Olevia LT42HVi 42" LCD TV

Triple win ... great picture, great features, great price.

Strengths: Picture, number of HDMI inputs, style, price.

Weaknesses: Weight. Doesn't have a video output (I'm spoiled by Panasonic 4:3 aspect HDTV with a co ax output from TV).

Summary: Purchased on-line for less than $1650 delivered ... delivery service carried unit into home and set up on TV stand (a rarity these days). After hooking up digital High Def cable and upconvert DVD player through the two HDMI inputs; DVD and VHS recorders via composite hookups still have hook ups left for additional input. Any concerns about picture quality from purchasing on-line disappeared. No dead pixels noted ... outstanding clarity and color. Friends who compare it against my older Panasonic 4:3 aspect HDTV are amazed the Syntax LCD picture exceeds the Panasonic tube picture (which is good ... just not as good as the Syntax LCD display). Saw some ghosting once on a non-High Def program that had some extremely fast motion in one scene; otherwise, have not seen any ghosting or rainbowing often described with other LCD displays. Warranty is better than most. TV is heavier than similar competitors yet less than comparable sized plasma screen TVs. Some glare from glass screen but is not objectionable for my needs. Would definitely recommend (and have).

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LT42HVi Manufacture warranty sucks

Strengths: Good Price, Good pictures, Love the protective glass on screen ( I have a 3 year old)

Weaknesses: TV Last for two months, too heavy, no DVI port, speakers horrible sound, remote control works good within 6” feet of distance only.

Summary: At first we were very happy with this TV due to the price against the weaknesses. The TV blow up, no picture at all. I call the Syntax warranty and spoke to tech support and a tech was send put with the motherboard and A/V module within 5 days, the responds was good, Tech diagnostic after repair was that TV was not repairable and he was unable to determine the reason so I was advice to call Syntax Tech Support.

When I call Syntax Tech support the tech advice me that the TV needed to be replace and there was two ways that I could do this, here is the options per Syntax:

There are two ways that we do the exchange:

1. We pick up the TV from you and when it gets to our warehouse we will then send the replacement TV to you. This method usually takes 2-3 weeks due to the shipping and processing times.

2. We place a hold for the MSRP of the TV on a Credit Card then send you the TV first. Then once you receive the TV we will pick up the defective TV and when it is received in the hold will be removed. This method usually takes about 1-2 weeks depending on the shipping and processing time.

At no time will you be charged for shipping or handling. Attached is the advanced replacement form that will give you some more information on the process. As soon as the form is filled out, and received in our customer service department the process will begin. If you have any further questions on you exchange or the process please send the request to the following address.

…..So I told the tech that I was going o choose the second option and I ask the tech if he could check the availability of the replacement TV, he put me on hold and said that they had the same TV available, up to this point I was satisfied, tech Email me the form to fill out and I suppose to fax it to start the replacement process. Then I was told that customer service will be the department to call for status. THEN ten minutes after I got off the phone with tech support, Syntax customer service cal me and told me that I will have to mail the TV for repair that there had no TV’s for replacement at all and they did not know when they will have them available if any, after 20 minutes of discussion with the cust.srvce. rept. She told me that I was mislead by the tech support and my only option was to send the TV out for repair and since I did not have the TV box they will sell me one, then the prepay mailing label were ground UPS which usually take 10 days one way and if they will not be able to repair it I will have to wait for a TV to become available. SO THE FIRST AND SECOND REPLACEMENT OPTION WAS OUT THE WINDOW.

I did also purchased a 4 year extended warranty with the store I purchase the TV, so I will be calling them now, I will not purchase another Olevia TV again due to this experience with the warranty. I also owne:

Olevia LT32HV which the LCD went out after two years.

Olevia LT20S which still going strong.

PTT: NO MORE OLEVIA TV’S FOR ME.

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Syntax Olevia LT42HVi

Strengths: Great price, full of features, the bast bang for the dollar

Weaknesses: remote control, sound quality, weight

Summary: This LCD is the best bang for the buck. Similar panels cost well over $3000. The picture is great but some features did not work as stated in the owners manual. For example I could not get the rear light for the AV panel to light up by pressing the source and volume+ control on the remote. This is the absolutely worst remote that I have ever owned. The IR window is very small and one has to be really precise when aiming it at the panel. The remote that came with my 20 inch Syntax Olevia works much better.

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Syntax LT42HVi - A good LCD TV at a reasonable price but lacks some cool features.

Strengths: Very bright, great HD picture, good response time, dual HDMI inputs and inexpensive compared to other 42'' LCD TV's.

Weaknesses: Very heavy and bigger/wider than other LCD TV's of the same screen size. Weak remote control, no DVI input and no cable card slot. No optical port and no auto off feature.

Summary: 2005-10-31 04:10:44 The Olevia LT42HVi is hands down Syntax's most stylish LCD TV so far and with a 42'' screen is also their largest. Mine arrived with no dead pixels which is always a major plus. It has multiple inputs including dual HDMI ports, VGA, S-Video and Y, Pb/Cb, Pr/Cr inputs. The picture is very bright and clear with wide viewing angles. HD content looks incredible! It also has PIP/Split screen options so you can use your computer and watch TV at the same time. The speakers come mounted on the bottom out of the box but can be positioned on the side as well or removed completely, adding great functionality to the set. This feature is great if you have a home theater sound system and want to use that instead. The sound from the included speakers is in my opinion is only fair. They are powerful but also seems distorted using the surround sound features. The price of this set is much less than other major name brand LCD TV's of the same size and price was certainly a factor in my decision to go with Syntax. Unfortunately it does lack a DVI input and a cable card slot and the TV is much bigger and heavier than comparable 42'' plasma and LCD sets. That black border around the screen is 3.25 inches wide and the set is 6.1 inches deep. If you want to hang this beauty on the wall with the speakers attached it will be over 100 lbs. The LT42HVi boasts a 8ms response time and I can say that while playing Halo I did not notice any ghosting at all. Black levels are pretty good for an LCD TV but still not as good as plasma TV's but then again the life expectency for this TV is double that of a Plasma. The warranty from Syntax was also attractive as it provides for 1 year of in home service so if you have a problem you won't have to go to the work of packing up your huge TV.

Bottom line, the Olevia 42'' LCD TV is stylish and bright with a stunning HD picture and good response time. But it is also very big and heavy and lacks some features you may not want to give up. Overall I give it 4 out of possible 5 stars and would recommend it to other cost conscious shoppers who want to join the HDTV age.

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A Good Deal Overall - Good Product, Good Price, Good Service

Strengths: Nice, clear, sharp viewing screen from many angles. Lots of inputs for all your electronics. Good sound. Easy to clean and maintain.

Weaknesses: Too heavy. Glare from screen. Weak remote.

Summary: The Olevia LT42HVi is a great deal overall, not only for the low price, but also for the great quality and service offerred.

First off, pricing. As with anyone these days, we all try to save a little, and I paid less than 2,000 for this lcd, and for 42" you cannot find any thing else cheaper. Although you may think that the price is so low that the quality must be too, you should rethink again.

Quality on screen is sharp. This tv has built in hd, which will save you a couple hundred dollars since you won't have to lease or buy a tuner from your cable company. Clear screen, no fuzz or blurriness. There is a glare if you have light shining in the background close by, but the glass covering on the lcd screen creates a plasma tv look which is great in the dark, especially for watching movies.

Another great thing are all the inputs. You can have rca cables, vga cables to connect your computer and make this big screen your monitor, s-video cables, hd inputs, digital inputs, and what's even greater... these ports are on the side of the tv which makes it better because you no longer have to move it to get it to the back to plug anything! Makes it much more convenient!

Easy cleaning too. With other lcd tvs, you can't really use a glass cleaner because it will ruin the screen. Well, this one has a glass covering the screen and you simply can get a rag or papertowel to clean it off.

One thing you all should know is the remote. Before you buy, make sure you can find a remote with all the buttons you need on it for the tv. Remote is weak, and you have to be a few feet away the most or else it will not work. The remote is used to change sources and others like splitting video (you can watch two channels at the same time or watch a movie on one side, and check your email on the other side), but if you cant find a remote that has that button, you just better remember that you were warned, especially when you have to get up from the coach and move closer to the tv just to switch a channel or source.

And finally, service, at least warranty and support is great. Syntax (the manufacturer) offers a one year, on-site warranty, so they will come to your house to fix any problems with the tv. I haven't had a problem yet with the tv so I am not exactly sure how their repair service works, but before even purchasing the tv, I called them to ask questions about the item and they were quick on replies and helped a lot.

So, overall, a great deal overall. You get a great price, for a great quality item, backed up with great support.

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Syntax LT42HVi

Strengths: Inexpensive, good picture, fast response rate, many inputs including 2 HDMI inputs

Weaknesses: The inserted protective glass creates a glare, heavy, no DVI input, no cable card slot

Summary: The Olevia LT42HVi produces a bright and beautiful picture if you have invested in good signal cables. It takes a while to adjust to your personal taste. Be sure to register for the in-home warranty.

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• Extremely slow rebate processing! I has been waiting mine for mor...

A pain in the neck

Strengths: 1 year on-site warranty

Weaknesses: Remote, Weight, Software, list could go on

Summary: I was first drawn to this TV 5 months ago because of its price and options, boy was that a mistake. It has since started to crap on me.

First using a VCR via RCA in AV1 or AV2 is a no go, It will constantly pop up "NO SIGNAL" every minute or so while watching which makes watching anything annoying.

Next and more recently it has started to shut down on its own, and when turned back on all settings have been reset to a wacky setting (possibly caused by a internal memory leak) this is only fixable by resetting to default, causing me to have to rescan all channels and re-adjust all brightness, contrast, etc. settings. It also has issues with channel lock.

Under digital tuner (OTA) the settings are out of whack as well, this is not even fixed when reset to default settings. brightness, contrast, etc. settings are different switching from channel to channel.

Its a good thing it came with a 1 year on-site warranty, I also went with a 3 year extended warranty from Target. I plan on giving them a call very soon.

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Great Value!!!

Strengths: Outstanding Picture, great black levels, plenty of inputs including 2 HDMI/DVI ports; great SD PQ; multiple configurations

Weaknesses: BAD remote control; glare from glass

Summary: For the money, I don't think there's anything even close. The picture quality is far superior to the Olevia 37" model. It has better black levels and a clearer picture. The HD picture from OTA or DVD's is outstanding and I was impressed with the SD picture quality as well. Many HDTV sets with great HD quality have very poor SD quality, not here.

I removed the speakers and lowered the unit on it's stand since I play sound through my Home Theater system, but it lets you set up with speakers on the bottom, on the sides (with a mounting kit), or without speakers at all. It has plenty of inputs including 2 HDMI/DVI ports which is rare except for high end sets.

The only complaints I have are the glare on the glass (I like the look of the glass, but it needs a better anti-glare coating), and the remote control. The remote is terrible, it's cheap looking and feeling. It has a vey short range, and most of the time I had to hit a button 3 or 4 times until it worked. I replaced it with an excellent universal home theater remote and so now that's not an issue for me.

In order to get the price this low, there has to be some trade-offs, and the remote would be the best place to skimp since that can be replaced. I've been VERY impressed with everything else!

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Great TV

Strengths: picture, sound quality, price

Weaknesses: A liitle bit heavy, remote

Summary: I bought this TV from Beach Camera three weeks ago. I was very surprised to see the TV arrived in less than 24h after my order, the fastest online order I ever got. Just have one concern, comcast cable TV already there just after I first turn it on without channel search. I may got a display model? Any one has any idea on this, I would appreciate.

SDTV is good, the picture of HDTV and DVD are great! The sound system is one of the best I ever seen from a TV. I do not see a signifcant difference between this non-brand TV and other big name TV, such as Sharp, Sony, Samsung. I did cmpare them several times in CompUSA, alrough the color decoding is a little bit weak, the over all quality of this TV is just great, give the much cheaper price. I got it at $ 1995 after rebate ($200) with free shiping. If I can get rebate from Syntax, if the life time of this TV can last more than 10 years, I'm more than 100% satisfied with this purchase after several months researching

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AWESOME TV for the price; worth every penny !!!

Strengths: Stylist black frame; glass screen for easy cleaning, great sounding speakers, brilliant colors

Weaknesses: HEAVY for an LCD. Cheap looking remote. Protective film was INCREDIBLY hard to peel off.

Summary: I have searched for MONTHS to upgrade from my Philips 34" tube TV. I installed a home theater speaker system and wanted a larger TV to equal the incredible sound system. I read many reviews from consumers and electronic critics and found THIS Syntax42HVi to be the best bet. I paid $1428.00 (delivered and no tax) and this 42" was easily $600.00 less than similar TV's. It's worth paying $125.00 for the brackets and speaker covers needed for mounting the speakers to the side of the TV because it overall gives the appearance of a 50" TV. It's exactly 53" wide. It's stunning on my mantle of 11" in depth.(Perfect with the sleek stand) .I recommend upgrading the speaker wires to Digital 16 AWG gage for minimizing hissing noise at louder levels. Wires also make the supplied speakers sound richer in bass. Also, I used my cable company remote control to input my code for the TV ( universal remote feature) You have to call your cable company and say your TV is an LG 42" LCD because Syntax isn't in their system yet. (LG and Syntax are basically the same company) I occasionally use my Syntax remote to adjust color and contrast from time to time, otherwise it's not needed. HD is a must for perfect viewing. I have no problem with black backround looking black; I guess some people have complained of grey backround... it's all in adjusting contrasting and brightness.I really like the glass screen because I don't have to worry about scratching the face when I dampen a paper towel to wipe prints off. Plastic screens get fine scratches too easily. There IS a non glare film from the underneath side, so no need to worry about cleaning the surface. I HOPE this helps all out there looking for a great TV. Everyone that I bring home to see my TV think I paid well over 2 grand for all the features, great picture and sound. PERFECT for HD football season.

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Syntax LT42HVi 42" LCD TV

Strengths: Bright picture, sharp colors, many inputs, GREAT PRICE, free 1 year in home warranty.

Weaknesses: Glare, requires kit to move speakers to side.

Summary: I must say that I am absolutely glad that I purchased this TV. I had already purchased a 27" Syntax a year ago and have been nothing but pleased so knew what to expect when purchasing this TV. This TV is the best you can get for the price. I purchased this TV for $1,989 delivered after rebates. After looking at other TV's the only other one that I considered was the Sharp Aquos, which I admit does have a much sharper picture, but also carries a huge price increase (at time of purchase I priced the Sharp at ~$3,700 delivered). If you are looking for a new large screen TV and don't want to worry about lamps burning out every 3,000 hours (LCD projection and DLP) and are worried about how much life you can now get out of the next generation Plasmas, and want the best buy for your money, check out the Syntax. I am sure you won't be dissapointed. Only 2 complaints though. If you are in a bright house, this TV may not be the one for you. My family room is a dark room with the light only hitting it early morning. But at that time I notice a lot of glare and also at night from some of my lighting sources. I have theatre lighting installed in the room so it is not so much of a complaint to me, but if I didn't I might consider a different TV. The second complaint was that we were planning on moving the speakers to the side and when I received it found out that you need to buy a separate kit for that. Luckily, when we finally chose our new entertainment center to house it in, the TV needed to have the speakers mounted below.

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Olevia 42" LCD TV

Strengths: Setup of the TV and the instruction booklet was very thorough and friendly. Good picture and sound, very attractive unit.

Weaknesses: The inserted glass piece creates a glare that makes it difficult to see the picture it also makes color adjusting a bit difficult.

Summary: Overall it is a nice unit. I think the remote needs to be refined and made into a small hand-held unit. The price of the unit was in my range which made it more attractive. All in all, for the money it cost, I feel that I received a very good product.

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Great Value

Strengths: Quality of picture. Best value for the money!

Weaknesses: Glare.

Summary: I purchased this TV as a replacement for a 29" standard CRT television. Therefore, my general opinion is that this large screen LCD TV, as well as any other brand of large screen LCD TV, blows away what I had before.

The quality and value of the Syntax Olevia LCD screen is great for the price. The fact that it has glass in the front of it is a plus and a minus. The plus being that in a dark room it makes the picture much sharper and it makes the unit look upscale. The minus is that in sunlight there is some glare on the screen.

I have not been able to test any high definition broadcasts on the unit yet so am unable to comment on that. However, the level of built-in high definition was one of the main motivating selling points for me. I did get to use DVDs with it and the picture is very high quality on that.

It was a little confusing setting up the TV for DirectTV and a DVD/VCR and knowing which settings to use to change between them.

Overall, I would highly recommend this product. You get more TV for your money than the well-known brands and I don't think you give anything up on quality.

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Syntax Olevia 42" LCD TV (LT42HVI)

Strengths: Beautiful Clear Picture right out of the box. Good sound with 25w speakers

Weaknesses: None

Summary: Tv came double boxed from Beach Camera at $2195 total. Unit really needs to people to lift. Ordered a Wall mount (peerless AM2) from Mounts and More and from Syntax the (Bezel)Kit to change the speakers from the bottom to the sides.

Unit looks like a Plasma set. Picture is clear and well adjusted right from plug in. I may adjust some settings in the future but right now its factory settings are good. This is my 5th Syntax set that I've bought in the past 13 months (Fl. and NY homes). For the quality and features of this HD Built-in set Syntax has all others makers beat and left in the dust.

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Great picture..awesome Color

Strengths: Price, multiple inputs, style

Weaknesses: remote, Syntax Customer Service

Summary: This is an awesome TV. The color and picture are amazing.

Where this set really shines is on the HD channels. The picture is crisp and the color is deep and rich. Another big plus to this set are the multiple inputs which include 2 component inputs plus 2 HDMI inputs.

I removed the bottom mounted speakers before I even hooked up the set. The TV just looks better proportioned without the speakers.

This is the second Olevia LCD TV that I've purchased and I hope it's alittle easier to get my rebate. It took almost 8 months with the first TV!

Bottomline..where are you going to buy a 42" HD LCD for $2,195 that has this great a picture? You really can't. Everything else is at least $1000 more and honestly the pictures on some of the ones I looked at were not as good as on the Olevia.

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