Customer Reviews

Coby TF-TV505 5-Inch LCD Color Television

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(30)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(22)

 

 

I wanted to buy a little portable, battery operated TV. I don't have a TV at home due to religious reasons, but wanted to have a TV available for weather related emergencies, to use during the Florida hurricanes.

My main concern was 1) reception, since we don't have cable, and 2) picture quality. Last year, we tried to use a 5" B&W TV & the reception & picture quality were so terrible, I returned it to Walmart after a few days.

I would be happy to be able to receive the 3 or 4 network channels to watch the hurricane news. After reading many reviews, I narrowed down my choice to the Casio 4" Handheld TV (EV4500) or the Coby TFTV-505 5" LCD Color TV. I chose the Coby because, for the same price, the Coby was 5" (vs. the Casio 4") & it included the AC adapter (a $20-25 add-on with the Casio).

Well, I just today received this Coby TFTV-505 5" LCD Color TV, tried it out & I am very pleasantly surprised. We live in North Miami Beach, FL. Right out of the box, using the internal, extended antenna, I can get 19 channels! Mind you, some are in Spanish, but 19 channels! It also comes with an adapter to plug into your cable, if you have cable. Picture quality is great. Beautiful Color! I've only tried it with AC plugged into the wall, not the batteries. It uses 10 AA batteries, that others report getting 2 - 2 ½ hours usage.

Dovid

This little LCD TV is really much more robust than I expected. I don't think I've ever purchased anything ever made by Coby, but I'm definitely pleased with this little guy. The screen is a nice size for personal viewing (5" diagonal, which translates to 4" across and 3" high) and it has a surprisingly clear picture. An on-screen display (accessible on the TV or through the remote control) allows you to adjust various settings, including the monitor appearance (brightness, color, contrast, hue), but I've been happy with the default settings. The reception is fantastic. This little TV picks up more channels than my 19" Panasonic model. I live in a large city, and I'm able to get slightly more than half a dozen channels with the antenna, which is more than I expected: two of the channels are crystal clear, three are very clear, and the final two are okay if I move around and find the right location. Because the battery pack is removable, the unit is much more versatile and very lightweight when using the power cord. The unit uses ten AA batteries, which is a lot, but they are easy to find and relatively inexpensive (rechargeables might be nice). When the battery pack is attached it increases the weight, but a stand on the back allows me to place it on a table or desk. Even still, it's not too heavy for me to hold it and watch a program if I want, and the convenience of being mobile is wonderful. So far, with Energizer batteries I've gotten several hours of use at a time and the picture and sound don't seem to have faded much yet, if at all. The unit has three modes: antenna, video input, and cable. RCA audio-video input jacks on the side allow you to attach a separate media device like a VCR or DVD player. And there's even a tiny little coaxial cable adapter that plugs right into the side. Yes, that's right, this baby is cable-ready! The sound on this device is as you might expect from such tiny speakers. It's certainly not bad, but it sounds great with headphones. I bought a car adapter for this TV and plan to take it while traveling and camping. I also plan to use this as part of my emergency preparedness kit. They always say to take a radio, which I have, but I imagine a little TV like this might also come in handy. Overall, I'm really thrilled with this TV. It's got a great picture, it's lightweight, affordable, and the detachable battery pack and input ports makes it versatile. This TV even comes with a handy, tiny, and fully-functional remote control! There aren't many drawbacks to this item that I have discovered, but one is rather annoying. There is a tiny little LED on the front of the device that illuminates when the power is on. The LED is quite powerful and I had to cover it with a little sticker. It's like a frickin' laser beam. But seriously, that's a minor complaint, and I'm very pleased with this model.

Bought this for "double duty" use. (1)- To watch in computer room while my husband hogs the big tv in living room. (2)- To use during next hurricane down here. Very happy with first use so far, Great sound and picture. Hope I never get to try out second reason I bought this, but after being without power 14 days last year, I have rechargable batteries ready to go "just in Case!". I would have given this great little tv 5 stars, but dropped it to 4 because remote battery(included) with remote arrive DOA. I did quite a bit of research online before I purchased this item and have come to conclusion that for size ,quality and price this tv can't be beat!

after reading all the great reviews and such a great price i decided to but this tv i am very happy and satisfied the picture is great! with the one antena alone i was able to get 8,10,12,24,32,49 but i really wanted chanels 2&6 so for 7.00 i added another antena from radio shack now i have those chanels and a couple more! the remote works great the sound can be a little tricky (it goes way up on comercials) one of my friends is going to buy one today!

I live in the Washington, DC area. Reception is hit or miss with this TV. The TV picked up most of the local stations using the auto channel search feature to program the channels. However, many of the stations came in a bit grainy and my local FOX station barely came in at all. When I manually tuned to the FOX channel, the reception was poor and the audio repeatedly clicked on and off. It seems that if the TV has a hard time picking up a channel, the audio will fade in and out. Surprisingly, the lower channels 2-9, which are for me: NBC, FOX, CBS, and ABC come in the worst. The higher channels, 20 and above, which are: UPN, PBS, CW, and Univsion come in pretty clear. Living in the DC area about 15 minutes from the White House, I am sure my television signals are as strong as they are going to get anywhere in the country so I am a tad bit shocked that my reception isn't better. The attached antenna must be pretty weak. You definitely have to have the antenna fully extended to get reception--no cheating thinking you can get away with it halfway up. Perhaps I'll look into getting an external antenna for better reception.

The picture quality is good. I haven't had to adjust the color settings at all. As I mentioned, some stations are crisp and clear while other stations are grainy and have lines running through the screen. The TV has a feature called FINE to adjust the picture, similar to tracking on a VCR. I didn't notice much difference using it. It didn't clear up the screen to any appreciable extent. Basically, either the picture comes in clear or it doesn't, fine tuning won't really help.

I like that the battery pack is detachable. By battery pack I mean there is a separate case in which you put the 10 AA batteries and then that case attaches to the back of the TV. Detaching it makes the TV less bulky and lighter when you aren't using the batteries. However, there is a major design flaw with this battery pack. Instead of the cover just sliding on and off, you have to first take out a screw to take the cover off. What product design genius thought this was a good idea? Heaven forbid you have to replace the batteries at an inopportune time. Try searching for a screwdriver in the dark during a blackout. Or worse, who carries a screwdriver with them on a plane? Not me or you unless you want to get locked up. I guess you could use a coin to loosen the screw but it's ridiculous to make a portable product that requires a screw in the first place. What if you drop the screw and lose it? And I shouldn't have to carry around my toolbox just to change the batteries. Major design flaw!!!! Coby needs to go back to the drawing board on this one.

The remote is very small and thin. Strangely, it doesn't turn the TV on/off. You'll have to do that from the unit itself. Hey, I admit I can be lazy at times. Shoot me. I am just saying don't tease me by telling me it comes with a remote but fail to mention that I'll have to get up to turn the TV on/off anyway. Yes, yes, I know...a remote makes channel surfing very convenient. Instead of getting up 20 times to change channels I only have to get up twice to turn it on/off. I'm just saying... :-) Thankfully, you don't need the remote to operate the functions on the TV so you won't be SOL when you lose it.

The blue power indicator light is extremely bright, as others have mentioned. It's extreme brightness is not an exaggeration. That sucker is bright! So bright that with Christmas coming up, Santa can attach this TV to his sleigh and Rudolph can take a vacation this year because the power indicator will light the way. Or you know how your mother taught you not to look directly at the sun...well...the same rule applies to looking at this power light. Putting on sunglasses would not be out of the question. Kidding aside, the light really is extremely bothersome as I watch TV. It is like a blue laser beam shining into my eyes. It needs a filter to diffuse the light. I hate to ruin the aesthetics of the unit by covering the light with ugly tape but I don't think I can stand to look at it any longer. I am wondering if Coby will have any product liability issues because of it. Young children who may have more sensitive eyes may be affected by it. I know who I am suing if I wake up one day and can't see anymore. :-)

Sound quality is okay. Nothing to write home about. The manufacturer says it has stereo sound so I guess I have to believe them but it really sounds more transistor radio to me--definitely not a TV to watch Star Wars on. No blame. I imagine they can only do so much with tiny speakers. The volume can go fairly loud. Although you can't turn it all the way up unless you want to listen to static. I'll have to see how it does when I take it somewhere noisy like a loud football game.

Overall, this TV is fine for a portable TV. If I had paid more for it I probably would have returned it based on the hit or miss reception it gets. But since I only paid $89 with free shipping, I am happy with my purchase. I don't feel ripped off so no buyers remorse. It's a great TV for emergencies, blackouts, taking to the park/football games. Or just taking anywhere else that an regular TV can't go--like in the bathroom (where it gets surprisingly clear reception) after eating some really bad, stomach-upsetting, "you're going to be a while" Mexican food. Conversely, I wouldn't use this as a main TV, kitchen TV or any TV that I would watch for any extended period of time; the picture and sound quality really aren't good enough for that kind of use. For $90, go to Walmart and buy yourself a small regular TV if that is your need.

I would buy another one of these if the need ever arose. I am sure once I show it to my father, he'll want one for Christmas to replace his big 5" portable B/W TV that takes a whopping 10 heavy C batteries. For a portable TV that gets reception via one antenna this TV does a good job. I haven't tried viewing it via cable hookup, nor will I ever. It'll be a cold day when I sit down to watch cable TV on a 5 inch screen. I prefer not having to squint to watch TV as I am lounging on my couch.

UPDATE--3 weeks later: TV is doing better than expected. Depending on my location, it really does get pretty decent reception, with one exception. I still haven't been able to tune into my local FOX channel. Just lots of static with periodic glimpses of a picture. My other stations come in fairly well so I don't necessarily blame the FOX problem on the TV; although, a friend of mine has an old 2" Casio color TV and he can get FOX so it does make me wonder why this one cannot. Perhaps FOX broadcasts over weaker signals that this TV has difficulty picking up. I am disappointed because I intended to watch FOX football on this TV if I happened to be away from home on a Sunday but I won't return the TV because of this problem because I have no other major complaints. I still like it. Oh, did I mention that the power light is bright? Okay, good.

I read the bad reviews on this product and I think the reason people didn't receive the proper stations is because the didn't use the "AUTO" feature off the main menu. I only got 3 stations when I turned it on but after the "auto" program feature, I received all the stations. They reception was GREAT, the picture quality was GREAT and I love it!!! Be advised it does not come with a car adapter.

I bought this TV mainly in the event we have a hurricane. I had been looking for a battery operated TV for sometime and had purchased a small black & white TV which could also be used with batteries for $50.00 dollars plus shipping. What a piece of you know what it turned out to be!!! I then saw this TV and read the reviews and decided to purchase it. I learned you get what you pay for! What a difference this TV is! Small,compact, sleek, and it works!! It does have a cable ready device which I haven't used yet. Without the cable device I can already receive a couple of major stations and I do like to plop it on my ironing board when I'm ironing and watch TV! I highly reccomend this TV and I hope I never have to use it in the event of a hurricane in Florida!!

I owned a television repair business some years ago. I recently bought this TV and I'm very happy with it. For the money as well as the fact that it is LCD technology and a five inch screen, you can't beat this value.

Some reviewers here have given this television negative reviews. The most common complaint was that they were not getting their channels or reception was poor. I think I may have identified a major cause of this problem.

In this television's menu there are four settings for the antenna to determine it's mode of reception. This is the internal television's tuner. The four positions are:

1. Air
2. Cable
3. HRC
4. IRC

To keep my explanation simple, it makes a big difference which position this setting is in. For my city, I get very poor reception in HRC and IRC. It is "Air" which opens up my vast variety of channels. The manual is extremely poor in explaining this. It is a pathetic manual. In fact, it doesn't tell you about the antenna settings at all.

Even when the setting is proper, all the channels will not be as perfect as they are on cable. The signal is still received over the air. But I think you will find this makes a tremendous difference if you happen to have this in the wrong setting. Changing it may make you very satisfied.

To switch between these settings, first put the television on a channel number you know is in your area, get the best picture you can and extend your scoping antenna to it's maximum.

Then push "menu" on the remote and highlight ANTENNA. This is done by pushing the bottom most arrow on the remote. The word antenna should be dark red. In the lower left corner, you should then see flashing the current setting of your antenna.

To change this setting, push the arrow directly under the menu button. This is the arrow up button. You should see a change each time you push the button. Very likely you will see a difference in the picture too. Once you have the best setting, push menu to exit.

Now again, push MENU and this time highlight AUTO using the bottom most arrow on the remote. Finally, once more push the arrow directly under "menu." This will automatically start the programming of all your available channels. When programming stops, your available channels should be there.

This may not solve the problem in every single case. You may just live in an area that is beyond the range of the broadcaster's high wattage emitters sending out the signal. But if you live in a city where there are several local channels, this should not be the case. There is absolutely no reason why you shouldn't be able to get most of these channels on this TV.

They will vary in quality depending on several factors... weather, proximity to the station's transmitter and strength of their signal. But it makes a huge difference what position your antenna tuner is in.


ALSO YOU COULD TRY THIS:

There is another television technician's trick which can sometimes bring in a difficult to receive signal. Buy a small roll of very thin solder. This is the kind typically used with a solder gun to solder electronic connections. An antenna adapter will come included with your TV. Insert this into the television. This is normally what you would then connect your cable to if you were going to use it for watching cable television.

But instead of screwing on your coax cable, unroll a little of the solder and stick the end of it into the tiny hole in this adapter. If you notice, your cable from the wall will also have a little wire or pin in the center of it. This is the wire that normally sticks in that hole and carries your cable television signal. By sticking your solder into this hole, you are creating a simulated VHF/UHF antenna. Something similar to basic rabbit ears.

Roll out three or four feet of your solder, break it off. Move it around and watch the picture. Make sure the solder is firmly inserted into the hole. This can be a little difficult because it's so flexible, but it should go in an eighth of an inch or so.

You might find this also helps you get a great picture you otherwise wouldn't get. Plus, it's something you can use almost anywhere. This can work better than rabbit ears in many cases.



Bottom line, this television really is a quality piece of electronics. It has excellent color, contrast and resolution. You can play it in your car without batteries by using a simple inverter. They are sold in many stores and they're not expensive. Just ask for an AC to DC inverter.

The instruction manual with this TV is the real problem. It couldn't be any worse. The remote as well, is poor design. However it works, it does control the functions, and it is handy.

The technicians at Coby need to realize we're not all television experts buying their products. We depend on the user manuals to tell us what to do. If they devoted half the attention of quality to this as they have to the TV, maybe they would find they are not having nearly as many returns.


Coby, you definitely need new people writing your literature. And a more user friendly design remote. The channel and volume indicators are impossible to tell which is which. Tiny black writing on blue background is ridiculous to read.

I also don't like the restriction of the antenna to freely swivel in a circle. It only had to extend out of the TV another quarter inch to fully rotate 360 degrees. Why this wasn't changed before product release is also just totally baffling to me.

But despite these negatives, I'm definitely keeping my television. I am a critical and demanding consumer of products I order. I would return it in a flash if I was the least bit dissatisfied. Fact is, there is a lot of technology built into this miniature TV. I believe it would be very hard to beat this value.

I hope I've helped some of you find enjoyment with your television if you order it. Rather than disappointment and having to return it.

I am really happy for all those individuals that have bought this tv and seem to love it. Unfortunately, I have not had a similar experience. I bought four tv's for family, friends, and myself. Of the four, only two got reception (very poor at that), the other two never got reception. I returned them and requested two more. Those did not work either. After a couple of weeks the other two stopped reception all together. Also, the audio was barely audible. I finally gave up and returned all four tv's. It is a shame because they are vey cute and compact, but apparently of the cheapest quality. I recommend you stay away from them.

Living in the rural midwest, we often lose power during the summer thunderstorms. I wanted a TV that would run on batteries so I could keep on top of the weather next time we had an outage. The TF-TV505 fits the bill. With the telescoping antenna, I am able to pull in all local stations from the nearby city (30 miles away).

I work for a cable TV provider and had the TV delivered to the office. I hooked the set up to our cable when it arrived and my co-workers were amazed at the crisp clear picture. My boss was so impressed he ordered a set for every cable truck so it could be used as a monitor by the guys while on the job. Definitly a great buy.