Well I finally shopped around and purchased a small 12 vdc powered flat screen TV. The primary reason was to be able to watch TV without power to the house, and it would make a nice bedroom TV in the camper should the need/desire arise.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QKGM4NE/..._sAq9ub0YTX479
I would have liked a 19" but this is 15.6" and that will do. I figure the reduced screen size will make the battery last longer. I plugged it into my MFJ switching power supply and the meter said it pulls about 1 amp. It comes with both a 12 vdc cigarette lighter cable (I don't have to make one up!) and a power supply like a laptop. It does NOT have internal batteries.
This is the review I stuck up on Amazon.
Picture quality is surprisingly good, even from extreme viewing angles. Very light weight, making it ideal for mounting in an RV. On the other hand, construction is not what I would call "robust." The receiver seems to be plenty sensitive. The scan feature seems slower that other TVs and it seems to "think" several seconds when you ask it to change channels.
Lot's of inputs/outputs make it highly flexible. I have not tried it as a PC monitor. There is a USB port labeled "service" of which the manual makes no mention. The audio quality is poor due to the tiny speakers, but good enough for watching the morning news in the kitchen. I hooked up some USB powered speakers (to the "service" USB port and earphone jack) and after setting the audio to "Surround Sound," which turns on the stereo sound and playing with the equalizer menu got some really nice sound! The menu system compares well to much larger and complex sets allowing you to tailor sound and picture quality to your taste.
But here's why I'm not happy. The TV arrived broken, damaged, such that the picture panel had fallen loose inside the case. Being the inquisitive engineer type I took the TV apart to see if I could just snap it back in place. What I found was the picture panel is held in place by a series of fingers or pegs, one of which had broken off. I also found that some one had attempted to hot glue the finger/peg back in place, but didn't do the repair right, and the finger/peg had broken again.
So what I have here is a TV that was once broken, refurbished or repaired, sold to me as new, and broken again. I had some aircraft grade super-glue and just repaired the little TV rather that deal with returning it.
I think someone somewhere along the line is being less than honest.
I like building kits, but I like to know up front that's what I'm getting. BTW, they do include a cheap little screwdriver with the TV (to attach the stand).
So with a bit of do-it-yourself effort I have a portable 12 vdc TV that will serve well in emergency or just in the RV. I would recommend the TV if you can get one that will survive the rigors of being shipped. Otherwise breakout the glue and the screwdrivers.