Customer Reviews

Mintek DTV-233 23-Inch LCD TV/DVD Combo

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

My review is only four stars because long term durability is still an unknown. Well, before this purchase I did some research. First, who is Mintek? Answer, the U.S. distributer for Shinco electronic products out of China. Second, were the LCD products from China (some early magazine reviews advised avoiding LCD Televisions from China & Korea) going to be equal to established brands already out there. Well, some business article research led to reports of Minteks's marketing director Bill Daugherty advising "It returns to China half the products Shinco sends, filtering out things like clunky models with poor screens". With this documented attitude about quality control on the record I made the plunge and ordered the Mintek over the Toshiba 23" LCD/DVD Combo which was my original choice. Granted this is an initial review but it appears this product is everything advertised. Sleek styling, great picture (this was bought for bedroom use) on satellite and DVD. LCD can have artifact issues during action scenes so "Private Ryan" went into the built-in slot load DVD player knowing that the initial D-Day landing scene would most likely uncover this problem if it existed. Well, the puke over the landing craft was sharp, as were the bullets underwater and tracers overhead later on the beach. Even the explosion of the soldier carrying the flame thrower was perfect. Obviously this unit can process the information. Another surprising plus, the system actually comes complete with all the needed cables (HD, Component, RCA, USB, etc.) except oddly, an s-video cable. The DTV 233's complete versatility is a definite plus. Top all this off with Amazons free SuperSaver Shipping and the fact it was delivered in only three days all in all this product is one heck of a deal.

After alot of research on Mintek we decided to give it a try. The tv is great, DVD player works well. Cutomer service STINKS, I called numerous times and no one ever returned my calls. My main question was about codes for a universal remote. Finally found out there are none, but did purchase a remote ($28-Best Buy) that "learns codes" and am now able to use 1 remote for TV and DirectTV reciever.

We bought this unit for our den to fit into a 27" wide space and are very pleased so far. Easy to set up and run in 1080i mode with Time Warner cable - HDTV performance is excellent. Sports programming is particularly impressive - hockey and basketball are great in 16x9 format although optimum viewing distance for a set this size is around 6'. Regular TV programs can be viewed in a 4x3 centered image or stretched (distorted) to fill the screen. No surpises so far off the internal DVD and I've not tried using it as a computer monitor yet. I also wish it had a second HD component input for our xbox. It would be nice if I could get the TimeWarner remote to control the TV as well - I've not figured out how to do that yet. Colors are bright - I'd like black to be darker but am happier than I expected to be at this price. Biggest problem so far is I want a 40" LCD HDTV now for the living room.

Great HD picture and sound. The DVD player is excellent! The size is perfect for a bedroom. I've used it as a monitor, it took me a while to figure out how to set up my laptop with it but once I got it working it looked pretty good. The only minuses is the sound, there is a noise, like the hum of a computer monitor, when the sound is turned down. Minor issue for me. Also regular TV channel picture quality is not that great, I am hopeful that a lot more stations will start broadcasting in HDTV in the near future. The remote can be an annoyance at times given it's not universal.
I also like the feature of viewing pictures from my digital camera's memory stick, that feature is fun to play with. Overall I really enjoy this TV, especially the DVD!

I love it. I don't have the problem with the remote like other people. I do not use a universal remote. Its great. When I stick in a DVD, it turns off the TV tuner by itself. I can turn off the unit in the middle of a DVD and the next day, I can pick up on the DVD right where I left it just by turning it on. Very simple. Color and picture are great. Price is great. Have had no problems.

This product is at the moment (March 2005) at the leading edge of falling prices in its category. And the product works pretty well, as documented in William's review. Yet I had two problems that have caused me to pack it up and return it. First, the remote control supplied with the set is a bad joke; it cannot control any other devices, such as my cable box on which it sits, and it is nonprogrammable itself. Worse, Mintek / Shinco has implemented a set of IR remote control codes that are completely incompatible with any universal remote control I can find. Our Pioneer HD cable boxes all come with nice universal remotes (from Universal) that have many codes programmed in, but none for this set. In fact, I can't find IR remote codes for this set on the web, or on the websites of remote manufacturers. Why did Mintek / Shinco have to adopt an obscure, proprietary IR code instead of using a commonly used code set? Oh well, and when I called for help with this issue, I was told by a young fellow who could barely complete a coherent sentence, that tech support would call back "in a coupla days...". And he was the only person in the 'customer service', so he claimed, that could speak to a customer on the phone. Oh well, RMA, and I'm going to buy the Toshiba.

This is the worst TV I have ever purchased in my life. Without using the remote, the unit goes into overdrive searching for the source it prefers -- tv, dvd, pc, etc. -- and you cannot watch television. When I have called to get help with this, I have been thwarted at every step. I would recommend that no one buys anything from this company.

This is one of the biggest purchasing mistakes I ever made, and I urge you not to make the same one. I bought this TV several years ago, and for awhile I was more or less happy with it. Then, the picture began to degrade and I had trouble getting the DVDs to play. It finally got to the point where the picture would be there for about 30 minutes, then it would get all stripy and then go black. So, I took it to a TV repair shop several weeks ago. In the intervening time, they have been unable to find ANYONE who carries parts for this TV! Isn't it amazing in this day and age that there would be absolutely NO support for a product? Well, that's the case here, and I'm stuck with an expensive, useless POS. They're apparently out of business, and screw all of us who took a chance on their product! Class action suit, anyone???

Best TV I've ever owned. Colors and contrast is beautiful, and doesn't do that stupid screwed up ratio thing that other TVs do. The picture probably looks as good as my friends 4000 dollar Panasonic.

I have had this TV/DVD Player for about 1 1/2 years. Overall, it is a great TV...BUT...when i started having a problem with the DVD player, their first point contacts in Customer Service were nice & helpful...BUT...then when they couldn't help me anymore, they referred me to someone who could get it fixed or replaced for a fee (not covered under warranty anymore). THIS PERSON NEVER RETURNED ANY ONE OF THE 6 CALLS I LEFT...WHY???

Let me make sure that you know, it is a good TV & very functional except that you can't really change out the remote since most other remotes are not compatible with Mintek...BUT...i like the TV, it's just a shame that right now it is just sitting in my garage collecting dust.