I'm happy to see there is a Dutchmen forum, I hope there is some traffic on the site to generate discussion!
We are the proud owners of a new 2012 Aspen Trail 2710BH. We are thrilled with the new purchase, but unfortunately we won't be camping until spring so we have at least 4-5 more months of anticipation. Without any actual trips on it, it is not possible to give a good review yet. I hope there are others who could chime in. Here are our opinions so far. I fully expect to expand on the Pros, but we have to actually get out and use it first!
Pros:
-Private bedroom for mom and dad!
-Nice bunk beds.
-Relatively lightweight for what is a huge travel to trailer to us.
-Skylight in main area for brightness. Our old camper was dark inside even during mid day.
-Oven
-Huge upgrade in water tank capacities for us.
-Stainless steel sink with sprayer faucet.
-Lots of lights
Cons:
-Definitely some "cheapness" to some of the build. Drawers missing screws, window shades falling off due to bent hangers, some trim already coming apart.
-No bathroom fan or vent!! I will have one installed first thing this spring, probably before we ever take it out.
-No outdoor shower with hot water. It does have an outdoor sprayer, but some hot water would be nice.
-No ladder to access top bunk bed.
-Entry steps should be a triple rather than a double step. I'm sure we'll pick up a small stool to use as a bottom step because it is high off the ground.
-The DVD player was not hooked up to the TV and to hook it up I had to remove the stereo from the wall to access the hookups in the rear. Then there is no access for the RCA cable to route to the TV, so I had to use a hole saw to create a hole. Then the provided RCA cables were defective and the picture quality was terrible. I replaced them with a different set at now it works fine.
-The DVD player only plays sound through the stereo. It would be nice to have the option of playing sound through the TV. I have never heard of a DVD player that does not output audio.
-The DVD player should also have a higher quality hook up than RCA cables. S-video at a minimum and component cables ideally. Why spec an HD flat screen TV and then hook the DVD player up to it with outdated inferior technology?
-Only one 12V plug that is inconveniently located behind the TV. I don't understand why travel trailers don't provide more 12V outlets in the interior. Our truck has 4 outlets, why do campers seem to only have 1?! Maybe it is my dry camping mentality which is what we almost exclusively do. I have purchased a generator, so maybe this will change my attitude about wanting more 12V outlets.
Hooked up ready to take it home.
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