OLEVIA 32" 16:9 8ms 720p LCD HDTV 232V

Overall, a solid TV

Reviewed By: Ktrain1 on 4/2/2008

Tech Level: somewhat high - Ownership: 1 week to 1 month

This user purchased this item from Newegg

Pros: The picture is excellent; the color needed no adjustment out of the box. My family owns a 42" Samsung 1080p LCD HDTV and I found the standard-def video on this Olevia tv looked better! The HD quality is fantastic, looks better than a Sharp Aquos in my humble opinion. I didn't see any dead pixels on my unit, although I didn't exactly examine every inch of the machine.

For anyone concerned about the "complicated menu", I wouldn't worry about it, it serves its purpose, and I haven't touched the menu since the first few days of setup.

The audio is fine with me, I was never big on theatrical sounds. The picture is clear, and the lag between channels is no greater than it was on my previous Samsung HDTV, and that's fine with me.

Cons: The greatest problem this TV had for me (and it caused a huge headache) was the fact that the guide instructed me to install a firmware update as soon as I had the TV. So I did this. Much to my horrible dismay, this firmware update essentially KILLed the TV's ability to communicate with my Comcast Motorola cable box via HDMI. I went to great lengths to figure out this ridiculous problem. I replaced my cable box twice, replaced the wires, used on-line and on-site techs with Comcast... I then used a DVD player via HDMI on the Olevia and it worked fine! This troubling point had convinced me that the TV's HDMI was fine, but it turns out it was the Olevia's firmware all along that was the issue, and not Comcast. If it weren't for one Internet user's small forum post regarding a similar problem he had that helped me discover this, I would have been extremely dissatisfied with this unit. I had to call Olevia tech-line and get a firmware "downgrade". Also, Olevia tech support is not that great

Other Thoughts: I've owned this television for close to one month now. I wasn't necessarily ready to lay down some heavy dough on a high-end HDTV, especially because once I save more money, I can always be assured greater advances in technology (for TV's and everything else) lay ahead. So I was looking for a smaller-sized HDTV that was affordable but with good quality and this one certainly hit the bill. I was planning to use it for occasional TV viewing, and gaming with a Nintendo Wii (which maxes out at 480p anyway).

The unit however is really wide b/c of the speaker's positions, so that's a bit of a downer. The fact that it only has 1 HDMI and 1 set of Component cables can hurt. And these ports are also inconveniently located on the underside, or at strange angles so its a bit of a hassle to plug in/out.

Picture quality / cost are great, and those were my two greatest concerns. Everything else is average.

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You can't beat it for the price

Reviewed By: Jc1 on 1/9/2008

Tech Level: somewhat high - Ownership: 1 month to 1 year

Pros: Great tv for the price. It does a good job w/ dvds (i use an original xbox as a dvd player via composite)and video podcast (i use a ipod nano w/ a apple dock and remote via s-video).high def looks good also. There is no ghosting when playing Games from my xbox or xbox 360 and it looks great too. The setting that enables 4x3 content to fit a the 16x9 screen works very well too. So you dont have to worry about the black bars on the sides.

Cons: The tv is slow when changing input sources and the tv doesn't work w/ my universal remote. Other than that it works great

Other Thoughts: I have insight cable tv service and I have noticed ghosting on some tv shows that are in standard def. I don't beleive it's tv's fault though. It's more than likely the my cable provider sending low quality images. The reason I have come to this conclusion is because the picture quality from my ipod (320x240 or 640x480)is WAY better than the images from my cable tv provider.

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Reviewed By: on 7/14/2008

Tech Level: high - Ownership: 1 month to 1 year

This user purchased this item from Newegg

Pros: tv is GREAT you can't beat the quality for the price!!! and at this size you can't tell the diff in a 1080p and the 720p the colors are bright almost something you would expect from plasma!!! it also plays at 1080i quality!!! GREAT BUY!!!!!!!!!!

Cons: THE OLEVIA processer isn't very good compard to the sony brands so when played at 1080i movies there is a slight distortion in the screen from time to time, but even then goes away after the update of firm ware no real cons

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Very nice for a great price!

Reviewed By: zellthemedic on 7/7/2008

Tech Level: somewhat high - Ownership: 1 month to 1 year

Pros: I got this HDTV as a graduation present from my mom. I did tell her to get this specific TV, as I did research myself and found Olevia's 32" line to be some of the best in the 32" range. The picture is excellent, it's nice, crisp, sharp, and the TV itself looks good in my armoire.

Cons: The speakers that come with the TV are subpar. I couldn't stand them, so I hooked up my stereo speakers. Let this be known, if you are planning to buy this TV, make sure you have some aftermarket sound systems to go with it! Also, I do have one stuck pixel, but it's hardly noticeable from 1' away and should not be taken into consideration when buying this TV.

Other Thoughts: Although it isn't THE best in the 32" range (Samsung is the winner, in my opinion), it's still a VERY good choice because of it's price-to-size.

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BIG BANG 4 THE BUCKS!!

Reviewed By: upinsmoke on 5/31/2008

Tech Level: average - Ownership: less than 1 day

This user purchased this item from Newegg

Pros: Works as good as many that cost much more!
Beautiful picture!
Very good pdf manual on CD.

Cons: n/a

Other Thoughts: ubuy-ulike

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