RE: To T.V. or not to T.V......

[JemJen24]

 
would love to know how many of you take a T.V. with you when camping.  I ve been kind of against it, but I realized I sure would have liked to have one when it got rainy a couple of weeks ago on one of my excursions, plus I felt a little disconnected from the war news (is that a bad thing? hmmmm).
 
 I also would like a suggestion on a small portable color TV that isn t too bulky or heavy.
 
 J.[]
 
 SuezyQ...maybe you can find some TV deals?

[campingboaters]

 JemJen24
We take a TV/VCR combo when we go camping.  My daughter wakes up around 7AM and I d rather not get up and moving around too much before 8 -- when most camps end their quiet hours.  We pop in a movie and let her watch for an hour while we get to either relax in bed a little longer, or get showered and ready for the day.  It s also been a LIFESAVER during rainy days when there are only so many coloring books you can color and games you can play!  
 
 As for watching the news, we don t often get a campsite with cable and we never get great reception with just the antena on the TV.  Besides, we go camping to leave the " real"  world behind for a couple days.

[SheBantam]

 JemJen24
We actually have 2 in the camper. The first one is one of those teeny tiny AC/DC Models for $20.00 to $40.00. Raymond was having fits because he could not watch the news. He rarely leaves the camper or at least the awning area.
 
 I went Radio Shack and bought a gizmo to attach to it to hook up to cable as some of the campgrounds we go to have cable included.
 Then the AC adapter broke and I got a new one from Walmart for electronics and the signal was OHHH so much better. Stays hid under the seat in a larger soft sided lunch box cooler) So my $25.00 B/W TV ended up closer to $40.00 when all was said and done.
 
 Early last summer AMES (now defunct) had a 13"  TV sale, any brand they had for $49.99. Got one! Also take the spare VCR with us.

[AustinBoston]

 JemJen24
We disconnect from the world while on the road.
 
 We considered bringing a TV in the van on our 8-week cross country trip, but that would have been limited to driving time, which would have effectively limited it to videos.  We decided the money was better spent on souveniers and dinners out.
 
 Apart from a few essentials, I feel that anything you " have to have"  owns you instead of you owning it.
 
 Austin

[kathybrj]

 JemJen24
With younger kids, we ve found having the TV/VCR combo in the tow vehicle a nice accessory. Our kids use headphones and watch movies. They don t always use it, but it s nice to have (they tend to argue less when watching a movie []).
 
 We ve had it in the camper once, when it rained for a few days on a trip. We watched two movies in two days and that was it. Then it was off to play cards or board games, talk and listen to music.
 
 We don t watch TV often at home (we own one), so it s not something we use often when camping.
 
 

[Trlrboy]

 JemJen24
We have a 15"  TV/VCR that we take with us when we go somewhere for a week.  Got it for $69 in WalMart a couple of years ago.   We ll tape a few movies in advance just in case the weather doesn t cooperate with us at night.

[Acts 2:38 girl]

 JemJen24
We brought one on our first trip since the kids were pretty little (ages 1+2+5 yrs) just so I could grab five minutes to pick up, etc.  Then last year, down in TN we put it in the back of the van to travel the distance and make it bearable for the kids.  I cannot recommend this enough for LONG trips with kids.  Makes for a much more peaceful ride.  However, they didn t have an urge to peek at it the whole week we were there - neither did we!!  
 You needs are different though, as you haven t started to have kids yet.  Even if it s raining, the kids want to find something to do outside!!  I think a TV is fine while camping, even though this is bound to be a hot topic on the board!!  I think the biggest concern for other PUTers is the loudness.  We ve all has bad experiences of campers blaring a TV or radio, etc.  For us it was actually a generater [: (]  And everybodys style of music varies, so what one loves, another is looking like this - [:@]  
 As for size - it depends what you can pack away.  We brought a small 13"  color and it worked great!

[maromeo]

 JemJen24
JenJen,
 I was like you. I fought having a t.v. in the PU. After all we re camping! But DH wanted it and felt it would be a nice feature, so he bought a 13"  color with VCR. It was the first thing he bought for it. I have to admit, at night when it is dark, our family is ready for bed, we pop in a movie and have popcorn before going to sleep. It is quite nice.
 Mary Romeo

[wynot]

 JemJen24
DW wanted to know why I threw an old B&W 13 inch TV in the camper a couple of years ago.  Can t say that I even knew.
 
 It rained 7 inches that trip.
 
 The TV has never left the camper...

[Bearnkat]

 JemJen24
Hi Jennifer,
 
 With Terry s and my busy schedule, we do a lot of taping of our favorite programs. Sometimes we get to watch the tapes within a week or so, but most times, we have to wait for a lag in our schedule, like camping, to get caught up. (To give you some idea, we had some time last weekend and we were watching a tape that had Christmas commercials on it! We ve got to get control of our time management!
 
 We have a little 9"  TV/VCR combo that we bring with us, along with all the tapes that we want to watch and get caught up on. Sometimes we have reception, sometimes we don t. I ve been threatening to get a portable dish to use with our extra DirecTV box, but Terry won t let me go that far yet.
 
 We ve found the TV useful to be able to catch the local weather especially if there is bad weather brewing. Its always nice to have the TV for that. Other than watching the news before bedtime and watching the recorded tapes, the TV pretty much stays off. Even if it is raining during the day, and we re stuck inside the camper, the TV is off while we re reading or playing a game and listening to the sound of the rain on the canvas.
 
 Sam s, Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Wal-Mart are probably the best sources.
 
 C & T

[NCSunshine]

 JemJen24
We carry along a 9"  tv/vcr combo and it has served us well.  With kids 2, 4, and 9 it is nice to have for rainy days.  Plus DH would have a fit if he could not watch his race[]

[Papaso]

 JemJen24
We take our 13"  tv/vcr combo for rainy days and just to fall asleep with.
 HAPPY CAMPING

[CampinCrazy]

 JemJen24
Absolutely no television during camping time.  For us, that would defeat the whole purpose of camping.  It would be a major distraction for my little ones and I feel it takes away from the family time.  We bring books, games, puzzles in case of rain (that, and a good sense of humor).  
 However, our TV does have a built in DVD player that we allow the kids to watch if we have a long drive to the campground, and sometimes to keep them safe during pop-ups and pop-downs.

[g-whiz]

 JemJen24
So far, we have not taken a television along and until we go full time, I don t think that we will.  Actually, we are discussing the tv quandry and we may not take one even then.  We took a 5 week trip a couple of years ago and didn t miss it at all.   It was soon after 9/11 and I felt that we kept up-to-date on events just by listening to the radio while traveling.  I like the idea of being a bit cut-off from the world events, media, etc. when we travel.  If you have children, I guess it could be used as entertainment, but having children learn different ways to entertain themselves isn t all bad.

[bikolee]

 JemJen24
We have a 13"  TV in the camper. We use after we ve gone in for the night. We have a tendency to stay up late and play cards or some other game inside the camper after quiet time. Also DW stays up later than I do and watches the TV until she comes to bed.