TV Upgrade

[LarryB]

How many have upgraded the TVs in the bus?

Did you do your own or hire it done?

What brand of TV is the best for the bus?

Regards,

[dale farley]

Larry,

I removed the 20 inch in the front and installed a 26" Sony Bravia. It fit very nicely. There are some threads about installing TVs. This link will take you to some earlier discussion.
http://forum.prevostownersgroup.com/showthread.php?t=2087

[LarryB]

Dale, thanks. My search didn't show much, not friends with it I assume.

[mike kerley]

Larry, We pulled our front unit and put a swing arm on the right hand side of the cabinet, mounting a 26" Sharp on the arm. We bought a model that had removable speakers, so we had just the monitor on the arm. Had a cabinet man build a wood frame that slips around it and did the same for the center area (just right of the TV) where we mounted a Sony surround sound amp, connected to the HD Direct tv receiver for audio. The Direct TV HD receiver mounts behind the TV in the space vacated by the old TV.

I'll see if I can find some pictures, but am bad at tossing old files, so dont hold your breath.

We did much the same in the bedroom, but used a Sony 23" LCD there. It does have a better picture than the Sharp (both are HD units), but only slightly better.

There is a wide variety of mounting arms and options available. The hard part is finding a TV that will not become a sore spot on your head while entering or leaving the drivers seat!

Mike K.

[merle&louise]

Larry,

I did a little research and it seems that LCD TVs hold up better than the plasma TVs in a motorhome. So I bought an LCD Sony Bravia 32" and it fit perfect in my cabinet. All I had to add was a bracket to hold it in place. It was really a lot easier than I thought it would be.

[garyde]

Both the Plasma and the LCD give off a lot of heat, noticable in the summer months. Also, there has been some history with Plasma problems at higher elevations, above 5000 ft.

[Ray Davis]

Plasma's for sure give off a ton of heat. I don't think that LCDs are even as hot as a normal tube TV.

One thing, some of the power bricks which come with these flatscreens are very sensitive to the sinewave produced by our generators. I had a Samsung LCD in my CC, and it fried the power brick in less than two years of use.

Usually, you can find something to replace it with at a good electronics house.

Ray

[Jeff Bayley]

Larry-

I ditched the old style TV's in both my 94 and my 98 and installed a 42" Plasma in the first on and could only make a 32" fit on the 98 floor plan. Went right in between the window frame in the bedroom. Dimms should be the same no matter who your converter. Send me an email if you want and I'll forward you all the before and after pictures and I think I've got an explanation somehwhere I can find a copy of what was required to reduce your time of doing it. It took one whole day to shop for the an LCD that fit just right and two days to install it but it looks factory. Email you stuff on it if you want.

[mwalker422]

I have a 91 Country Coach. I'm going to replace the Front TV with a 26" Sony Bravia. That seems to the pick of most of our researchers. I'm not sure what do with the rear TV because space is limited. All my inputs are coaxal and that will change. Do I use HDMI or what? Where does Country Coach route the wires to the back. That is where my TracStar and DVD player is located.

[Kenneth Brewer]

Yes, HDMI is a/the standard for most if not all digital tv's input connections; LCDs and plasma, as well as DVD players/recorders' outputs, and is necessary if you want/have high definition reception. However, you need to see if your satellite TV system has HDMI outputs, which would first mean that you would have to have had a system relatively (few years) recently installed. If you don't, and you still want to do this, you will need to upgrade your sat/receiver system AND the cabling to your (new) set(s) if you want HDTV.

[Tully]

The 26 inch Sonly Bravia for the front is what I put it. It fits perfect. A friend and I did a lot of modification work and had a welded some mounting brackets into place. Also installed a Sony surround sound system at the same time with tiny Satalite speakers.

It turned out fantastic. Took a lot of planning and hours to do it just right. But it did turn out great. Pic's upon request as I have not been able how to figure out posting pics on this site yet.

The only thing I was not happy with is the 19 inch for the bedroom that I put in. Put on a swing style mount and it looks like an after thought.

Tully

[lewpopp]

I have one of those coupons that makes the reception better. Where do I put the coupon? On the front tv or on the antennae? Damn, I should have gotten a few coupons.

[bluevost]

Larry,

I was at the hanger today and took a couple of photos of a TV upgrade I did just after Spearfish. I had a 20" in the salon like most mid 90's conversions. I bought a 32 1/2 inch Sharp Aquos and replaced the 20 incher. No framing around it or anything fancy like that, and it looks anything but factory. But for me that's ok, I don't really care that much. The wider set hangs over the original cabinet 4 or 5 inches, the height top to bottom is very close to the cabinet. I did not really loose any headroom getting in or out of the drivers chair. The TV is mounted to an moveable arm which is bolted to a 3/4" piece of plywood, which in screwed and bolted inside the old cabinet. Works great and did I say it's 32 1/2". And LCD. I can't wait to watch the Rose Parade.

Good luck,

Ken

[normancasson]

Granted I have one of the oldest conversions around (A 87 Marathon-the 6th Prevost ) but I had a 7 1/2 foot pull down screen installed some years ago right above the drivers location. I really didn't want to spend the money for the power version but I take the Sony projector from my bedroom (that throws a 12' picture but its located farther away from the screen) with me when traveling. The darn thing is really small but the picture quality is tremendous. Granted it must be darker inside but its worked out great. I never did replace the 20".

The projector was mounted on a pull out section in the kitchen.

[LarryB]

Thanks to all for the input on this subject. I think I'll hold off on any upgrade until I have had a chance to see some in person. Thanks for the pix that were posted but I need to get the total picture for my old, slow brain.

Thanks again.