Fold Down TV Screens.

[MSN Member]

From: ibdilbert01  (Original Message)   
Sent: 7/25/2007 8:40 PM


A word of the wise. I thought it would be a great idea to add fold down TV Screens to my winnebago. I found some inexpensive ones on Ebay made by Eonon.

To drive the screens, I ordered an indash DVD/AM-FM player also made by Eonon.

One of the LCD screens was bad out of the box, and the DVD Player does not show a picture.

After a few days of "hong kong" tech support, they determined the units were bad and asked me to ship them back.

To my surprise fedex wanted over 100 dollars to ship the items to hongkong, and the local post office wanted over 70 dollars.

Needless to say I will not be shipping them back and Eonon is not willing to work with me on the shipping.

What a terrible company! I feel like I have thrown away a few hundred dollars to the birds.

So my message, don't buy from Eonon.




From:ontheroadagain7   
Sent: 7/25/2007 9:25 PM

i almost did the same thing but  instead  i bought a tv tuner card and a used 18inch flat screen monitor and hooked them to my laptop that has a dvd drive for movies and i plug the headphone output into the dash stereo for surround sound it works great and cost about $150




From:ibdilbert01   
Sent: 7/25/2007 10:04 PM

Thats kinda what I have been doing, I bought a TV card cheap on ebay a while back and was using an FM transmitter to get the sound to the sterio speakers. I think I'm going to try again, but buy pyle brand instead. Their head units look a little better anyhow.




From:Member_Administrator   
Sent: 7/27/2007 7:35 PM

Sorry to hear about the burn, bro.  I know we have some videotechnomaniacs among us.  I'd like to hear from them as to what are some good, reasonably priced, reputable sources for fold downs.

- Sob




From:ibdilbert01   
Sent: 1/23/2008 8:51 PM


Going to try this again. I ordered two more fold down swivelable TV screens, this time they are Pro-Vision Brand. I did some research and by what I have read they seem to make good products. I also purchased a three year warranty. (Guess I'm learning from my mistakes).

I actually went kinda cheap on the stereo. I bought a VR3 (the old roadmaster brand) from walmart with a DVD player and Video in/out. My purchasing habits have changed a bit, as I asked the clerk in the auto area "If this doesn't work, can I bring it back?" He said "This is walmart, we take anything back". LOL

So, here is my goal at least. The stereo (and dvd player) will stay mounted up front in the dash, but will drive the LCD screens that I will mount on the ceiling. Eventually I would like to add a TV tuner to the unit, but have also been looking at the direct tv mobile systems that are suppose to work while traveling.

I also have wired the front stereo/dvd player to the coach batteries, that way there is no chance that when the vehicle is sitting at a camp site, the chassis battery could be ran down.

Now originally I bought a LCD Review Mirror and a Camera that I was going to use full time while driving. The Mirror has dual inputs as well, and I was going to tie the GPS system that I bought to the second channel of the mirror. However I have changed my mind, again. I purchased a 7 inch Pyle Monitor to mount on the dash for the gps system.

I am going to buy two more cameras, fender mount.styles. I'll set it up so when you turn the left turn signal on, the left fender mount camera will come on, and the same for the right side. My uncle has this type of camera system on his RV and loves it, as it removes the blind spots.

I'm getting anxious to work on the winnie, but global warming forgot to visit us and its been colder than normal for us. If I can get a brake in the weather, I'll run new LP lines and see if the furnace will fire up.




From:LJ-TJ   
Sent: 1/25/2008 9:49 AM

Well I've been wanting to put a 20" TV in the motorhome for some time but have been unable to come up with a suiteabe location. What I finally decided was to mount it under and attach it to the under side of the bunk bed. I have just purchased a Omni Mount small flat panel flip down bracket. Due to limited funds I haven't purchased the tv yet maybe in the spring. Any thoughts as to the pro's or con's of this idea??




From:tiinytina   
Sent: 1/25/2008 5:57 PM


We bought a cheap 20" flat panel on "black Friday" after turkey day in 06. The TV (a 13" combined DVD) our rig came with was mounted on a swing arm contraption that was held in place while driving by a bungee to the paper towel holder. Pat was able to weld the swing arm thing for the flat screen. We bought a $25 DVD player at Best Buy and we had an extra set of computer speakers. The computer speakers are great, not perfect sound but they plug in to the TV and into an electric source, no reciever needed.

I read up and talked to a bunch of TV geeks and no bracket exists that would be secure to hold up TV that would fold flat to the ceiling while driving. They said there are several out there but none in thier opinion would hold up to the jolts of driving in a rig. The several out there cost more than the TV did...

And yes the TV is still held in place by a bungee to the paper towel holder... but we have some ideas on that when Pat redoes the dinette surrounds in oak (after the floor is done that is...).

Tina




From:LJ-TJ   
Sent: 1/25/2008 6:14 PM


Yeh!  Well it was Pat got me going on this darn thing in the first place sitt'n around suckin beer watchin movies on your tv last year. You might be right I may have to re asses that's why I through it out to the board to see if anyone had come up with something....




From:OldEdBrady   
Sent: 1/25/2008 7:05 PM


The biggest drawback I could think of is, when I had the old Beggar, I hit my noggin on that bed often enough that I don't think I'd want to make it any lower!

And, Tina, glad to see you're using bungee cords!  Especially now that I have so much invested in the manufacturers.




From:LJ-TJ   
Sent: 1/25/2008 7:47 PM


Thanks Ed that was a thought. you just confermed it.




From:The_Handier_Man   
Sent: 1/25/2008 8:02 PM


OK Ed,  Now this explains a lot of things  "I hit my noggin on that bed often",  Les




From:OldEdBrady   
Sent: 1/25/2008 9:17 PM


NOT explaining it might be more fun, but, just for you, Les...

Getting up from the cabin floor to the bridge (remember?  sailor for 10 years?), once I'd take that step up, BONK!

Get up from the helm.  Standing, BONK!

THAT is what I meant.  (Although the other idea I had might be a bit more exciting.)




From:ontheroadagain7   
Sent: 1/25/2008 10:24 PM


heres a couple pictures i took at the local rv show i'm looking for a way to mount my tv also, this one is electric and folds against the wall with a push of the switch just to the left of the tv i think the electric actuator is a bit much for me i think i could just fold it by hand quicker i'm looking for the parts to do this i think the wall mounted arm for a computer monitor will work i will let you know when i do get it done 




From:LJ-TJ   
Sent: 1/25/2008 10:32 PM


Aaaawwww that's kinda interesting.....Thanks




From:ClydesdaleKevin   
Sent: 1/27/2008 11:04 PM


I used the original TV stand that Winnebago made in 77 in our Itasca.  I simply made an oak L-shaped bracket and drilled it to fit the screw hole spacing on our Sharp LCD flat screen...Of course, I removed the old tray that was designed to hold an old fashioned CRT TV...lol!

Pictures are in the Excalibur album.

It folds tight against the wall when we travel.

As far as the tiny fold-down TVs are concerned to keep kids occupied when you travel...whatever happened to the good old fashioned back-hand, and a threat to "turn this bus around" when the kids acted up?....lmao!  Our dear friends Tom and Maryann (Slantsixness and his wonderful wife...owners of Smurfy) have a DVD and LCD tv in one of thier cars, and it does entertain their children wonderfully...to the point that we call it the PSD...Parental Sanity Device...but still!...lol!).

Kev




From:ibdilbert01   

Sent: 1/28/2008 6:52 PM


I got my new fold down TVs today, they look GREAT, and I think 13.5 inches is sized just about right. They fold down and pivot.

BTW, Pyle makes them up to 20". So if anybody is getting ready to buy a TV, they might want to consider one of the pyle fold downs. It sure will be nice to fold them up against the ceiling and not have to worry about them when your done watching a movie.




From:LJ-TJ   
Sent: 1/28/2008 8:17 PM


Wow just what I was looking for but just a little out of my range. But not doubt nice.

http://www.pyleaudio.com/itemdetail.asp?brand=&cat1=Mobile%20Video%20And%20Navigation&cat2=Roof%20Mount%20Monitors&model=PLVWR20T




From:LJ-TJ   
Sent: 1/29/2008 7:32 AM


You now know why I love this site. No question is to silly to ask. I never new about Pyles MSRP and it would appear this is the route I 'm leaning toward. Hey folks thanks for all the help.




From:LJ-TJ   
Sent: 1/30/2008 6:17 AM


Last question where can one find Pyles MSRP? Walmart, Best Buy, Circut City? ? Thanks for all the help.




From:ibdilbert01   
Sent: 1/30/2008 9:34 AM


I have seen their products sold in Best Buy before, but not recently.   I think most of the local car/audio stores would carry them.  PartsExpress (partsexpress.com) also carries pyle products.  I buy most of my stuff from Ebay, but as you can see with the first post in this thread, ebay has a great deal of bad sellers.  Anymore I take great caution when buying from ebay, I make sure I'm buying from a company, and not an individual.  I also consider all the warranty options, such as do I return the product to them, or do they expect me to contact the manufacturer for the return.

Oh, and if you do buy a fold down monitor, some of them have built in TV tuners and some do not.  If you are after one with a TV tuner, you should consider buying on with a digital tuner, as the rumor is nobody will broadcast in analog after this year. (http://www.dtv.gov/)




From:LJ-TJ   
Sent: 1/30/2008 9:49 AM


Good stuff....Thanks ....You noticed that about E-Bay too. Yeh I'm not quite sure to think about that..




From:OldEdBrady   
Sent: 1/30/2008 7:08 PM


The conversion to digital TV transmission is not a rumour; it is fact.

In February 2009, ALL analog TV broadcasts will cease.  ONLY digital signals will be broadcast.

To run an analog TV, it will require a special decoder to convert the signal from digital to analog.




From:Froggy19362   
Sent: 2/3/2008 12:07 PM


Ed this is only true if you are using an antenna, Box is not needed for tv,s using cable or satelite reception as supplier of signal will convert to analog   also has no effect on video or c/d viewing  Froggy




From:OldEdBrady   
Sent: 2/3/2008 5:45 PM


I know, Frank.  That's why I specified broadcast signals.  Over-the-air stuff.




From:tiinytina   
Sent: 2/3/2008 6:01 PM


TJ,
   Pat is saying it all depends on the TV not the antennae.... so if your TV is digital signal compatible it doesn't matter if you run it off of an antennae etc. from experience we just stock Gone full of our favorite DVD's on trips

  Also.... we "could" pack Pat's welding gear on board and if you have an "idea" we could maybe... work on it. Saying that... did you "work" on our old stairs yet... and install them on your rig? hee hee

Tina




From:LJ-TJ   
Sent: 2/3/2008 6:16 PM


Ho heck ya. We had them installed by  the first Walmart on the way home. The wife loves them. Can't for the life of us figure why you went to the expence of buying new ones these work great....... the wife thanks you and I thank you.

[tommo]

I have a question as to which is the better way to hook the elec for a tv.
I see some go for the deep cycle batt's.
Any pro's and con's?
I just picked up an old winnie '78.
Is it too much for the alt to run one while driving.
I guess I'm looking for the most efficient least wearing on the old rig
Thanks
Tom Morrison

[ibdilbert01]

Fold down TVs actually are very efficient.  The ones I have now use about 1.5 amps, and thats with the wireless headsets.  So I wouldn't imagine it would be an issue with a stock alternator.

I think what most people do is hook the TVs up to their "house" batteries instead of the chassis battery.   And most rigs have a way to charge both batteries while underway.  Then if they are boondocking, they don't risk running their chassis battery down and getting stranded.

[chicknnhead]

Looking to ad a flat screen, looked at the fold away swival arms and i think that will work better for my setup then the flip up.
looking at the 15 inch flat screen lcd tv's. i think that will be big enough jsut for the rainy nights for the kids to watch cartoons

anyone have an pics on their mounted tv's...just looking to see visually how others did theirs

[ClydesdaleKevin]

We've mounted flat screens 2 different ways.  In the Ark, our 72 Futura, we marked the holes, and drilled straight through the closet side wall, and then from inside the closet, used bolts to hold the TV flat against the wall...it was the most efficient place to put it there in the bedroom.

On our old 77 Itasca, I used the original fold away TV stand that came with the RV, and took off the wooden tray designed to hold a CRT television.  Then I made an L shaped bracket out of oak, kind of like a shelf on its side, marked and drilled the holes, and bolted the flatscreen to it from the back...works great, and folded up tight against the wall for travel with a velcro strap, but could swing out and was adjustable for watching TV in bed.

In our new 89 Holiday Rambler, we have a huge flat blank wall in the bedroom, facing the foot of the bed...so we mounted a huge flatscreen, 38" if I recall correctly, to the wall directly, again by marking the holes and drilling them.  The wall butts up against the bathroom, and the holes landed inside the bathroom cabinets.  So I braced across inside the cabinets with 1x2 oak, drilled through those too, and using longer bolts, bolted it directly to the wall...its perfect for watching from the bed, and its huge!  Almost like being in a theater. 

We've had this RV and the flatscreen for close to 2 years now, travelling thousands of miles, and the flatscreen, a Samsung, is holding up quite well.  The only thing that went wrong with it was that the built in DVD player recently died.

Kev