looking for outdoor TV's

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This is in the near term for us now... I am leaning towards the route of just getting a regular LCD TV and hoping for the best. It will be mounted under roof about 5' or so from a screen wall. What are the considerations here? I have power on the wall and a place to pull both a CATV drop and an HDMI cable split off our main entertainment center. Our build is not done yet but we've been using the hot tub and porch and a TV and music is starting to cry out to be done. And hey... we've spent this much already - why slow down now? :)
 
Thought I'ld throw my .02 in. I've do the cheap TV route as well. I have a 35x18 deck with a shingled cover but no enclosures. I have a 22" a 24" and a 42" in various spots (my house is the Sunday football spot when it's warm enough) plus I have an old Kenwood amp and On-Q speakers for tunes on the deck. One cool feature I've done is set a laptop up under the bar and run tunes from it as well as have it hooked to the 42" that runs a screensaver slide show when we are pooling it. It's great to take everyones pictures and let them loop through. Anyway, no issues in three years with any of the TV's. The 42" is a six year old Toshiba LCD.
 
Heater said:
The only regret I have is not doing a smart tv. It would be nice to stream Netflix by the fire. I may upgrade for that
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I am leaning towards using a small PC as a media center inside and wiring it so it can stream video inside or outside. I agree, if I'm going to have TV outside I'd like it to have access to all video sources I use inside.
 
davelinde said:
Heater said:
The only regret I have is not doing a smart tv. It would be nice to stream Netflix by the fire. I may upgrade for that
Click to expand...

I am leaning towards using a small PC as a media center inside and wiring it so it can stream video inside or outside. I agree, if I'm going to have TV outside I'd like it to have access to all video sources I use inside.
Click to expand...

I agree it's great to have all your media available. I don't know how much of a hassle your setup would be to run the cables. My alternative is I use an old Dell D610, ebay $50, and have it networked to the big pc for music, pictures videos and the like. If you have Windows 7 then Media center is built in and makes sharing very easy, plus this gives you the ability to change sources outside as apposed to going inside. As for NetFlix I bought a $130 Visio Blueray with the apps built in. It has wireless capability and a wired connection. The only drawback is trying to stream wireless HD. For those that are curious about the whole Windows Media Center setup. Check out "The Green Button", you think TPF has great pool info ... get ready, these folks are crazy about WMC.
 
+1 for going with an inexpensive TV over a made for outdoors weatherproof model, assuming the TV is at least somewhat sheltered from direct sunlight and precipitation. The guy who does our AV work recommended the same and also follows his own advice at home. True, a cheap TV likely will not last as long outside as would a weatherproof TV, but you will have to go through several sets before you hit the cost point of a weatherproof model. It is simply a matter of cost-benefit.

We took a different twist on this recently. We got a new LED TV for the living room (which is used the most) and took the 5 year-old LCD TV that was formerly in the living room and mounted it outside under the covered patio.

As for covers, I recommend and use one but I got a cover that "breathes" so it will keep pollen, dust, and moisture (fog) off the set while preventing condensation from forming between the inside of the cover and the TV. If the TV gets any direct sunlight at all, just do not get a black cover.
 
Our TV is on our deck, covered, but exposed to temp, humidity, etc. (live in Salt Lake city, gets pretty cold and hot). I have a mount that allows for the TV to be taken down in the winter, my lazy butt has not taken it down and this is the 6th winter. Just a normal TV. We have since added a deck and hot tub with fire pit. (and grass) :)
 

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I concur with rolling the dice on a "regular" TV if it will be in an area that is at least covered. My TV is on a wall of my covered patio and I also use a grill cover to shield it from rain spray when it's not in use. So far, so good. I figure even if they go out on me after a couple of years, the price difference is such that one of those dedicated outdoor TV's would have to last me 12 years before it would possibly payoff.

Now, if it was mounted to an outside wall completely exposed to the elements, then an outdoor TV might make sense.
 
I have a $300 42" Chinese Hisense TV on the patio. It hangs from an articulated bracket only sheltered by the 24" soffit. A gale from the north would probably soak it.

We have a $20 non-directional HD antenna, Roku LT and a Nyrius receiver (gets reception from our Uverse box in the family room) hooked up to it.

So-far, So-good. We tend to spend more time outside than inside now. The wife thinks the picture is better than the other HD TV's in the house.
 
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