www.iFourWinns.com

Greetings all, hope you all are having a great summer.

Any recommendations on a drop in replacement for the installed TV on a 2006 Vista 348. The issue is that the Sharp model that came on the boat is no longer in production. The screen on the current TV got cracked.

Thanks in Advance.

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Vista 348 - 2006
Maxum SCR 2700 2002

If you can even find it, it is ridiculously expensive. I removed the old TV, and ordered a custom picture frame the size of the hole to cover up where the TV went. Got a nice picture of our boat and had it matted in the frame. I put a 22" TV on an articulating arm on the starboard side of the V berth and ran wiring through the cabinets in the galley. Just drilled holes in the back of the cabinets to pass the wire through. The TV works great for the V birth as it is flush with the wall when retracted, and while working in the galley or sitting on the couch, I spin the TV and face it aft, and works great. Found the articulating arm on EBay for about $30, and the 22" HD TV was on sale at Best Buy for $120. I also added a small blu ray player in the starboard v birth cabinet on the top shelf, and ran the wiring through a hole i made behind the TV. Love the setup, left the gain for the antennae in the cabinet the TV used to be mounted in.

Any pics of the set up would be greatly appreciated.

Have you considered placing the articulating arm in place of the current TV. I suppose you would have needed a smaller TV as well.

Thanks for the response.

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Vista 348 - 2006
Maxum SCR 2700 2002

This is the best pic I could find for now. I can try and remember to take some close ups next weekend, but should give you a good idea. As I said, very happy with this.
Crap...how do you attach a picture? I don't have any photo sharing sites...just wish I could attach it here....

I just use photobucket and paste an IMG link from there. Works great on most sites.

I also put on one the forward face of the starboard cabinet. But I have the stateroom wall option so the TV is only for viewing in the berth. I got a LevelMount brand bracket, the kind with a cleat on the wall. This lets me remove the TV without tools for when I need to fully raise the bed, or to store it over the winter (for theft protection).

When the boat was new I toyed with the idea of buying a whole new door, one without the TV installed. I recall the quote was several hundred dollars. I figured I didn't dislike the TV's position THAT much. But I'd encourage anyone interested to get in touch with FW and ask. If the screen on mine cracked I'd definitely just remove it and see about having a panel of some sort made for it. Picture frame sounds like a fine idea too.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

Yeah, picture frame worked great to cover it up! Luckiliy when the TV is fully retracted and flat up against the wall, I still have room to raise the bed to get into the storage compartment underneath.