TV Watching—Newbee

[Poppie1957]

Hello all and a very Happy Thanksgiving.
My DW and I are old but we are new to RVing. I never was an electronics or audio/video type person. I always let my kids hook me up. I think with a RV they too are stumped.
I am looking for advice on what is the best setup for cost effective tv watching. My wife has her favorites and I like sports. I have fire stick and a roku but not sure how to connect and make work in my RV. I have the same televisions that came with my 2010 Phaeton.

[luvlabs]

Lots of choices (in order of ascending costs): Over the air if you are close to metropolitan areas; satellite if you are in areas that don't have broadcast TV; streaming if you are parked by a cell tower and have deep pockets.

[Banner Elk]

ROKU and Fire stick are great , but they're worthless with out Mobil internet. That's the big issue while you're traveling. Sometimes the hot spots on your phone works if you don't mind it buffering every minute or so !!

[StaRVGazer]

Originally Posted by luvlabs

Lots of choices (in order of ascending costs): Over the air if you are close to metropolitan areas; satellite if you are in areas that don't have broadcast TV; streaming if you are parked by a cell tower and have deep pockets.

....free cable if you are in a park. But, choices could be limited.

Paul

[okcnewbie]

Originally Posted by Poppie1957

Hello all and a very Happy Thanksgiving.
My DW and I are old but we are new to RVing. I never was an electronics or audio/video type person. I always let my kids hook me up. I think with a RV they too are stumped.
I am looking for advice on what is the best setup for cost effective tv watching. My wife has her favorites and I like sports. I have fire stick and a roku but not sure how to connect and make work in my RV. I have the same televisions that came with my 2010 Phaeton.

If you have the same (old) tv's that came with your Tiffin than your life will likely be easier if everything is hooked up still. I would think you have a switching box located near one of the tv's. You likely can choose which input to send to which tv.
For all of your streaming options this is a good place to start IMO.
https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/

[Shutterbug57]

There are 2 easy answers. I use my phone, which has unlimited data (not to be confused with an unlimited hot spot) and simply share my screen with an Apple TV. That works for some things, but more services are restricting such a set up. The even easier way is to get a cable that will go from your phone to the tv hdmi port. Stream whatever you want to the TV 5hat way. It is just less convenient as the phone is literally connected to the TV.

I ran a hdmi cable from the front TV to the cabinet just to it’s right. That has the satellite controller and some power plugs in it. You can shut the door to ensure your phone or tablet stay put.

[Money Man]

Originally Posted by Poppie1957

Hello all and a very Happy Thanksgiving.
My DW and I are old but we are new to RVing. I never was an electronics or audio/video type person. I always let my kids hook me up. I think with a RV they too are stumped.
I am looking for advice on what is the best setup for cost effective tv watching. My wife has her favorites and I like sports. I have fire stick and a roku but not sure how to connect and make work in my RV. I have the same televisions that came with my 2010 Phaeton.

If you have 2010 vintage TVs, you will not be able to connect any of them to the Internet. That was the issue with our 2014 RED. We just got back from a trip to Red Bay where we replaced all of our TVs with smart, Internet connected TVs. Makes your choices much easier and much broader.

[Poppie1957]

I think I will be changing out my TVs for smart TVs but for now my son in-law has hooked me up with free dish network through his company.
Thanks for all of the suggestions

[Shutterbug57]

Originally Posted by Money Man

If you have 2010 vintage TVs, you will not be able to connect any of them to the Internet. That was the issue with our 2014 RED. We just got back from a trip to Red Bay where we replaced all of our TVs with smart, Internet connected TVs. Makes your choices much easier and much broader.

This is partially true. The OP probably had the Samsung flat screens that are not smart TVs. We had those in our 2011 and still have 2 of them. While they cannot be DIRECTLY connected to the internet, they certainly can be connected to the internet through an Apple TV or similar device.

As you noted, your new set up includes “smart, internet connected TVs”. The key words there are internet connected. The OP will still have to figure out how to connect smart TVs to the internet. Simply slapping smart TVs around the rig won’t get the OP up and running without a way to establish that internet connection.

If the OP has the Samsung TVs with the (roughly) 3” bezels, a 43” smart TV with a small bezel will fit in place of the 37” Samsung in the front of the rig, or at least it does in our 2011 Phaeton. I popped an LG up there and it both has better resolution and updates the look of the rig. I still connect that smart TV to the internet either with an Apple TV or by directly connecting my phone to the TV as this is the least expensive way I have found.

We have a Visio smart TV in the bedroom and the original Samsung’s in the midship position and outside. I am seriously contemplating swapping the mid ship TV for a 37” monitor as the main use of that unit is as a second monitor for work and the Samsung leaves much to be desired in that department.