Customer Reviews

SVA EV-1703 17-Inch LCD Flat Panel TV

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Purchased this LCD TV because of the price. Hooked it up for
the Sunday football games - excellent picture..
Would recommend to anyone who is looking to purchase a LCD TV.

I needed a TV for use in my den where I do some work and where I have a treadmill for working out. My problem is that I did not have the space for any other furniture on which to put a regular CRT TV, nor did I want to get one of those wall mounting "arms" which would stick out a few feet. Those arms also run upwards of $100 for a 20" TV, so a decent 20" plus the arm would cost $250 to $300.
Then I saw this LCD TV on Amazon, which was in the price range I was willing to pay for a CRT plus arm. The 17" size would be close enough to the viewing area of a 20" CRT, so I thought this would be a good compromise--no furniture needed, no big ugly arm, etc. The idea was to hang it on the wall.
In opening the box, you notice that it is obviously not a top of the line product, but it does work as advertised. The picture needs a bit of tweaking from the factory settings, and the result is quite acceptable. I was afraid the 250 nits brightness would be a problem, but it really is bright enough. Also, I think the viewing angle is actually wider than the specs. The fact that it doubles as a computer monitor is also a plus. For the $299 and free shipping and no tax, I cannot complain at all. Similar 17" LCD TV's can easily cost hundreds more.
The remote is a bit small, but usable (it takes 2 AAA batteries which are not included), and the on screen display for changing brightness, contrast, etc. is helpful. The sound is pretty good, but is not very "full" or "deep". It's fine for me, however.
There is one thing that is not mentioned in the specs that may be a plus to some, a minus to others. If you want to wall mount the TV, it does not have the VESA compliant mount couplings on the back. So if you want to put it on an articulating arm or some sort of swivel arm that needs a VESA mount, you may have a problem. If, however, you just want to hang it flush on the wall (as I did), you will be pleasantly surprised (as I was) that you do not have to invest another $30 for a flush VESA wall mount. It has two "key" holes in the back, so just measure between them (about 9"), find two screws with heads big enough to get locked in the "keys", and you are in business. It took me about 10 minutes, 2 screws and 2 drywall anchors, and it hangs perfectly flush on the wall. The hardware probably cost me 30 cents, not 30 dollars as I was going to spend. A nice plus for me.
Another note for wall mounting. The instruction booklet has no information on how to remove the monitor stand, but it was really easy to do. On the back of the stand are two small plastic covers that easily pry off, revealing two screws that connect the stand to the monitor. Remove those screws and the stand just comes off. Just save the stand and the screws for future use.
All in all, if space is an issue, and you are looking for a decent TV picture (but not top of the line by any stretch) for a good price, look no further. Also, if you need an LCD monitor, it does a good job for that, and you get a TV as a bonus. Not a bad deal at all.

I ordered this from the "deals of the day" section, and saved even more.
I ordered it on monday, and it was delivered Tuesday afternoon! - 5 stars for that alone!
The only negative is the screen aspect of 4:3, but I knew that when ordering...
Good picture quality, good sound. All round, I am pleased with this one. Go for it!

Note: contradicting Amazon's title, this is NOT a TV. It is a monitor with a built-in TV tuner (lots of differences). Thus the low price.

I bought this item from J&R Music via Amazon.com. I returned it becuase the volume went from off to fairly loud with no "in-between" as I adjusted the volume up from zero. Note that I bought this to use as a TV, not a monitor.

Well, They sent me another and it had the exact same issue. Also, not being a TV, this has no Closed-caption feature or other "taken for granted" TV features you would get in an actual television. SVA and J&R Music both emphasized this, though I see Amazon still has not changed it (I notified Amazon.com in January, 2005).

I was looking for a small LCD TV to replace my 19" Sony in the bed room. After I reviewed the spesification and reviews of this LCD TV, I thought this product served my needs well (cheap too) and could be my monitor's backup (good concept) as well. I had connected with TV cable and tried so hard to adjust every possible adjustments - brightness, contrast, HUE, saturation, etc. to get better picture. It failed on me (not even close). Now I am returning the TV. Amazon says that I have to pay the shipping and handling for the return because it is not their fault (which is true). So if you are looking for quality LCD TV, please go somewhere else, don't waste your time and money. I still give two stars because of its concept and price.

The set has limitations. No PIP. Bad speaker sound. Not easy to switch between inputs without remote. No component video or DVI. Not a super bright picture with high contrast. The biggest setback for me is that there are some artifacts and bluring with fast video when sitting close to the screen (< 3 feet) but the video is fine when sitting 5 feet back. This is from a person who considers his eyes sensitive to imaging; I choose LCD over DLP projection because I can see the rainbow effect etc.. While on this subject, this LCD is very easy on the eye. I recommend LCDs in general; my experience is that they are much easier on the eyes. Another positive is that I've done some flight simulator stuff on this and it looks great. For the money, this is a great buy. If money were not an option, I would consider this 3.5 on a 5 point scale. If you pay 2-3 times as much money, you will probably get a slightly better image on a smaller screen.
My two cents. Sincerely.

I purchased this TV for my basement wall, to watch the Nascar races and so far so good, excellent TV. It is light and easy to handle, we popped out the bottom stoppers on the stand, removed the stand and with two screws in the wall it went up as easy as hanging a picture. The brightness did need adjusting but the picture comes in fine, maybe the picture depends on if you have cable or a dish. We have a dish and I have no problem at all, the remote is a little small and my husband kept hitting the wrong button to begin with but once you get used to it we both agreed- excellent choice *****

This tv looks great, good sound, but for the hour it worked I found the picture a little dark, I adjusted the brightness and contrast, still not to my liking. Maybe I had a lemon, it worked for about an hour, then it froze in the menu. I had no recourse but to unplug it, wait a few minutes and then to plug it back in. After that, the tv was dead, I tried leaving it unplugged for an hour but that didn't work. Power is definetly going to the power supply because a light is on on the power supply but the tv won't go on. I will return this tomorrow, I just purchased it, but I won't replace it with the same brand because I when it worked, I thought the picture was a little too dark.

Price is why anyone will buy this as a TV - some people here have said to spend the extra 50-75 and get a better brand name - I did not see a flat screen 17" LCD anywhere near the $350 range. Besides this one of course.

I wanted to pass along info for those who would like to install this TV on a swivel mount - I purchased a Sanus swivel arm mount because the Sanus Customer Service told me that this model of TV is compatible. It is not. You need to purchase something called an interface bracket for any VESA mount to work. The manufacturer of this compatibility bracket is Chief Manufacturing, model number is FSB-4221 (black or silver) -- it was not cheap. All - in I spent $140 mounting this TV to the wall - $60 for the Sanus swivel arm and $80 for this FSB compatibility bracket, which is essentially a metal plate with some screwholes in it.

So -- if you do want to mount this TV to the wall on a swivel or tilt arm, buy a TV from a brand name company for $360 or less and you will be ahead of the game. Make sure the brand name TV is VESA compatible - buy it instead of this one and you'll be happy you did. All in all, I'm still happy with this purchase but after paying so much for mounting, its not as much of a great deal!

I'm really torn on what to rate this product. It has a few flaws so I'm hesitant to give it 5 stars, but it's such a great monitor for the money. Nothing can touch it in its price range. Out of the box, set up is easy and intuitive. So is the menu. No batteries (AAA) for the remote. Not a big deal, but now I have to wait until I go to the store next to use it. The standard picture setting is really dark, but once you adjust the brightness, contrast, etc., it looks really good. You have to adjust the picture for each input seperately. This is actually a good thing. Just something that you should note when you switch from PC, which you just set, to TV and then it's dark again. The speakers stink. That's not suprising, however, for something this small. It's also not a problem, personally, since I'm using this as a PC monitor/bedroom TV, I'm running the sound through my PC speakers. It doesn't have digital input for the PC or component video for DVD players/game consoles (it at least has S-video). Most others in this category do, but they cost a whole lot more too. I think that it's a fair trade off. All in all, I'm very happy with this TV/monitor. For now I'm gonna give it 4 stars, but I may come back and change it to 5.