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View Poll Results: Product Input: What type of TV do you want in your Montana?
TV with higher than 1080p resolution 8 10.13%
4K TV 9 11.39%
Smart TV with preinstalled apps 14 17.72%
4K & Smart TV 40 50.63%
Other: vote here and place your recommendation in a comment 8 10.13%
Voters: 79. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 01-17-2021, 04:05 PM   #1
mootana
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Product Input: TV Technology / Type

Hello MOC!

There has been a lot of negative comments about the Jensen brand TV we use now and in the past.

General comments say "Montana needs a better quality TV". As it reads, that is a broad statement. So I'm asking for some help.

I will post a poll to help try and focus in on what specifically is a "better quality TV".

Frequently, the comment is we should install "Smart TV". To get a benefit of a smart TV good streaming / internet must be available. Is streaming capability no longer a concern I should have. Or the concern that I'm asking everyone to pay for a smart TV when everyone might not utilize it.

Also we are finding that some Smart TV won't allow the owner to add more streaming apps the were not originally loaded. Is Fire and Roku stick the solution for owners to purchase?

So what is the answer? What are the wants and needs?

Help by voting in this poll.
 
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Old 01-17-2021, 04:36 PM   #2
Mikendebbie
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Our OEM TV was an Insignia. (Our RV was manufactured mid-November 2017, and we bought it at the Fort Worth RV Show January 2018). The picture quality was fine. I found it easy to program and operate. We never had any issues with the TV - but over the holidays I bought a Samsung Smart TV with the intent to stream with it in the future. I got it mounted a few weeks ago and frankly I have not even turned it on yet. We are stuck at home (willingly) until we get our covid vaccines. The Insignia will go to a local Goodwill store. We have a very nice LG in the S&B, but Samsung has some apps that we can not get on the LG, and we have had Samsungs before.

We used a Dish Tailgater and a ViP211Z black box currently. I bought a Wally receiver on sale over the holidays...haven't taken it out of the box yet. Our Tailgater never worked with the OEM coax and splitters - so installed a direct coax to the Dish black box thru the slide out loom. I used to run the cable thru the window - now I can hook onto the coax sticking out of the slideout loom. I also bought a Bose Solo sound bar that sits behind the TV. We do not use the built-in OEM speakers for TV watching. We have used the OEM stereo/DVD player many times to watch DVDs with no issues. The only criticism I have is that the am/fm radio is useless. We listen to lots of am talk radio. The lack of a good radio has been a big disappointment, but is apparently an industry standard these days. The radio in our 2011 Jayco and our 2017 Laredo also were useless. The radios in our 90's models Alpenlites and Sportsmen worked great - but they had external antennas.

The Insignia tv in the bedroom has been good, and we do not intend to replace it. Our antenna reception and cable hookups at campgrounds has worked very good with the OEM coax wiring and splitters.

Thanks for asking!
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Old 01-17-2021, 04:52 PM   #3
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Sam,

Thanks for asking. We have not had an issue with our TVs. TVs are fairly inexpensive to replace if someone wants something different. I do not camp at too many places with WIFI so we depend on satellite vs streaming - smart TV would not interest us.

While we do watch some TV when out we are more into enjoying the outdoors.
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Old 01-17-2021, 05:10 PM   #4
Carl n Susan
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My complaint about the Jensen I have (which is admittedly a 2012 12V one in the bedroom) is that you can't map the Jensen remote to a DirecTV/Dish/whatever remote. The mapping just doesn't exist. Which means I have to have two remotes in my hand. One to manipulate the Jensen and the other to control the Satellite channel I want to watch.


I use my satellite to feed my TV. I rarely use cable or OTA. I do use a Chromecast and Firestick for streaming. The standard TV is fine for what I need assuming it has multiple HDMI posts. The problem with the survey is it doesn't have a status quo response. I haven't seen a need for anything more than 1080P. So I didn't took the "other" option.
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Old 01-17-2021, 05:17 PM   #5
sourdough
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Sam, thanks for the opportunity to comment.

We had a Jensen in our previous trailer and Furrion in this one. The Jensen brand used to be sort of mid range audio then went into TVs and such. The TVs are acceptable but entry level. Picture on ours was OK for what it was (non HD) and it stayed with us for the duration of ownership. Speaker system (receiver) and speakers were Jensen as well. I pulled all the speakers and replaced with Kenwood due to the cheap, tinny sound.

This trailer came with the Furrion HD tv and sound system. All of it, every component, is garbage. The TV picture was marginal, the speakers terrible then the receiver and speakers for the sound was just horrific. After our first experience using them the TV had some issues trying to scan channels. I was told Keystone warranty was replacing it but that drug out so long that I had them install a new Samsung 4K smart TV. I replaced the cheap Furrion speakers with JBLs then added a sound bar. I'm not a big audiophile any longer but I do like to hear whatever it is that I'm watching or listening to. I'll sort the warranty stuff out when I return from FL.

Samsung makes one of the best TVs out there, particularly the sound from the TV itself. I own(ed) 4 homes and had them in all of them. Tried Visio, LG and others but they didn't compare.

Smart TVs, IMO, have a limited appeal for RV owners unless they live in them and are pretty much stationary. IF they have a browser a person might be able to use them to stream in some rare locations but that option is quickly disappearing. You can use Roku or Fire Sticks (have both) as other options.

At the end of the day I think it goes back to your initial comment about "better quality TV". That says what it means...."quality". Obviously it should have a good picture but more importantly are the electronics behind it and how they are used/executed. There is no reason to have a sharp picture and speakers so bad you either can't hear them or they buzz/hiss/etc. so much dialogue is indiscernable. If you get good basic quality TV those things usually come with it. 4K, SmartTV etc. are just "add ons" to a quality TV.

These things are highly subjective when it comes to the extended features and what people like. I think everyone would agree that improved quality of the basic components is needed. I certainly appreciate your efforts to seek input.
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Old 01-17-2021, 05:21 PM   #6
kowbra
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mootana View Post
Hello MOC!

There has been a lot of negative comments about the Jensen brand TV we use now and in the past.

General comments say "Montana needs a better quality TV". As it reads, that is a broad statement. So I'm asking for some help.

I will post a poll to help try and focus in on what specifically is a "better quality TV".

Frequently, the comment is we should install "Smart TV". To get a benefit of a smart TV good streaming / internet must be available. Is streaming capability no longer a concern I should have. Or the concern that I'm asking everyone to pay for a smart TV when everyone might not utilize it.

Also we are finding that some Smart TV won't allow the owner to add more streaming apps the were not originally loaded. Is Fire and Roku stick the solution for owners to purchase?

So what is the answer? What are the wants and needs?

Help by voting in this poll.
I think the happy middle ground is a 4K TV for the better quality. But I don't think you need the Smart TV apps - it's so easy to add an Apple TV or Roku or Fire Stick, etc.


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Old 01-17-2021, 05:59 PM   #7
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TVs are so cheap put a decent one in and let the owner of the camper charge it out if they don’t like it. It seams everyone likes something different. You can’t please everybody so let them install whatever they like. If I full timed I’d install a Sony OLED. I don’t think you are going to be putting them in anything but I can.
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Old 01-18-2021, 03:40 AM   #8
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We will occasionally use cable from a campground where available but we tend to stream using Fire Stick or Roku most often. A smart TV will become outdated quickly so an add on device such as Fire Stick can usually be replaced when no longer updated. Current resolution is fine, but everything seems to be going 4K, so that makes sense in the future. I see Carl's point about the remotes, but for us with streaming, we have several ones anyway.
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Old 01-24-2021, 10:14 PM   #9
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I am quite disappointed with the tv that it is not a smart TV. With 5G phones the ability to stream using the phones will be the new norm.
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Old 01-24-2021, 10:28 PM   #10
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The signal most rvers receive isn't good enough to warrant an ultra high resolution tv. What would be helpful is having the components operate from one remote.
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Old 01-24-2021, 10:34 PM   #11
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1080P is plenty high enough. These TVs aren't really that big to warrant more. Also, a smart tV needs good wifi to download stuff - and most campgrounds do not have that.
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Old 01-25-2021, 08:30 AM   #12
RipNC
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Other - vote

We'd have preferred 4k in LR, but more importantly to us would be a duplex outlet (and maybe USB too) in the cavity adjacent to the stereo. Useful to add a component like a smart blu-ray player or Roku 3 (which we use to make the Jensen "smart").
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Old 01-25-2021, 09:25 AM   #13
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I voted for the 4K Smart TV. We installed one primarily because we couldn't connect optical audio to our Bose Solo 5 Sound Bar that replaced the audio unit. I much prefer our current setup. The LG 4K TV is incredible and it was a direct swap with the original. Just unbolted the Jensen and bolted the LG in. None of the speakers are connected anymore. The sound from the BOSE is superior in every way.



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Old 01-27-2021, 01:43 PM   #14
bcrvman
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mootana View Post
Hello MOC!

There has been a lot of negative comments about the Jensen brand TV we use now and in the past.

General comments say "Montana needs a better quality TV". As it reads, that is a broad statement. So I'm asking for some help.

I will post a poll to help try and focus in on what specifically is a "better quality TV".

Frequently, the comment is we should install "Smart TV". To get a benefit of a smart TV good streaming / internet must be available. Is streaming capability no longer a concern I should have. Or the concern that I'm asking everyone to pay for a smart TV when everyone might not utilize it.

Also we are finding that some Smart TV won't allow the owner to add more streaming apps the were not originally loaded. Is Fire and Roku stick the solution for owners to purchase?

So what is the answer? What are the wants and needs?

Help by voting in this poll.
Any good brand of 4K HDR smart TV like Sony will work great. The smart functions need internet then you can add more apps. I have the Apple, and Roku hardware the Amazon Prime, and CRAVE internet sources. Lots of resources here and on the net to help decide. Internet is a big consideration and the RV internet. I can't remember the site, but someone will chime in. Basically it's a fee based site that will find you a grandfathered plan and configure the hardware. Check out full time RV YouTube channels, most of them have something like that, I believe this will help, just click MORE under the video to get all the details.
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Old 01-27-2021, 02:11 PM   #15
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If you look at a rally, at least half or more have a satellite dish of one ilk or another. Right now, most do 1080 resolution. The problem with using a Roku or Firestick is the location is not conducive for the already weak WiFi signal. Most all of us will have our RV’s for some time to come. As with most technology, neither bleeding edge nor trailing is the best place to be. I never bought the cheapest PC nor the latest and greatest. I think TV’s are the same. Our Samsung has apps, so would qualify as a smart TV. That was the standard TV in our 2015 Montana. I would think as technology changes, Montana would at least stay even and not regress. I imagine if a smart TV was an option, it would decrease the price leverage. Although, during sales you can find 42-50” TV’s for 200-$300.
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Old 01-27-2021, 02:12 PM   #16
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2019 Montana 3120RL - the only issue we have had with the TV is the remote quit working for the bedroom tv. We have had more trouble with the radio/dvd player. It won't stay connected, constantly have to pull it to reconnect the HDMI cable. Went out to the camper the other day and noticed that now the display on the radio/dvd no longer works. Cannot eve tell what radio station you are on.
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Old 01-27-2021, 02:15 PM   #17
Dave and Beta
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Will a regular TV survive being “on the road” or are some of you parked in one spot most of the time.
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Old 01-27-2021, 02:46 PM   #18
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For all of the good it would do me, we rarely turn our tv’s on at all when on the road. When in our “home” Rv we do occasionally watch but mostly on our Firestick which is loaded with TVSMA which we purchased here in Mexico. It costs about $12usd a month paid annually and we can watch pretty much anything that is on anyone’s tv. Any movie, tv show, etc....as long as we have a minimize of 25mbps service.
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Old 01-27-2021, 03:40 PM   #19
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Another option might be to quit selling them with TV's. Build for standard sizes and let the customer put in what they like. Maybe offer a option or two and call it a day.
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Old 01-27-2021, 04:28 PM   #20
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Newbie we just came home to Melbourne Florida from Elkhart Indiana with our 2021 Montana 3121RL. It would have be nice to have had the option of getting 4K smart TVs. Just bought 2 from Best Buy to replace Jensen TVs.
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