Reviews for Olevia 42" LCD TV - 16:9

Excellent LCD HDTV

Strengths: Great picture quality. Amazing intensity and contrast ratio. Build-in HDTV tuner. Multiple Input/Output ports.

Weakness: User Manual only comes in CD only. Slow web site for downloading firmware update.

Bought this LCD TV in past black Friday for less than half of other famous brands. I am so impressed with its picture and color quality. Not a single dead pixel is found. The intensity is so great even it sits by one of my bright windows. I was planning to buy a HDTV indoor antenna (even thinking an outdoor/roof-top one). However, after trying my old antenna, I found it works great and I can watch every HDTV channel in Detroit.

The bottom line: I highly recommend this awesome TV.

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Very Good TV

Strengths: Picture Quality, Inputs, Speakers

Weakness: Remote, Manuals, Turn-on time

This is a very good TV. The picture is very good and provides some good options for adjusting it. The full screen mode on a 4:3 picture looks pretty good, the panoramic mode is a waste of time.

I am using it with verizon fios tv and an HDMI cable, I also tried it with component video cables as well. Here are the good things
HD picture is excellent, good contrast and rich colors. The blacks are very good as well.

The speakers (especially from HDMI) provide a pretty robust sound, of course it is not surround but they are nice. Additionally the speakers can be side mounted, bottom mounted, or removed all together.

On the negative side.
Fist for me is the remote, actually their rf receiver and not the actual remote itself. I have the verizon remote which I like but there are no codes for any remote that will work with this tv, so only the Olevia provided remote works with this. I verified this with Olevia. So your only option is to program their remote to work with your other devices. Their remote is ok, but not as nice as other universal remotes I have used.

TV turn on time is about 10 seconds, this is slow in my opinion. I verified with Olevia that this is normal.

Manuals are only on CD and are just ok they could provide some better info.

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Pretty Good TV For The Price

Strengths: Price, stand, removable speakers, USB for Firmware Upgrade, Built In QAM Tuner

Weakness: Only One HDMI Input, only one ANT input, "Cheap" Plastic Looks, Imperfect LCD Panel

I have had this TV hooked up for over a month now and have used many different features. First off it comes with a decent stand with speakers that can be taken off by removing some screws and metal brackets. Since I was hooking this up to an Onkyo HT-S790 Home Theater System (which I will also be reviewing) I took off the speakers and placed the center channel speaker between the TV and the stand (it fit perfectly!). I recommend upgrading the firmware so that it will recognize 1080i broadcasts. The QAM Tuner allows you to receive some HD signals through your cable company since they send some local stations through unscrambled. I have regular basic cable (Not Digital) and I get a few local HD stations which is nice.
HDTV looks very nice with this TV, as does Up Converted DVDS with my LG Dvd player. But I am a bit disappointed with how Standard Definition cable looks with this TV but I don't think the TV is at fault.
There are a few things that I'd like to mention that weaknesses of this TV.
The front bezel of the TV is really cheap looking compared to other brands of LCD displays. It has only one HDMI input so if you get an up-converting DVD player and a digital cable box with HDMI outputs you'll need to get a splitter which can be pricey. It also only has one antenna input so if you get an OTA antenna to pick up HD signals you will need to hook your cable up through a different connection because you can't scan multiple inputs at the same time. Not a problem if you have a digital cable box but since I don't it was something I had to work around. Finally the LCD panel I got had some imperfections which I found to be quite common with this model/brand by searching AVS Forums. I was lucky to only have one dead pixel in the upper left part of the screen (though you would hope to get none they actually won't consider a unit DOA unless there are 7 dead pixels which would be ridiculous!). Also when the screen is on but completely BLACK you can see some variance in the brightness of the screen in a blotchy pattern. Its tough to describe but only noticeable when its all black (like between changing channels). Also another common thing seen with this TV and is also noticeable in my set is a bit of bleed through around the bottom left edge of the screen from the backlight. Mine is very minor and considering the possibility of getting a LCD screen with worse imperfections its something I can live with.

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Good Quality, Excellent Price

Strengths: Price, Picture Quality, Opitions

Weakness: Looks and website

Bought this TV and hooked it up and everything looks great. The TV doesnot look beautiful but when you turn it does a great job with picture quality and sound. The website is very slow. Tried to get a firmware upgrade and kept timing out. Will try again later. But this thing is for sure a great buy at a very very great price. Its definitely is a bargain for the features it offers.

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Extreme value for the HDTV

Strengths: Built-in HD tuner, vivid color, Good image quality and high price-value ratio. Very sensitive tuner. Can receive all the local HD broadcast channels using regular in-door antenna.

Weakness: Only have one combo tuner. Can either receive signal from cable/box or antenna for air broadcast, not both at the same time. PIP can only swith between component and HDMI, not between components.

Overall, Olevia 542i is an excellent entry-level big-screen LCD HDTV. Though lack of some fancy features, it is definitely a super buy considering low price and very good image quality

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Good LCD TV Overall

Strengths: Nice pictures without much fine tunning, great value at around $1100, individual memory for settings on each input, speakers can be moved/removed, decent sound for small speakers (but weak bass).

Weakness: Heavy for a 42" LCD at 96 lbs., slow channel changes, screen never gets completely black (faint dark blue tint), setting menu has a learning curve but has it's good points after you learn it.

I'm pretty happy with this set. I noticed some people have reported backlighting issues and a few power supply problems, and misc. quirks: but I don't know if this reflects poorly on the TV because a lot of them have been sold lately especially with the Micro Center black friday promo.

I paid a little more than the MC promo but my set has nono of the common reported problems. I did update the firmware which is highly recommended if you get this set. This set isn't perfect but IMO Olevia put a lot of thoughtful touches in it. I only wish it had two instead of one HDMI ports, and for individual input selection bottons (instead of cycling through all to get to one you want). And channel changes take about 1.5 seconds--slow. Other than the Harmony remotes, I don't know of any universal pre-programmed remotes that'll work with this year's Olevia TV's--but you can buy a programable remote (Sony RM-VL600, for around $25 at Walmar is recommended by some but I don't have one).

On the plus side, it has individual settings memory for each input, and the speakers can be removed and the TV lowered on it's stand (remove the round rubber speaker bumpers on the back of the stand legs first; two screws on each leg at back of TV hold stand to TV, 8 screws hold the speaker to TV in back).
As I've said, quality control might or might not be an issue, but I noticed even the expensive brands have their quirks and flaws so... Overall, I'm glad to have this TV--just try to buy it from a dealer that allows returns just in case you get a bad one.

Power consumption is 150 Watts at the Dark Room light mode, 180 for Medium Room, 210 for Bright Room, on average.

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Very good satisfaction for the price

Strengths: Great price, Very good first LCD HDTV, Great for HTPC viewing. Firmware upgrade option, No dead pixel

Weakness: built in tuner behaves a bit weird, changin channel is slowww.

This is my first HDTV that i bought during the after Thanksgiving sales for a very good price $900 after rebate. I am using it primarily with my MCE HTPC and will getting HD cable soon. Watched OTA HD and it look greaaat. Initally the baclight was uneven and spotty in few places, you can only notice this when you are watching a black screen in a dark room. The back light evened out after the initial break ( 1 week usage) as users on AVS forum pointed out. This LCD TV is a very good purchase for the price. I was looking at a name brand LCD TV for $1300 before tax and this, the name brand cost 50% more than this TV. And with the way prices are dropping i am quite sure that i can buy a new LCD TV in 2 years with the $500 i saved by getting this. I would certainly recommend this TV to people who are ready to do some extra configuration and adjustment. This TV saves money for the cost of easy of use and learning.

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Very Disappointed

Strengths: The features offered for the dollar are very competitive with any of the other major brands

Weakness: Customer Service is extremely poor.

I must say that I am very disappointed in the service I received from Syntax Brillian, the manufacturer of the Olevia 542i LCD HDTV I purchased a month ago. The TV was delivered about a month ago and right out of the box it didn't work correctly. After a discussion with their Technical Service dept., it was decided the TV was defective and needed to be returned. Over the next 4 weeks I have had to call and speak with their customer service group 8 times. Each time I was promised quick action and follow up, and then nothing would happen. I was also promised on 4 occasions that I would receive phone calls with the return information, but calls never came. This has probably been the most frustrating experience I've had with anything I've ever purchased.

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Olevia 42" LCD TV

Strengths: great price, fantastic image after calibration, comes with internal ATSC tuner

Weakness: only 1 HDMI input, remote not compatible with most universal remotes

I bought this TV the day after Thanksgiving. Suffice it to say, I got it for a fantastic price. Don't let the price fool you though, as this TV competes with more expensive name brand TVs.

Out of the box, image quality is not very impressive. However, after tweaking the settings, Hi-def signals look awesome and Standard-def signals look ok as well. It has PIP functionality, which gives me the ability to watch over-the-air hi-def shows alongside hi-def shows from my Dish STB. It has a multitude of connection options, although only 1 HDMI input.

I wall-mounted this TV and I appreciate the fact that the speakers were removable. I have this connected to my receiver so I really didn't need the TVs own speakers.

My only complaint so far is that this TV does not appear to have compatible codes with my Dish universal remote control. I'd rather not spend on a learning remote, but I may have to go that route.

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Great HDTV

Strengths: (1) amazing picture quality, (2) fast response time, (3) no dead pixels, (4) dual ATSC/NTSC tuner, and (5) many I/O ports.

Weakness: none

I just got this TV right after Thanksgiving for about half the price of the major brands like sony and samsung. After using it for a few days, the picture quality is as good as the major band. You can hook almost anything to this TV (computer, DVD, VCR, Camcorder, Cable box...). I am very happy with this purchase.

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Olevia 542i LCD TV

Strengths: Good picture quality, great price, removable speakers, only one dead pixel, stunning quality on OTA HD channels, not much spec tuning required, firmware update port.

Weakness: powerup/channel switching slow, one HDMI input, menu user interface can be improved, website downloads slow for firmware update and user manual.

Overall, a great value for the price! Can get OTA HD channels on std antenna. Quality seems comparable to name brand LCDs. Multiple inputs for your viewing pleasure. No major issues yet.

However, the customer service was not so great. The service rep did not seem very professional. Waiting time was ~10 minutes.

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Good-priced TV, but slow to switch channels (~5-6...

Strengths: 42" TV for $999 plus .0825 tax in CA. After $200 rebate, total was around $890 or so. Great price with decent image quality as far as I can tell in 1 day of use.

Weakness: My box was missing all the accessories (remote control, AC cord, CD manual, QuickStart Guide, batteries, warranty card). I had to go back to MicroCenter to get them from another "returned" box. :(

Good-priced TV, but slow to switch channels (~5-6 secs) and slow to power on (around 8-10 secs). And the website has low bandwidth and is slow when downloading the manual...it took over 1 hour on cable broadband...unacceptable.

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Very solid LCD TV at a great price - Very good value

Strengths: Good picture. Blacks very reasonable. No bad pixels. Speakers actually better than what I had anticipated. Lots of options in all areas.

Weakness: Menu for set-up and adjustment is a chore and not as intuitve asit could be. Olevia Website hard to use and slow slow for downloads (firmware). Firmware upgrade a bit of a chore.

For the price - an awesome TV. Initial set-up is not intuitive, literally have to print user manual from the CD. Standard 480 is a bit weak out of the box - cropping helps clean it up considerably. Still mysteriously reverts to "showroom mode" -- the firmware upgrade should help this. Blacks are fairly good. Very little top and bottom edging. The Remote is fairly good. drawback -- you cannot PIP to two component inputs. Split screen PIP is impressive. One drawback is that to side mount the speakers Olevia asks $149 for the "kit" and they are currently "out of stock" on their snail slow web site and not widely available otherwise. Be ready to buy a long USB cable for firmware upgrades if you are using a desktop.

The minor downsides are completely overshadowed by the quality and price of the TV. Highly recommended.

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Great Value for the money

Strengths: Built in tuner crisp, clear picture removable speakers firmware update via usb plenty of connection ports +++++cost

Weakness: heavy, difficult to transport (although not compared to a CRT!) Takes 10 seconds to turn on Occasional digital artifacts/pixelation

Purchased on Black Friday for $700 after rebate and CC bonus, this was a great deal. I have had 0 setup problems, and both the remote and menu are easy to use. Hookups are easily accessible and plentiful. No real problems, and great value for the money. Like all tvs, you will probably want to add additional speakers. The picture is crisp and clear, although there are occasional pixelation artifacts which I hope will be remedied when I switch my dvd player to HDMI input. The screen corners of the unit also appear to be slightly brighter than the rest of the screen, but its only noticeable when the screen is entirely black (e.g. during cuts). If I paid the full MSRP for the unit, this might have bothered me but as it stands I am quite satisfied.

The unit itself is quite heavy and difficult to transport, don't even bother trying if you own a car.

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Fantastic TV

Strengths: Vivid color, Built-in tuner,

Weakness: Response to TV turn on and channel switch is pretty slow.

This is an excellent TV at this price range. The picture quality is superb, and you can change the setting based on the lighting of your room. I was amazed by it's build quality. There is no single dead pixel in a 42" LCD. Overall, all my family members love this TV. we recommend this one to everybody.

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Good TV and Monitor

Strengths: I use it as computer monitor, I like it.

Weakness: too soon to tell

It is very good price. The quality is great. I use it for monitor too. Have no complain so far. All my family members love it. I recommed this product

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Great Bargain!

Strengths: Decent SD, excellent HD, many inputs available, 1 to 1 pixel mapping

Weakness: Style is a bit lacking, large speakers make it very tall

This is an excellent televsion for people with a tight budget. Standard definition is watchable and high definition is stunning. The blacks are decent (not plasma levels). No glare on screen because it is an LCD. The built in QAM allows me to receive the HD channels that my cable company provides for free (NBC, CBS, etc.) Overall, a very well designed product!

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syntax 542i television

Syntax 542i Television receives an overall TopTenREVIEWS score of 2.01 out of 4.00. It is ranked the #144 LCD flat panel TV of all time. The overall rating represents an intelligent balance of features, value as a function of price to features, and a summary of reviews from a variety of sources. The TopTen REVIEWS' formula gives a picture of important consumer features, market value, and a...

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Olevia 542i LCD Television Review

Like most of us, I started my purchasing of displays long before ED was an option, much less HD. Back then, you rarely had to look behind a TV to know what was back there – an RF/coaxial input for the on-roof antenna and maybe a couple of RCAs that you never knew why you’d ever need. Now, inputs, resolutions, deinterlacing, scaling and a host of other issues make display shopping far more...

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