Size recommendations for TV in 2021 Symbol

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V8oholic wrote
"I estimate your 16" is approximately 375x250. The next two sizes up in the range I'm picking from are 19.5" (450x325) and 21.5" (491x356), both including optional soundbar on the bottom. So if you had to pick one without measuring, do you think it would be 19.5" (75 wider and 75 deeper), or 21.5" (116 wider and 106 deeper).

Out 16.5" Avtex is not in the Symbol at the moment but I have taken photos of the AS type mount so it might give you an idea.....the width of the wardrobe wall is approx 49cm.
The top headrest cushion would probably tuck behind a swing out arm mount ok, but having checked, it doesn't really flop out of the way very neatly when unpoppered from the wall. You can see the popper location in the photo. This popper + the other one on the main back cushion seat board help to retain the seat in position.

Anyway, I hope that you manage to reach your decision ok

One thought is.....

If they supply and fit a 19”, the position and location would probably allow you to go down to a 16” later on if you wanted to.  However, if they supply and fit a 16”, the location may not allow you to go to a larger size later if you want to.

Good luck whatever you decide.  When I purchased my used van (from a large and nationally recognised company) the original television was missing, so I negotiated a new television included, with a holder and bracket fitted, all in place, tested and working.  Somehow, when I went to collect it, they had interpreted that as “we’ll just dump the boxed television on the seat, we won’t supply and fit a bracket and we won’t test it to see if it’s working”.  Which incidentally it wasn’t.

I have an extremely low opinion of second hand vehicle salesmen and this purchase just reinforced that!

SENTINEL wrote:

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V8oholic wrote
"I estimate your 16" is approximately 375x250. The next two sizes up in the range I'm picking from are 19.5" (450x325) and 21.5" (491x356), both including optional soundbar on the bottom. So if you had to pick one without measuring, do you think it would be 19.5" (75 wider and 75 deeper), or 21.5" (116 wider and 106 deeper).

Out 16.5" Avtex is not in the Symbol at the moment but I have taken photos of the AS type mount so it might give you an idea.....the width of the wardrobe wall is approx 49cm.
The top headrest cushion would probably tuck behind a swing out arm mount ok, but having checked, it doesn't really flop out of the way very neatly when unpoppered from the wall. You can see the popper location in the photo. This popper + the other one on the main back cushion seat board help to retain the seat in position.

Anyway, I hope that you manage to reach your decision ok

Thanks, that's extremely helpful. Particularly the width of the wardrobe being about 49cm, although it is slightly curved of course. But the 21.5" TV is also about 49cm which seems like it might be a good choice.

Sally wrote:One thought is.....

If they supply and fit a 19”, the position and location would probably allow you to go down to a 16” later on if you wanted to.  However, if they supply and fit a 16”, the location may not allow you to go to a larger size later if you want to.

Good luck whatever you decide.  When I purchased my used van (from a large and nationally recognised company) the original television was missing, so I negotiated a new television included, with a holder and bracket fitted, all in place, tested and working.  Somehow, when I went to collect it, they had interpreted that as “we’ll just dump the boxed television on the seat, we won’t supply and fit a bracket and we won’t test it to see if it’s working”.  Which incidentally it wasn’t.

I have an extremely low opinion of second hand vehicle salesmen and this purchase just reinforced that!

They aren't supplying the TV, I will be buying it from Amazon or somewhere. I'm quite worried that it won't fit, if the bracket is fitted without the TV as a guide! Perhaps I should get them to just supply the bracket, rather than fit it.

That would probably be best option - for them to supply the bracket rather than fit it- the chances are that they would be unlikely to fit it with a reinforcing plate inside the wardrobe as per Dbvwt's suggestion earlier.
However, if you have the tv that you are buying yourself, available at time of handover, take it with you so that you can check that the 12v connection etc are working ok.

v8oholic wrote:

Sally wrote:One thought is.....

If they supply and fit a 19”, the position and location would probably allow you to go down to a 16” later on if you wanted to.  However, if they supply and fit a 16”, the location may not allow you to go to a larger size later if you want to.

Good luck whatever you decide.  When I purchased my used van (from a large and nationally recognised company) the original television was missing, so I negotiated a new television included, with a holder and bracket fitted, all in place, tested and working.  Somehow, when I went to collect it, they had interpreted that as “we’ll just dump the boxed television on the seat, we won’t supply and fit a bracket and we won’t test it to see if it’s working”.  Which incidentally it wasn’t.

I have an extremely low opinion of second hand vehicle salesmen and this purchase just reinforced that!

They aren't supplying the TV, I will be buying it from Amazon or somewhere. I'm quite worried that it won't fit, if the bracket is fitted without the TV as a guide! Perhaps I should get them to just supply the bracket, rather than fit it.

I managed to fit mine (see above   ) and I don’t know a scraper from a screwdriver. 

I meant more that if you tell them it’s an avtex 19”, then a 16” must surely fit if that’s what you ultimately go for. But if you tell them you’re getting an avtex 16”, and they fit the holder accordingly, then a 19” may not fit. 

It makes sense to me, but that’s no guarantee of anything !

SENTINEL wrote:That would probably be best option - for them to supply the bracket rather than fit it- the chances are that they would be unlikely to fit it with a reinforcing plate inside the wardrobe as per Dbvwt's suggestion earlier.
However, if you have the tv that you are buying yourself, available at time of handover, take it with you so that you can check that the 12v connection etc are working ok.

I will have the TV if I order it tomorrow, but I can't really take it with me as I'm going down to collect the Symbol by train.

v8oholic wrote:

SENTINEL wrote:That would probably be best option - for them to supply the bracket rather than fit it- the chances are that they would be unlikely to fit it with a reinforcing plate inside the wardrobe as per Dbvwt's suggestion earlier.
However, if you have the tv that you are buying yourself, available at time of handover, take it with you so that you can check that the 12v connection etc are working ok.

I will have the TV if I order it tomorrow, but I can't really take it with me as I'm going down to collect the Symbol by train.

Ah....tricky! Perhaps they have a tv they could  use to demonstrate to you that the tv system is working ok. I am not sure how detailed or personal the handover can be given the current restrictions etc but you will want to go through as much as possible to make sure everything is working ok.
Is this a brand new Symbol?
Hope all goes well when you do go......

SENTINEL wrote:

v8oholic wrote:

SENTINEL wrote:That would probably be best option - for them to supply the bracket rather than fit it- the chances are that they would be unlikely to fit it with a reinforcing plate inside the wardrobe as per Dbvwt's suggestion earlier.
However, if you have the tv that you are buying yourself, available at time of handover, take it with you so that you can check that the 12v connection etc are working ok.

I will have the TV if I order it tomorrow, but I can't really take it with me as I'm going down to collect the Symbol by train.

Ah....tricky! Perhaps they have a tv they could  use to demonstrate to you that the tv system is working ok. I am not sure how detailed or personal the handover can be given the current restrictions etc but you will want to go through as much as possible to make sure everything is working ok.
Is this a brand new Symbol?
Hope all goes well when you do go......

Yes it's brand new. I think it says on their website that they won't go inside at all during a handover, which is going to make life interesting.

During Covid some of the dealers make a video handover for your specific vehicle which can be seen on youtube. Quite a useful thing really as you can check back and refer to it if necessary but it's not a perfect solution.

I've decided to err on the side of caution and ordered the 19.5" Avtex 199DSFVP along with the SB195BT soundbar which bolts to the bottom of it. They are about the same width, so it will look tidier anyway. It will hopefully fit neatly without looking too big.

Thanks for all the advice!

the 19.5 is what I have in my van in the picture and we find plenty big enough as I am sure you will find as you are very close to the screen even when you are sitting on the driving seat

It's amazing how much harder sales people are to contact, as soon as you've paid that final balance!

This is how it turned out, 19.5" Avtex 199DSFVP television, SB195BT soundbar and AK12TM mount.
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IanH wrote:An alternative to Avtex is Uk made Cello, I have one and its great. Mine is 16"

Another alternative is Falcon camping tv, I have just purchased one of these after our 7 year old cello started with problems, I think it’s a great tv with all the extra sound profiles, ,dvd player and a sat tuner and a pvr and full epg.

These are around the £300 mark but can be found cheaper , I used my veterans discount card at Millets and got one for £229 well happy

v8oholic wrote:This is how it turned out, 19.5" Avtex 199DSFVP television, SB195BT soundbar and AK12TM mount.
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Excellent, it’s looks really nice.

I’d forgotten about this thread v8oholic and last week decided to treat the van to a new TV. Coincidentally, I bought exactly the same model as you!
I was thinking of maybe a Cello this time round but the smallest smart traveller TV was just too big at 22”.
No DVD on the Avtex but streaming is obviously the way things are going, I hope they add a few more apps soon although casting downloaded Amazon prime films wirelessly from my phone to the TV works really well.
Glad you got everything sorted out and also enjoy your new van.

Dbvwt wrote:I’d forgotten about this thread v8oholic and last week decided to treat the van to a new TV. Coincidentally, I bought exactly the same model as you!
I was thinking of maybe a Cello this time round but the smallest smart traveller TV was just too big at 22”.
No DVD on the Avtex but streaming is obviously the way things are going, I hope they add a few more apps soon although casting downloaded Amazon prime films wirelessly from my phone to the TV works really well.
Glad you got everything sorted out and also enjoy your new van.

It’s a nice little TV, and streaming is the way to go. More apps will be good, but for now I’ve got an Amazon Fire TV Stick which has all of the extra streaming apps I use at home. It needs power and the TV’s onboard USB socket probably doesn’t supply the 5 watts necessary, but I’ve used a 12V splitter in the van’s 12V socket so I can power the sound bar. That has USB with enough power. I watched a couple of hours of NOW TV in HD the other day, and some Netflix, and nothing bad happened. I got through several GB of data in one evening though. Glad SMARTY is reasonably cheap!

re: the fire stick...i got a Fire TV 2020 last week and set it up in the van. i was pleased to find the TVs USB did power the FS so i didnt need an long cable.
whether theis would support the soundbar, i guess you'd have to try it.

bolero boy wrote:re: the fire stick...i got a Fire TV 2020 last week and set it up in the van. i was pleased to find the TVs USB did power the FS so i didnt need an long cable.
whether theis would support the soundbar, i guess you'd have to try it.

I’ve got the Avtex tv.  Like you, I discovered that it powers the firestick with the usb.  Which means there are hardly any cables in view, especially if I use the 12v power source in the overhead cupboard.

Mine is 3 years old so it has the DVD player too 

If powering the Fire Stick from USB rather than the mains adapter it comes with, you need to be sure it’s not marginal. It might work in normal use, but the time it is most likely to fail is when doing a software update.That’s when peak power is required. If it fails during an update, it has been known to brick the Fire Stick.

bolero boy wrote:re: the fire stick...i got a Fire TV 2020 last week and set it up in the van. i was pleased to find the TVs USB did power the FS so i didnt need an long cable.
whether theis would support the soundbar, i guess you'd have to try it.

The soundbar is 12V anyway so it needs the splitter. It would be a better design if Avtex had provided a way to get that 12V from the television, but they haven’t. But the splitter also provides USB and USB-C sockets, which are also handy.

bolero boy wrote:re: the fire stick...i got a Fire TV 2020 last week and set it up in the van. i was pleased to find the TVs USB did power the FS so i didnt need an long cable.
whether theis would support the soundbar, i guess you'd have to try it.

 I also replaced my 2016 fire stick with the new 2020 firetv stick lite , it’s a hell of a lot faster and apparently uses less power than the other sticks

We have the 2020 Symbol Plus and did not like the fitting recommended over the 3rd passenger seat it seemed completely wrong! We had the TV put on the wardrobe wall above the bench seat which has proven to be fine you can recline on the bench seat to watch or sit on the swivelled driver/passenger seat. We kept the 12v and Tv ariel sockets as fitted and had a new 12v socket fitted adjacent to the newly positioned tv. We have nearly always found the Auto Sleeper fitted ariel not great so for the new position we just purchased on Amazon a digital ariel which you stick to the window adjacent to the tv which is easily removed
the reception has been excellent 90% of the time with lots of channels. It does not get in the way and (tv) can be viewed sitting at any position in the lounge. Size really is a personal choice (we have 16 inch) the lounge is not huge so can be seen easily whichever size you fit!
Enjoy your new van!

Sally wrote:

bolero boy wrote:re: the fire stick...i got a Fire TV 2020 last week and set it up in the van. i was pleased to find the TVs USB did power the FS so i didnt need an long cable.
whether theis would support the soundbar, i guess you'd have to try it.

I’ve got the Avtex tv.  Like you, I discovered that it powers the firestick with the usb.  Which means there are hardly any cables in view, especially if I use the 12v power source in the overhead cupboard.

Mine is 3 years old so it has the DVD player too 

just to clarify, i dont have an Avtex TV (obviously its a Geman one...) but the principle has been demonstrated across multiple brands, the USB keeps things tidy if it can do the job.