 |
| Date Reviewed: 10/28/2006 |
- boril
- Member Since:
Oct 2006
View Member's:
Reviews
|
Strengths: Crisp picture, Easy to set, Attractive price
Weaknesses: Speakers could be better, manual on CD
Summary: I've only had it for a day but I am so far impressed with easiness to set it and the sharpness of the image. The design is also very classy and fits well on my old black entertainment center. The unit is made in Taiwan, where the biggest manufacturers of LCD screens are located. They also have a knack for modern electronics for quite sometime, so I guess its quality will be very good.
Video.
The LCD screen is plenty bright and colors are very vivid. I tested it with VCR - component input, DVD - S-video + RL-audio input, satellite box - HDMI and composite (RGB) inputs. So far everything works just fine. I also tested it with my laptop through its VGA input and played DVD's and the HDTV WM9 samples from Microsoft's website and that’s when I knew this was worth every penny. I also loaded up some Doom-style shooter games on the PC and I could see no blurring. The 32inch Olevia has 8ms but I seriously couldn’t notice any "ghosting" or "blur" and I was looking for it.
I have heard that a some of Olevia models perform poorly with the RCA inputs but I'm here to tell you its not true. I used a Sega Dreamcast to test the RCA input. It auto scaled to the widescreen format and was pretty good considering it was RCA inputs as apposed to S-video, component, VGA or HDMI. Since I am using Dish satellite I can't attest to the unit's HD tuner capabilities.
Audio
Ok first I must say that chances are if you are buying a flat panel TV you already have, or are going to purchase some sort of quality audio system, so when I bought this I really could care less about the speakers on this thing. But never the less I tried them out... And yes they are weak. I turned the bass all the way up and literally could hear much change. But then I turned out the "Surround" option and WOW it sounded like 5 more speakers turned on in this thing, seriously. I could hear the bass and they didn’t sound so bad. Actually I would say they are more than acceptable for the price of this LCD. There are some sound shaping environmental presets but they are pretty much worthless, but at least they tried. I actually found a use for the speakers. I use them as an additional center channel for my surround sound and it sounds great!
 98% of People (101/103) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
 There are no comments for this review. Post a comment.
| |
| Date Reviewed: 11/05/2006 |
|
Strengths: Good Picture and easy to use. Excelent Price.
Weaknesses: Sound could be better. No PIP.
Summary: This is my first HD LCD TV. I was very exceptic about this brand since I am a computer technician who also repair minor problems of LCD's for computers. I just heard about this brand like 5 months ago. I was looking for a HD LCD TV and a good deal going to best buy and circuit city and J and R in New York. But I was wrong, it is much more expensive in those stores. So I decided to browse on the web. I am really impressed with the quality of this LCD TV. I bought it from BEACHCAMERA.com shipping included for $749.00. And HDMI and component cables from www.monoprice.com. A relly good deal.
I must say that his TV rocks for the money you spent. I have a PHILIPS DVP5960 DVD/DIVX player connected with HDMI cable and any DVD looks super great. Also I connect my pc with a simple VGA cable to the monitor and looks great as well. I tried many HD DIVX and some HD video samples from my computer and looks so good. No flicking. I think this is because this LCD TV uses ATI video chips to manage video. Also, this TV capture many HD signals from the air thanks to its HD TV tuner. I do not have cable, so I am capturing signal over the air with and old V antenna (I live in NY city, so I have many 480p channels for free). I am not the one who spend all day watching tv, but this is a good feature. I have friends who bought their LCD TVs and some of them do not have HDTV tuner.
This LCDTV is very easy to use. It has a universal remote control, so I connected some of my devices to it. Also, it is easy to understand the menu. If you get lost or change some features you do not like, go to the menu and press FACTORY SETTINGS and you go back to the beginning.
The only problem with it is with the sound. It sound Ok, but not great if you compare it with other brands. Well, I have a home theather, so I am not worry about the sound from the TV. Obviously, It is better to watch a movie in a home theather rather than use those speakers from the TV. In addition, it lacks of PIP, so you can not watch 2 sources at the same time. It is OK since this TV is cheap.
In conclusion, this TV is for someone who would like a 32inch HD LCD TV at a good price . I recommend you to buy the extended warranty which cost $169.00 for 3 years. So you receive the original 1 year plus 3 years extra. Great Deal!
94% of People (15/16) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
There are no comments for this review. Post a comment.
| |
| Date Reviewed: 11/24/2006 |
|
Strengths: Clear Picture, Vivid Color, Built in Tuner, Great Price, Easy Setup
Weaknesses: Menu is abit hard to browse through, Slow response time when switching source,
Summary: At the time when I decided to buy this TV set, there were some discussions on some "ghosting" issues but I still decided to get the it because of the great price. Now I am glad I made the right choice. As far as I can tell there is no issue with the images from the TV set, even if there is ghosting issues, it is very minimal. The only thing about the tv is that the menu is a bit awarkard to use, but once you go through it once you won't have to do it again.
92% of People (11/12) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
There are no comments for this review. Post a comment.
| |
| Date Reviewed: 11/30/2006 |
|
Strengths: Easy to setup, high image quality, built-in tuner, can get clear digital signals easily with cheap rabbit ear antenna, black stylish look (The real one looks better than the picture on the web!)
Weaknesses: Menu is on CD, tuner is weak in getting analog signals, slow reaction when using remote controller, some times the "Full screen" function doesn't give you the full screen display, no PIP function
Summary: Just bought the Syntax Olivia 532H last Black Friday at Micro Center. I LOVE it!
Before I made the purchase, I went to the local store and checked it out. To my surprise, at this low price, its picture quality is even comparable to the 32"SONY one next to it!! Looks like quite a few people like the image quality of this LCD TV, and it is very true to my picky eyes. I heard that the display part of this TV is made by LG. So it should be good. Its black frame seems very attractive to me as well. Personally, I don't like the silver ones like the 337 which is also on sale. Anyway... Currently, I only have a cheap $4 rabbit ear antenna. Another surprise to me is that even with this antenna, this TV gives me most of the digital channels in my area with very strong signals. I don't want to see the analog channels any more. The analog signals are prety weak in general. I lost a few analog channels but I don't mind. It was reported at AVS forum that the 532H model has a "ghosting" issue when operate at 480p/480i. I did play extensively with my regular DVD player, my VCR, and SD channels, which are suppose working at 480p or 480i. I'm pretty sure that my TV doesn't have the "ghosting" issue. Mine doesn't have any "dead pixels" either. If it has the “picture in picture” function, it would be perfect to me.
89% of People (17/19) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
There are no comments for this review. Post a comment.
| |
| Date Reviewed: 02/27/2007 |
|
Strengths: Clarity, ease of setup, ease of use, sturdy
Weaknesses: At this price, none....at 10x the price, still NONE!
Summary: This was purchased for my girlfriend, who knows little, and she was initially disappointed at the picture quality, and at the fact that many channels didn't utilize the entire screen. Those in the know, as far as high definition signals go, realize that she didn't have enough high-definition feeds. We solved this with Verizon Fios, and saying that she's happy now, would be seriously downplaying the situation. She watched one program on National Geographic High Def---arguably the clearest channel in their lineup---and she was hooked and mesmerized. One thing that will draw you to this TV is it's price, and with a value like this, you often hear things like, "at this price the clarity is....". I've matched it up to TV's costing 3 and 4x's it's price, and this TV at any price would still be amazing!
86% of People (6/7) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
There are no comments for this review. Post a comment.
| |
| Date Reviewed: 01/14/2007 |
|
Strengths: Picture quality...sleek design...set up
Weaknesses: "menu" takes a little getting use to. Must use two remotes to operate.
Summary: Received my Olevia 532H as a Christmas present. I'm so happy with this...my first HDTV! I chose to go out and buy HDMI cables to interface with cable set top box (which is suggested interface by manufacturer). I'm very impressed with its performance so far. Brilliant colors on all channels, but am just amazed by the HD stations clarity and stunning pictures. I'm enjoying a lot of sports broadcast in HD and noticed the other day that Olevia is one of ESPNHD's sponsors! I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this HDTV to anyone on a budget...you won't be dissappointed!
83% of People (5/6) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
There are no comments for this review. Post a comment.
| |
| Date Reviewed: 11/25/2006 |
|
Strengths: Built-in HD tuner, over average picture and sound, easy to set up.
Weaknesses: Poor manual, very long power up time
Summary: I bought this unit with $520-$150 rebate from Micro center this BF. The first unit I got is defective which I could not get any signal. Got it exchanged and the second unit works well and better than what I expected considering what I paid. I only have comcast basic cable and with its built in tuner I could have more than 80 channels to scanned out to watch. The picture and sound of it are not bad based on the analog signal as input. Definitely a good buy for this price.
80% of People (4/5) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
There are no comments for this review. Post a comment.
| |
| Date Reviewed: 10/18/2007 |
|
Strengths: Color accuracy, picture sharpness, decent warranty
Weaknesses: Speakers are very underpowered. If you're getting an hdtv, you shouldn't be running your sound through your television, anyhow. Line-In on your mini speaker system is there for a reason.
Summary: 2007-10-18 17:33:03 Pros: The picture is EXCELLENT! No ghosting and perfect in light or dark environment (and settings to adjust for each). It's so beautiful, I threw out my 50" projection SDTV AND my 21" CRT monitor. My 360 and my PC work flawlessly, and counter strike: source is GORGEOUS, on this set! The multifunction remote isn't bad, either. It's about the same quality as my Sony SXRD's bundled remote. Finally, the set came in PERFECT condition! (I bought refurbrished) Not a scratch on it! I was nervous when I read I couldn't return this to New Egg (One Year on-site warranty [parts + labor] is included through Olevia), but I see, now, I had nothing to be afraid of.
Cons: The on screen menu can take some getting used to... but once you understand the rotating box, it's very quick to use. Also, the speakers are underpowered, (turn the bass all the way off, and they'll sound much better). If you're getting an hdtv, you shouldn't be running your sound through your television, anyhow. Line-In on your mini speaker system is there for a reason.
Other Thoughts: Seriously, do NOT bother with the 3 series from Olevia, or ANY television set without a tuner! That's an add-on that will cost you more than $100! This set doesn't cost much more than a 26", and after much debate I decided to go with the 32". Boy am I glad I did! Split screen gaming on a 26" would have been impossible. 32" is the perfect size for the bedroom! Also, if you're having trouble with upscaling through the ATI chipset in this set (read: VHS, non-upscaling DVD players), remember to turn your set to 1 to 1 mode.
67% of People (2/3) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
There are no comments for this review. Post a comment.
| |
| Date Reviewed: 11/24/2006 |
|
 Good for HD, but 480i/480p ghosting is real Strengths: great price, good HD picture, built in HD tuner, good speaker for a TV set.
Weaknesses: bad interface, bad ghosting
Summary: Got this TV for less than $370 before tax. At that price, it can't be beat. It has all the things build in: NTSC/ATSC tuner, nice speaker sound, HDMI input, ect
However, there IS a ghosting issue. And it ranges from minimal to very obvious, depending on the DVD title you are watching.
I just got this today, and have been playing with it. What I found is that ghosting seems to be much more obvious in some, especially darker, movies.
For example, Lord of the Ring 3 showed minimal ghosting. However, the really dark foreign movie, purple butterfly, has a ton of ghosting, obviously to the point of really annoying.
My advice is that this TV is a good HD viewing, but is only a fair to poor standard definition TV set. If you are using it to watch DVDs, buy a up-converting DVD player to feed it HD signals, to avoid the ghosting issue.
50% of People (5/10) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
There are 1 comment for this review. Read all comments.
Post a comment.
| |
| Date Reviewed: 04/22/2007 |
|
 Audio Sound Strengths: Clear picture
Weaknesses: When people are talking, some words come out with a loud crack and it seems like there is an echo. This was the problem with our first set. Set was replaced and we have the same problem.
Summary: We would greatly appreciate if someone could send some information on this problem. We have communicated with technical help but they don't seem to be able to help us. If you can help, please contact us at chairs1@juno.com.
50% of People (2/4) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
There are no comments for this review. Post a comment.
| |
| Date Reviewed: 06/26/2007 |
|
Strengths: Price, on screen controls
Weaknesses: Speakers/Sound
Summary: Bought this T.V. when it came on sale for $544. I was watching the 232 series just a week before getting this one, but it went off sale on Fathers day (for some reason).
Anyway I'm happy so far with the TV over all. I love the menu / on screen control. You can control just about anything from sound bass treb to postion of the screen. Being a computer tech I must say I really like that feature most of all.
In the store the picture looked weak compared to the other tv's around it. (all of which was display models on sale)
But after getting it home the picture was strong as the floor models the store had on sale. Which makes me wonder if the store had adjusted it down to sell their floor models.
I do not like the speakers being on the bottom. Also a big issue is the sound. It makes a high pitch pop sound whenever a noise such as a hand slap is made or a gun shot on a tv show. It also dose this whenever there is a pause and then the sound comes back with a high noise. Plus there is no rca jacks for sound out other then a headphone. I know you can by a splitter to turn the head phone jack into a rca jack.
Other then thast the TV is the best value I've found and would recomend it highly
50% of People (1/2) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
There are no comments for this review. Post a comment.
| |
| Date Reviewed: 11/19/2006 |
|
 BEWARE Strengths: Color Accuracy, HDTV, less than 40lb
Weaknesses: Blurry, jumpy mess on DVD's and SDTV, Horrible menuing system, very cumbersome to switch sources because of lag, limited inputs, adapter cable necessary for second component input.
Summary: I got this set in August and immediately noticed a horrible blurring on DVD's, my xbox, and SDTV. I'm not talking able a little "slow LCD" type blur, but a real muddy appearance that appeared to be input dependant. If I took the same video and up scaled it to 1080i it was no longer objectionable. I can easily see a trailing effect of upwards of 4 frames of video mixed together as people move around the screen.
I contacted the company on the first day I owned the set, I was given the belief that it was correctable in firmware. I used workarounds and avoided using the set for some of the many sources I have. Two months later they tell me the problem in endemic of the ATI Xillion processor in the 32" and 27" sets from Olevia/syntax ( except the 3xx series ) including the 5xx, 4xx, and 2xx series.
Do not buy this set sight-unseen and make sure to test with a DVD player as well. I have since sold the set ( at a loss ) and picked up a plasma.
48% of People (10/21) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
There are no comments for this review. Post a comment.
| |
| Date Reviewed: 12/28/2006 |
|
Strengths: Great Value, Strong Build Quality, Good HDTV Reception
Weaknesses: None
Summary: I did a lot of research and finally settled on the Olevia 532H, mainly because of the price. From what I could tell the feature set was comparable with higher priced name brands but about 30 or 40% less expensive. So far I am extremely happy. I bought an indoor HD antenna, tuned in the local over-the-air HD channels and it was great. If you are not a videophile or worried about brand names, but just want to get started with a reasonably priced HDTV, you should consider this one. I gave it 5 stars based on value. If I was just considering features, I probably would have gone with 4.
29% of People (4/14) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
There are no comments for this review. Post a comment.
| |
| Date Reviewed: 12/24/2006 |
|
Strengths: Analog/Digital Tuner, 1600:1, Bright and Clear Picture, simplified menu
Weaknesses: When switching sources it can take some time, only one input per source
Summary: I bought this tv almost exclusively for XBOX 360. I was going to go with the 3 series model from olevia but learned it didn't even have a tuner for standard analog channels( no coaxial) which was unacceptable to me. The extra money for the tuner is worth it.
The high defenition is great and I have noticed no problems with ghosting watching several dvds. Also no dead pixels to be found! Very good value for the money.
9% of People (1/11) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
There are no comments for this review. Post a comment.
| |
| Date Reviewed: 11/28/2006 |
|
Strengths: LCD HDTV WITH CLEAR PICTURE, Built in Tuner, Excellent price
Weaknesses: Remote control not sensitive, No any cables attached.
Summary: I bought this unit from BF sale. So far, so good. This is my first HDTV and try it as PC monitor, HDTV, DVD player etc. There is no noticeable ghosting. It is a great TV and LCD monitor for my daily usage. I am happy with this purchase.
0% of People (0/1) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
There are no comments for this review. Post a comment.
|
|
|
|
|
Report this as 
