DWR Airstream with Toshiba HDTV upgrade screening Monty Python's Flying Circus

HDTV came to our Airstream. The DWR Bambi Airstream came with a 15″ Sony. It was heavy, had no built-in DVD player, looked dated, no HD, used an external power adapter, used more energy, and the picture wasn’t very good. So, I went out on a quest to find a more beautiful display. We don’t really watch TV much while camping, but it certainly is nice to watch some movies when it is cold and rainy outside. Having the built-in DVD is important since the Sony DVD/car stereo doesn’t upscale to a 720p display, so the video from the DVD player upfront would look quite bad.

Old power-brick cover box is now shorter to fit the wider TV and conceals the 12v to 110V inverter

Another benefit of HD is that I often don’t even have to elevate the Antenna to get a perfect HDTV broadcast picture within a metropolitan area.  I didn’t have to alter the VESA mounting system that held the old TV, but my brother Mark Thomas from Thomas Design/Build cut the power-brick cover plate, that used to house the AC adapter for the Sony TV, back by a third, since it was too long and in the way of the wider TV.

The reason I kept the AC adapter box was because I am using it to conceal a 12V to 110V inverter. This means we can finally use the TV when dry-camping.

Original Sony TV

The white Toshiba 19LV506 19″ HD TV looks much better with the DWR Airstream styling, uses less energy, and has a much better picture. I wish Airstream would have thought of this during production. Then they would have not have had to build a custom wooden box to conceal the AC adapter. I also wish Airstream would have run a HDMI and Cat5 ethernet cable from the stereo to the television, just to future-proof the trailer.

With our HDTV upgrade, we can watch Monty Python’s Flying Circus on rainy camping days!