers on this forum can give us the rundown on how long a single deep cycle group 29 battery could effectively power a 12 volt, 3 amp TV. I'm guessing a couple days?

 

Ty... Advice much appreciated....

 

So inbought the TV... I just cut off the plug and splice it to a dc cable?

 

Yeah that would make more sense

 

Any DC plug will work right? If I have an old plug from another device I can cut the plug off that one right?