Customer Reviews

Axion AXN-8701 7-Inch Widescreen Handheld LCD TV with Built-In Tuner, Black

5 star:		(166)
4 star:		(138)
3 star:		(49)
2 star:		(36)
1 star:		(62)

 

 

If, like me, you live in a medium-fringe TV area, and you are going to be using the supplied (or other external) antenna, one of the first things to do when you receive this cute little TV is to connect it to the best antenna available to do your auto-scan. That's easy because it has a standard antenna connector, and necessary because this TV will_not_tune to any channel not previously found by auto-scan. Manual tuning just selects a channel previously auto-scanned. At my location, the attached rabbit-ear antenna is virtually useless. But with my large, amplified home antenna connected, I easily picked up all the digital stations I usually get, plus one more, and with no problems from the many big trees around my home. So the tuner is very sensitive and not very subject to multipath interference. With the supplied external antenna connected, I eventually managed to get all the stations received using the big antenna, which was a nice surprise, although it took some fiddling with antenna position (Two inches can make all the difference). The digital TV picture provided is very good, with very nice color, resolution and contrast.

I didn't expect great sound, since the speakers are tiny (about 1 inch diameter, on the front). It's certainly not high fidelity, but it is intelligible at least. The sound from earphones is somewhat better.

Other surprises include no volume and no power on/off switch on the credit-card sized remote (No big deal. Gotta be almost within reach to see the picture details anyway). And the internal battery cannot be charged on the car adapter -- It's charged only when the TV is connected to AC power.

The Axion web site is listed in the manual as [...]

Follow-up 2/4/09: Still like this TV, but I'm now on the second one -- The first stopped responding to the remote control after about two weeks, and was quickly replaced for free by Amazon. The second one performs at least as well as the first. Further thoughts: This TV is intended to be placed on a table top, like a picture frame, but if you must mount it elsewhere, well, there is a threaded hole like a tripod socket on the bottom. It doesn't look very strong, and appears to be just molded into the plastic. The manual says nothing about it. Also, the AC adapter does generate some electrical noise (so does the TV), so AM radio reception may be affected, especially if the radio is close by.

I had a 5" black and white in my kitchen and knew with the digital conversion, I would need something else. I ordered this based on the 2 reviews out there at the time and I am so pleased with this TV. I live in Houston so there are almost 40 channels available between the digital and the analog, I get channels on this that I don't even get on my standard cable! initially I had trouble with some of the digital stations, I kept moving the TV around trying to pick up the signal (my problem was that I want the TV to sit under my cabinets and I guess that was interfering with the antenna picking up clear signals). I was getting frustrated and then remembered the other antenna it comes with. I unplugged the internal connection and plugged this extra antenna in and placed it on my window sill and all the channels came in perfectly without having to adjust anything. The cord on the extra stand up antenna is long enough to put it rather far from the TV which is very convenient because you can move it around to find the best reception. The picture is clear as a whistle and the sound is very good, not muffled or fuzzy at all. The wide screen is another bonus, most of the digital HD channels are in wide screen mode so it works out well. This is a no brainer to set up and I am so glad I took the plunge and bought it!

Update: I have not had to use this yet in a power outage but have occasionally unplugged it and brought it to the table to watch during dinner when I wanted to see a show I was in the middle of. The 1 1/2 hr. battery now barely works for 1/2 hr. and I have not used it often. I really bought this to use in my kitchen but also just as importantly, to work during another hurricane after having a small black and white that took batteries and worked beautifully last time I needed it. With the new digital change, I had to find something else to have on hand and apparently, this won't be it. There is a new one coming out in August that does take regular alkaline batteries, I would suggest you go for that one if you want something to work in emergencies. Will still use this in my kitchen but now I will probably have to buy the other one just for emergency use since I live in a hurricane prone area. Very disappointed.

Update #2: Found a solution to the low battery power. The new TV that has the battery option is not well rated and apparently to get the battery power, you have to buy an additional $70 piece. After some research, I discovered that Duracell makes an 100 watt inverter power to go unit, it is a supplemental battery that can be charged from any outlet and/or from your car as well, and it will provide additional battery power not only for this TV but for cell phones, ipods or any other small electronics. Not only will it provide power, it will recharge your devices as well. It provides 44 hrs. of charge for an ipod, 12 days for a mobile phone, and 2 hrs. for a laptop. And, it has several outlets on it so you can use more than one device at a time with this battery. This item sells for about $40 and is a good solution for anyone who worries about being without power for any length of time.

Was asked for a link for the power source so here it is: Duracell 852-0281-07 DC to AC 100 Watt Inverter & 4.0 Amp/Hour Lithium Ion Mobile Power Source and I have this one which I picked up for about $40 but it is currently $99: Xantrex Technologies 852-0281 XPower PowerSource 100 Watt Inverter

UPDATE #3: Finally found a real old fashioned battery solution that this TV will work with. You just need D batteries and can keep replacing them for long term outages. This will also work with other small electronics with the right cords (like cell phones and ipods and anything with a car charger). Unfortunately Amazon doesn't sell it but here is where I got mine:
[...]

This should finally solve a lot of the problems with these digital TVs!

Axion AXN-8701 7-Inch Widescreen Portable Handheld TV with Built-In Tuner (Black)

This hand held television has clear reception. For what it is, it is very good. The only draw back is that the battery is rechargeable for 100 minutes. A hundred minutes will not go far enough after you lose power from a storm.

This will not be a good choice during hurricane season when you really need a television that takes replaceable batteries that can be changed when they become weak.

I got this for my kitchen so I can watch the news while cleaning up after dinner. This TV is perfect for that sort of task. It picked up about 2/3 of the channels that my big tv gets with the built in antenna on autotune. With the external antenna it receives all but one (one of those channels way up in the 100's with the big haired religious preachers). I don't mind that it missed that one. It's clear enough to read the annoying scrolling messages that the stations like to run along the bottom of the screen.

The internal antenna and external both connect with a coax. Don't be stupid like I was and try to attach the external directly to the TV. A nice 90 degree adapter is included so that you can easily switch between the two antennas by just pulling one off and replacing it with the other. I did not see that part right away because I am one of those people who never reads directions.

The remote is one of those tiny credit card things. It does not have a volume control (but does have mute). You adjust the volume with a dial on the side of the TV. It is loud enough to be heard over a running dishwasher. The old Coby this replaces did not have volume on the TV and I found that annoying since when I could not find the remote I could not adjust it.

Hint:
If you can not get the TV to let you adjust the time zone and daylight savings time you need to switch it to a digital channel. Also, only on digital channels does the "guide" button, (which tells you about what is on) work.

Works well for what I want to use it for. I would not want to watch, say a PBS special, on it because of the size, but it is perfect for a portable TV.

I bought this little TV for my wife for Christmas to replace the Sony 5" b&w that she uses in the kitchen. Unlike the Sony, it will be connected to cable so I figured reception won't be a problem. To test it before wrapping I auto-programmed it but only 4 local channels worked. This one came with a yellow tape strip on the back stating that the battery MUST be charged before the first use so out of desperation I followed the instructions and it worked great after that! Sharp clear picture, good color, sound a little "small" but has "presence". I like it. So if all else fails read the directions!

I had little hope for great reception from this portable TV, I live in the country 50 miles from the transmitter towers. Analog reception is poor, but digital reception is amazing. Most of the stations are transmitting in digital and I get them all, although I most use the external antenna and it is very directional sensitive. The picture is as sharp as my digital cable connected LCD and sound quality is also excellent for the size of the speakers. The remote does not have a power or volume control functions which would be nice. On battery power it operates about two hours. I am so pleased with this TV and may buy another one for my office.

I really love the TV when its in HD mode. First you have to do an Auto Scan so the TV can find all available HD or Analog channels. Then its time to see what it found....Well that's when you have to determine which quality you want to watch. Sometimes in HD mode the channel gets choppy and then you have to keep readjusting the antenna before getting a clear picture. Then there are some channels that aren't available in HD. Which leads me to believe that they will be non-existant in Feb '09.

The picture quality in HD mode is AWESOME!!! Its a bit snowy in analog mode, but its still watchable. The built in antenna works pretty well without plugging the external antenna in. I had to plug the extenal antenna in only to get some of the public channels that aren't available in HD. Be careful when using the external antenna, its a little flimsy and can bend easily.

Pros:
Sound Quality is Excellent
Picture Quality is pretty good in HD
Cool to have External Antenna
You will get a good 90 minutes of battery usage

Cons:
You will need a Bag to carry everything in
External Antenna flimsy but works
Picture Quality is okay in Analog
Remote Control has Mute button, but no Volume Button
You can't use both antennas together (you must pick one)

All in all, I'm very pleased with my TV...the 7" screen is a plus and its great if you are just looking for a cute portable digital television.

Bought this for a gift. Unwrapped the TV. Looks nice but its controls are terrible. First, the telescope antenna just doesn't pull in the picture. Second, using the additional antenna makes portable difficult. Third, there is no switch to go from analog to digital - you have to punch in the channel along with a "dash" and a "one" (That's for one kind of broadcast) and remembering the "secret" input stuff is bothersome. The menu didn't work on my TV so I just wrapped up the gadget and shipped it back to Amazon - thanks to their great return policy. It may work for some people but it's not really portable when you have to hook up a bulky antenna. I remember the day when they made a 3.4 inch hand-held that worked great everywhere - digital has ruined that luxury forever. If you buy this TV BE SURE to keep the box handy for return shipment. Also - the remote is the thickness and size of a credit card and rather awkward to handle. And - the instruction manual consists of a few pages and is of no real value. All in all, it's not a great product.

Seems like it would be a nice unit if it would tune into a channel. Auto Scan found nothing, even when hooked up to a very large antenna.

Tech support is laughable. It goes strait to one guy's voicemail and his voicemail box is full... Perhaps I'm not the only one with issues.

this tv was purchased to provide emergancy servic during a hurricane. i read in the accompaning information that it was not suitable for that purpose. problems;; no way to recaharge the battery from car. hard to get into position. battery hard to replace. jack