Customer Reviews

Polaroid 19in 1440x900 HDTV LCD

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(22)

 

 

I am shocked that the few reviews for this TV have been positive. A quick check on the internet for this Polaroid model will show endless counts of nothing but misery dealing with tech support, warranty service and refunding.

After six months of owning one, it suddenly would not turn on for me. Apparently the 19 inch widescreens are experiencing lots of power board failures. I had to complain to customer service for over an hour, including hold time, before speaking with someone higher up about how I wanted nothing to do with their company.

While they absolutely refused to authorize a refund (because the store I bought it from said that it was out of their hands after 30 days) she finally agreed to send a pre-paid label out so I could ship it via FedEx for replacement or repair. Otherwise I would be out thirty dollars just to send it out.

It has been received at the repair center in CA, USA and customer service informed me that they do not even try to fix any tv "that small" and want to send a replacement - the only problem is that "there are none in stock". The TV came from the factory in March but they don't have any more? Sounds suspicious to me. I was told to call back in another two weeks for an update.

A lot of internet reviews sound like the story I'm going through - many customers end up waiting months on dead-end updates from customer service until they DEMAND to have their money refunded. If I don't see a new TV soon (which is very likely to malfunction again) I am going to have do the same thing.

Before you decide on this "money saver", research this model and what consumers have to say - most of it is pretty ugly.

I purchased a Polaroid flat-panel television over three months ago. After owning it for less than two weeks, it stopped working. I spoke to Polaroid's service department, and received a return authorization number. I shipped the unit back to them and kept a record of the tracking number. I made repeated calls to their customer support center. Each time I called, they informed me that they had no record of my television being returned. I reminded them each time that I had a tracking number and signature proving that it had been received. When this was understood, I was told "We show plenty of these televisions in stock. I'm not sure why your replacement hasn't been shipped out. I will do everything I can to get your replacement out today. Call back in a couple of days, and we'll give you a tracking number so that you can know when to expect it." Over a dozen calls and two months later, I am STILL calling back daily trying to get the replacement shipped to me. Each time I call, the same conversation occurs. I have spoken with several managers, and many service techs. But, NOTHING EVER HAPPENS!!! If I can help one person not make the same mistake, it will be worth the $320 that I wasted. Save yourself a LOT of headache. Purchase another brand.

Before embarking in buying a large HDTV I decided to experiment a little and see what kind of HDTV availability I had in my community without spending much money. I found this excellent TV at Walmart for $277 (they were $267 just one week before but they seem to be in very high demand, I had to visit 4 stores before finding one!). I did my research before deciding to get this one, and I chose it because it has dual tuners - It receives current TV signals from an aerial antenna, cable or satellite system as well as the HDTV signal from my basic (yes, basic!) cable connection without any external box (well except for the satellite system). It does double as a high res computer monitor (has a VGA input) and has composite, S-Video, RGB and HDMI inputs as well. The quality of the image is just short of being perfect. At home I hooked it up to my standard DVD player using the S-Video input, and mixed the output from my satellite box and the basic cabe in a single coax (you can get a $3 coax splitter to do this) and connected it to the coax input. I also connect my laptop ocassionally to it. I don't have any other HD equipment yet so I can't comment on the reliability of the HDMI interface or the other RGB inputs but I have no reason to think they won't work appropriately. The sound is also impressive, it has several preprogrammed sound modes and the simulated surround is amazing, you could almost swear you have real surround. And it does have a digital coax sound output.

I compared this TV with a 19" Sanyo (uglier, bulkier, and limited video inputs) and with 19" Phillips, Samusungs and LG's (all of them also quite good, but at least $350). At this price, it can't get any better - Best price to quality ratio (any cheaper than this will get you some unknown Chinese owned and made brand). The TV is made in China but has excellent quality.

I purchased this TV at walmart in my local town and am very pleased with its performance. The contrast ratio is 850:1 with the maximum resolution of 1440 x 900.

Why can't anyone list this wonderful little HD TV correctly. I purchased one at "Wally World" and it works GREAT! The sound is very good too. It has the normal HD TV inputs plus the ATSC tuner. And it even has VGA input so I can connect it to my notebook PC and watch my MLB.com baseball games on a better screen.
This is a true HD TV. The resolution is 850:1 an NOT the 400:1 as shown in Amazon.com.
Buy this for your bedroom or any small room application. It's great!

We've had this TV in the bedroom for almost a year, 15 years old Sony CRT better TV. The picture seemed out of focus. Sound quality was poor but would get loud. Buttons are on the side hard to see. Remote would not control Dish so have to use two remotes, The 15 year old Sony's remote works with dish and dish remote works with Sony TV. One sunny day and this TV stopped working, no picture after polaroid screen but have sound. What to do with a $200.00 TV that does not work. 1). Send off to get fixed $50.00 for shipping plus parts/labor (find a box, etc..). 2). Find someone local to fix lol.. 3). Trash it, you rich American buy new one!

I purchased this TV about 9 months ago. I turned it on one morning and the sound came on but the video flashed the Polaroid banner and then went blank. A call to Customer Service was very unhelpful. In hindsight I did web research and found this TV has a sytematic problem with its power board. What a name that is suppose to stand for imaging quality, you would think that Polaroid would show more regards for their reputation and take responsibility for this lemon. Instead they have taken the approach of let the buyer beware. I personally will never purchase another Polaroid product and I will warn as many people as I can. Everybody makes mistake, great company accept responsibility for their mistakes and provide their consumers with an acceptable solution. Polaroid did not take this approach.

TV quit tuning up and down after only a few months of use. From what I've read on-line this isn't a new problem with Polaroid TVs. Cust Service couldn't figure it out. Bad buy.

Two years ago I purchased two(yep! 2) Polaroid, 19" units (FLM-1911 to be exact). The display worked fine but the remote contol receiver failed on the first unit at eighteen months. By failing, I mean that it became "Hal" and changed channels, changed volume flipped between TV andr monitor mode and totally took control of itself. There was no stopping it! Polaroid said: tough - out of warranty. However, they did agree to ship me a refurbished "similar" unit for a mere $XXX which was about the discounted price of a new unit.

I bit, they shipped. First the wrong control was shipped. When that was corrected, the unit provided proved to be unrepaired and would not work. A replacement for the replacement was provided. It never worked right either and I gave up and bought a different brand.

At twenty-six months the second unit went into "Hal" mode! I said design problem! Polaroid said: tough - out of warranty but for a mere $XXX they offered to ship a refurbished unit....

I have had my Polaroid for 2 year and now it does not work. The screen went blank. I can still hear it, but can not see anything. When this happened I looked online and MANY people are having the exact same problem. I'm a poor college kid who bought this tv to save space and money. I don't have any money to replace the tv so now I'm stuck. Do not buy this tv unless you want to throw your money away!