Customer Reviews

Syntax Olevia LT32HVM 32-Inch HD-Ready Flat-Panel LCD TV

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

After doing a lot of research for a few months I had come to the decision of buying this TV. So far I have been pleased. The image is very crisp compared to my friend's Sony that was around $500 more. Some of the pros and cons of this TV:

Pros
1. Very good TV for the price as good if not better than its higher-priced big name brand counterparts.
2. DNR feature, if you have an analog signal from an antenna or cable, this really cleans it up and makes it viewable on this TV.
3. VGA and DVI inputs. I was happy they provided both of these rather than one or the other and force the consumer to use adapters or something.
4. Overall quality of the lcd screen is perfect. No blurriness or other image problems I hear about from other screens.
5. No beeping noises or other such rubbish when you turn it on. Not much a pro but this a little annoying in TVs that do this. It turns on fast too.

Cons

1. The speakers on this TV emit a low hiss-like sound that was pretty annoying. This isn't too big of a problem if you use a home theater system or even just a pair of computer speakers.
2. The remote's button layout seems unintuitive. The channel up-down buttons are placed right under the power button near the upper left part of the remote. I have found myself accidentally turning it off a few times. I plan on getting different remote soon though.
3. No zoom feature. This isn't too big of a problem if your DVD player does this for you.
4. The TV response time to button presses (surfing channels, etc) seems slow. I'm not sure if this is just a basic thing in newer generation TVs or not. Not that big of a bother though.
5. No HDMI input. This is the only real drawback here but DVI provides almost the same quality image.

Overall this is a very nice TV that performs well. Gaming is a blast especially if you have Xbox. Despite the minor flaws I still give this 5 stars, all the cons can be dealt with and the main reason for the TV (the screen itself) is flawless. I recommend this too anyone wanting to jump on the HD bandwagon but not pay the super high prices of those other brands.

The TV really looks awesome and the quality seems good. I did a lot of research before buying. It is our first TV in about 12 years, so maybe we are easily impressed, but it does looks as good as the neighbor's Sony HDTV. Couple things about the specs: Amazon and other places on the Internet continue to mix the specs of the LT32HV, LT32HVM, and the LT32HVE. I found the only correct source seems to be from the downloadable product manual on Syntax Olevia's own website. For instance, this TV does not have POP3 and POP12 like the LT32HV, which is fine because I wasn't in need of it. One problem I had was digital remnants playing Armageddon (update: restarted DVD player and it was fine - not a TV problem). It was OK with the DVD player set to deliver to a 4:3 size screen, but not when set to a 16:9 screen. Also, the zoom feature of the LT32HV may have been better than the viewing features of the HVM because I seem to have trouble getting the perfect widescreen from my DVD player and the extra zoom options may have helped. I think making adjustments to my JVC DVD player may eventually fix it. We'll see. I am pleased with the panaramic view options that stretch a 4:3 signal more at the edges than in the middle, which is one reason I choose the HVM over the HV. Overall, I am very happy with the TV and the deal was incredible.

This TV, wall-mounted in our bedroom, has a great picture and surprisingly good sound. Right out of the box with default settings, it looked great. I selected it based on the after-rebate price and was pleased to see quality comparable with sets costing twice as much.

There's one feature I really miss, however: it doesn't have a "stretch" or "un-letterbox" setting. If you're watching a 16:9 widescreen DVD, you'd like it to fill all of this model's 16:9 screen, without cutting off any part of the picture. Some DVD players will do that for you; others have only a "Zoom" function which cuts off the edges. If the feature were built into the television, it would be quite handy.

Similarly, if you're watching network TV programming that's broadcast in widescreen format (whether received via the internal tuner, a TiVo tuner, or a tuner in your VCR), you'll notice that the picture looks squashed, with black bands at the top and bottom. That's because you're watching the analog version of the signal, and it's been broadcast in letterbox format to accomodate the 4:3 crowd. The only way to use your whole screen would be to buy a digital tuner.

Despite that limitation, I am very pleased with the set and would order it again.

I just bought this TV two weeks ago, so far I am very pleased with it. I connected my Toshiba Tivo/Dvd combo player to its component input, and also had the cable TV directly connected to the RF port. Since the Dynamic Noise Reduction is only applied to the TV input, not to the component input (which makes sense), I can switch between the two sources to compare the effect of DNR. It works very well. TV picture is much smoother than without DNR. I had some experience with Viewsonic 27" product, and the picture qualify was horrible when play interlaced low-resolution TV program.
My only complaint so far is the not-so-intuitive design of the remote control. The menu button seems always get in the way.

We get compliments on this all of the time. The picture is really fantastic. We bought ours in a store with this side by side much more expensive flat panels and you could not tell a difference at all. Highly recommend. We will be getting a second one for upstairs!

My Tv started to have sound problems and I sent off an email to Olevia. No response. Then tried calling support - had to leave a message.

Days later after no response I called and transferred to sales - helpful guy and wanted all the details but again he could not help and would have tech support call me back - NO LUCK with call back

3 weeks go by and now I am getting rather ticked at the no response. So rewrote email again - no response.

Called tech support and left my number - no response.

Again called sales and got another person.
Got a live body - Yaaahoo! - could not help but forwarded me to customer service (to give me the service at home number). Customer service could not help and said Tech support were the ones to talk to. After an hour plus on hold I get to talk to a tech. 1/2 hour later he came to the conclusion that I needed service.

The support issue is really bad. My recomendation is call them yourself before you buy the TV.

Oh, and Good Luck!!!!

First let me say that this LCD TV was bought strictly as a result of a limited Thanksgiving Day sale - $300.00 off if bought 'now'. I still haven't found one less expensive, though prices are getting lower and lower. As it turns out, the TV is great, we love the picture, sound quality acceptable and they have this great 'in-house' service warranty, where a technician is dispatched to your house when deemed necessary. This TV is used in the bedroom, so surround sound and viewing angle were not a consideration. A pivoting TV bracket was used in order to hang it higher than eye level and watch from the bed.

I have 2 concerns. The first is that the documentation on their web site does not match the specifications printed in the manual. As I mentioned, this was an impulse purchase, but I did try to do some on-line product comparisons. Imagine my surprise and dismay when the manual specs were 25% lower than the web's specs! I called Syntax and was told that the higher levels as specified in the web and advertisements were correct, but how do I know, how do I measure the difference?

The second concern is calling the company for support. It took 2 days to get through to a 'live' person and get my questions answered! Their automated answering system keeps you on hold for minutes, only to come back with an automated message that they're not available! They didn't even change their message greeting to let you know their office was closed for the day. I hope this isn't a problem when I call for some real product support.

Finally, if you're considering this model, spend a few extra dollars and purchase their LT32HVE model, same everything but better spces (at least from what's disclosed on their web site).

Very happy with the TV -- great value. I have the 26 inch in my office and once I saw the picture quality, I immediately bought the 32 inch for home.

Easy to set up -- basically just take it out of the box and plug it in.

FORGET THE RECONIZED BRANDED TVS AND ITS EXPENSIVE PRICE. THIS LCD HAVE A VERY CLEAR IMAGE, EXCELENT NOISE REDUCTION FEATURES, VIVID COLORS AND WELL BALANCED BLACK CONTRAST. THE ONLY BAD IS THE CHEAPER REMOTE CONTROL, BUT FORGET THAT, THE IMPORTANT HERE IS THE PICTURE QUALITY. I RECOMEND THIS TV FOR EVERY ONE.

Excellent product for the price. The image is very good, the sound is ok and satisfy all my needs.
I recommend it if you want a good LCD but don't want to spend a lot of money on Sony's...