Best location for TV viewing! - RV-Dreams Community Forum

Auburn War Eagle · RV-Dreams Family Member

Best location for TV viewing!

Darrell and Judy · RV-Dreams Family Member

We have seen a trend in motorhomes to place a plasma tv on the wall next to the dining area. This way you can view it from the sofa and also turn the driver's and passage's seats around for viewing the tv. Also, they install it a little lower than the models installed over the dash. Winnebago Adventurer was the first one we saw this installation, since we have seen several diesel pushers that have done it this way (a couple with tv's installed in both places).

mikeway · RV-Dreams Family Member

We are considering pulling out the sofa and replacing it with a Lazy Boy currently in storage. We are also looking at some storage from IKEA's catalog. Since we will be in Southern California in February, it may be an option "for us."

The price and quality of "RV" furniture is crazy, unless you can buy in Elkhart at the outlets.

Mike

Joan On The Road · RV-Dreams Family Member

We pulled out our original sofa and extra chair and replaced with two swivel, recliner rockers from Flexsteel. They were $700 each custom upholstered at the Recovery Room in Riverside, CA. We loved that change. Then we figured out we could get a big flat screen TV and put it on the dash and remove our crummy overhead TV. We loved that change even more. The new TV sleeps on the bed when we travel. It's a tiny pain to move the TV but not nearly the pain of watching the old overhead. I wrote about these changes and the cabinet building on my blog in Nov/Dec 2005....www.joanontheroad.com.

jomago · RV-Dreams Family Member

Another opinion--

The recliner on the rt side rotates and when sat in a relaxed (reclined) your head is generally looking up and straight ahead with eyes looking at a spot where the wall meets the cieling. If the TV was lower I'd have to pull my chin down for viewing.

As for the sofa, the only time we sit is when we were talking or reading. Normally,who ever is sitting on the sofa lays down to read, etc and viewing TV from that position is no problem.

Aggree that most OEM RV furnature leaves a lot to be desired. But I'll also state the we have had several name brand recliners you reference (special order and not cheap), and have found that with continual daily use they just seem to wear out and get saggy. I'm 6' + and the bride was 5'2" so we had to order special to get the right proportions. At $700 to $900 each we still only got @3 to 5 years before they look and feel so bad they have to be replaced. We are continually playing musical chairs. Don't get up to see if the plumbing is still working or your chair we have a visitor. Still trying to figure out the best seating for the new MH (?) if thats the way I go. Won't make up mind until next spring. This one only has 27K miles and new tires and batteries.

What really bothers me is what we are going to do when they switch over to HDTV. The son just got a new HDTV and has to swap out his two LNB dish system for a new system that looks at 3 birds. And also pay extra/mo. Being I'm thinking of going back to DirectV I'm not sure what happens with HDTV??

Anyone looked into this ??/

-- Edited by jomago at 11:54, 2006-12-16

-- Edited by jomago at 11:56, 2006-12-16

mikeway · RV-Dreams Family Member

Regarding HD and Directv. Check the datastorm users site at this link and navigate to the forum on hd tv. It does look like 3 satellites to see everything, but there may be simpler solutions such as sat switching.

Mike

tobyjack · RV-Dreams Community Member

We removed the tv over the dash and added a book shelf there. We purchased a 17" 12 volt lcd tv and have it sitting on the front table across from the sofa. When we travel it goes into a box on the floor under the table. We also removed the two captains chair that used to be on either side of that table and replaced them with wicker armchairs. That way, if we have company they can sit on the sofa and we can move the chairs around to a good viewing position. When we do not have company, we sit on the sofa and use the chairs as footrests. I had to run a 10 foot coax cable from the antenna connection above the dash, and use a heavy gauge 12 volt extension cord. We love this setup.

manycats · RV-Dreams Family Member

Definitely a pet peeve, only one person can watch TV straight on and the other one gets a sore neck. Also we're a 6' husband and a 5'2" wife (me) who can't get comfortable in built-in dinettes (table almost hits my chin and not enough leg room for him) or built-in couches. Almost every RV we've had, and there have been many, we've had to remove furniture, add recliners and move TVs. The comforting thought now is that TVs are no longer the hundred pound behemoths that only fit in one particular spot. We will figure out where to put it. By the way, since my Lazy Boy recliner is the only one that fits me, it will get reupholstered or get a new slip cover and the TV will be in my line of sight or else...

TRAILERKING · RV-Dreams Family Member

Ours elevates up out of the dash. I don't mind it other than I would like to upgrade the old CRT TV to a flat screen but nothing will fit properly without some serious mod's.

Clay L · RV-Dreams Family Member

We lived in our present motor home for ten years. When we bought a s&b and became snow birds we got a 46 inch TV that sits on a custom entertainment center we had built 15 years ago and stored. It is about 36 inches high.

I find that I much prefer the TV to be higher. When I sit in my recliner I either have to tip my head down or not recline as much as I want.
I think I will get a wall mount for it so I can get it somewhat higher.

As far as sitting on the couch in the motor home, my wife and I fabricated a wedge shaped foam cushion and covered it with Ultra Leather. It is the right height so the back of my head touches it. She also covered a plastic file cabinet we use for some files with foam and Ultra Leather that doubles as a hassock/foot rest. I can sit in comfort with my feet up and my body turned so I am watching the TV head on.

Below is a link to a picture of my set up:

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/ClayL/media/Public/MyCornerMedium_zps502cc8e5.jpg.html][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v425/ClayL/Public/MyCornerMedium_zps502cc8e5.jpg