Customer Reviews

Viore PLCD10V59 10.2-Inch Portable Widescreen LCD TV with Built-In DVD Player, Black

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

1. Video: For a portable device, to me, it is excellent. The resolution isn't specified on the box but Walmart says it's 800x480 (based on older PLCD10V49 model). OTA HD signals (i.e. ABC, NBC) came in clear and detailed, not fuzzy and washed-out like some other brands, so I think it can do at least 480P. Brightness on default looks fine to me, although I maxed out sharpness (to 8). Channel changing is pretty quick and spiffy compared to a digital converter box (like the Zenith).

2. Audio: Won't blow you away, it isn't Dolby Digital nor even surround, but it's fine for it's purpose as a portable TV/DVD. I believe speaker output is 6W total, which is standard for small TVs, I don't believe Walmart's listing of 2W. I suppose if you're at the beach you MIGHT need to crank up the volume or use headphones, but for relatively quiet areas, 50% is quite audible.

3. DVD: Reads DVD quicker than my 15" Toshiba tube TV/DVD, so that's a plus. DVD door has been an issue for many people. First, go to DVD mode before ejecting/loading discs. Second, the tray mechanism is a hit or miss since, afterall, it's assembled in China. Mine is fortunate to be pretty smooth... so far. Slide in gently and wiggle when stuck. It supports DivX but I have not experimented to see which encoder works.

4. REMOTE CONTROL: Works fine, quick response, but the cheapy clock battery it runs on is crap, probably won't last a month with regular use, and they're expensive. Here's my suggestion-go to Walmart or Best Buy and get a $15-20 universal remote with learning capability, then you can program all the buttons from the Viore remote. Don't bother asking for the remote code, tech support won't know and you don't need it with a universal remote. People have said that Akai is the parent company of Viore, but the codes for Akai didn't work for me. Interestingly, after teaching the buttons to my Philips remote I got from Walmart, it controlled my 32" Samsung LCD TV as well as the Viore. So try the Samsung codes if you really want to know what the remote code is, otherwise just do auto search or learn (no search necessary if you learn the signal directly from the Viore remote). Same thing for the DVD mode, I left the universal remote on TV mode and just learned the DVD buttons without having to switch to DVD. After you do this, just stow the Viore remote and battery away (take battery out) for emergencies.

5. Power: Takes 12V DC power, included is a car adapter and AC/DC adapter. The internal battery will last over 2 hours, unless you got a lemon.

6. Other Aspects: The USB and SD card inputs are used to view photos and play mp3s. You have to be in DVD mode first, then go to DVD menu and choose USB/SD. I found the interface slow and unintuitive, and the photos won't show up as nice as if you bought a digital photo frame. Part of the reason probably is the limited resolution of 800x480. However, it is an option that you can use it to play back photos and music.

7. Accessories: The base stand is nice yet not necessary since you have that pull-out stand in the back, but the stand is more aesthetically pleasing. I don't have a big problem with the included mini antenna, it receives most of the stations in Houston fine. Other factors that affect reception are your location, the strength and quality of the broadcast signals, if there are people/buildings/things between the antenna and the sky, and of course mother nature. I do have a problem with it's ability to stand up since it's light, wish there was a suction cup under the base (great idea! yay me). The earphone is crap, don't even bother taking it out. There is a 3.5mm to composite AV adapter that I don't think I'll ever use, but who knows.

8. Last comments: Overall I think the unit itself is nicely built, aside from the DVD tray. There are no dead pixels and there's a screen protector conveniently on the LCD. You can get rid of that "E" by wiping with some rubbing alcohol (DON'T use acetone on plastic). The glossy front looks pleasing with the base attached, like a mini LCD TV (which it is!). However, I would have preferred a thinner profile and a slot-loading DVD tray instead of the crappy pull-out one. I tried the Coby TFDVD1092, which is also a 10.2" LCD/DVD combo but it's twice as thick, squarish, heavy, ugly, dead pixels, no internal battery, no car adapter, and the picture is horrible. I can't speak for longevity, but you do have 30 days free shipping return with Amazon, and perhaps 60 days with your credit card, or you can buy an extended warranty (from Squaretrade I presume). Price from Amazon since Christmas makes this portable tv/dvd combo very competitive. Walmart has also recently lowered the price to match. I think it's a no-brainer since other brands only have 7" or 9", and the 9" are lesser-known noname brands that got very poor reviews.

After shopped and compared around for one month, I finally got this one at Amazon.com with lower price $149.00 instead of $199.99 two weeks ago. I got only 2 bad channels at beginning and was about to give up. I then went to read manual and found out that this unit have to be set to DTV instead of TV mode to get digital signals(this is the main reason that some people bought small TV and got only 1-2 channels). After switched to DTV, I got over 60 channels with the enclosed magnetic antenna attached to my metal light pole(I lives in suburb of LA,CA).
The battery runs 2h and 20m, half with earphones, half with lowest volume(enough for me to hear 2 feet away.
Picture and color are good but not as good as my plasma TV. DVD player is good for all regions. Unit has to be set to DVD mode for SD card and USB inputs and the speed is slow.
You can open DVD player's door only in DVD mode. DVD door will not open in other mode,i.e TV,DTV,AV.
Only problem now is that I don't know how to program the channels I want to watch because there are many junks in the air.

I orginally gave this a much better review but the instructions were so poorly written that they failed to tell you the TV had to be set to DVD mode before the DVD tray would open. As a result I sent the first one back thinking it was broken.

Pros: I will say the TV picture was outstanding with a small RCA attenna that cost about $10.

Cons: Poorly written manual. The manual seems to to totally skip the HDTV channel set up and didn't explain the correct steps to open the DVD tray. Everything else seems to be covered though. Included antenna only pulled in 3 channels.

I purchased my Viore 10" as a Christmas present to myself. The price was about the same as some of the portable DVD players that don't have TV tuners. I get good reception in the DTV (digital) mode in a non-metro area. The picture is great for a personal TV, but obviously not your first choice for a family TV. Set-up is a little tricky; you have to be in the correct mode and go to the menu for auto scanning. That should find your stations for you. If you don't get any stations make sure you are in the DTV mode and try repositioning the antenna. I recommend placing the antenna in a window that faces your strongest signals. There are websites that can provide the compass heading of your strongest TV stations if you don't have that information. I am totally pleased with the reception but have been mainly using the DVD player. It is similar to a DVD drive you would find in a laptop. I have not had any problems with the player, so far. Again, you have to be in the correct mode; the player will not open/eject unless you are in the DVD mode. The battery will easily get you through a two hour+ DVD movie. The "low battery" warning light gives you plenty time to plug in the charger or get to a stopping point in the movie. The charger will recharge the battery while you watch. Overall, I have been very impressed with the quality of Viore products. I purchased several of the 7" TVs as gifts which were well-received. Viore tech support is a different story. They are difficult to reach and not very helpful. They don't seem to answer emails at all.

UPDATE May 2010: After 5 months of fairly frequent use my Viore is still going strong. Mostly used for DVDs, but I've been pleased with the TV reception as well. "Fast forward" on the remote didn't work. I was eventually able to contact customer service and they set me a new remote (took a couple months). Final note: don't pay $350 (as advertised) for this TV.

A Cool looking little unit with a very promising list of features. But it turns out to be just promises. Right out of the box issues. Remote failed to function. DVD player suffered reading errors and failed to play a number of commercial DVDs. Finally found one it would play and discovered the deal breaker - the player is so loud - just spinning the disc - that we can not watch a movie at a comfortable listening volume. The sound quality was also very poor. Too bad. We really wanted to like it - but it is a piece of junk.

I've had this for a few weeks and I really like it. I was worried about reliability issues after reading some of the other reviews, but so far I haven't had any problems. Yes, the manual wasn't the greatest, but everything was fairly simple to figure out.

You'll never be able to pull digital channels while in motion. I don't know if it says it here, but I've read it a few times while reading descriptions of other portable players/TVs. This TV does a good job pulling in stations as long as you have the antenna in a high place. I also really like the program guide. I've been able to pull in a few digital channels that I didn't even know existed in the area.

I've had some issues getting the DVD player to read some less than professional DVDs, but eventually it gets it. Anything store-bought has been fine. I do wish the volume was a little louder. If you're in a somewhat noisy environment you'll need speakers. But in a quiet place, you'll just have to turn it all the way up. Not really a big deal for me.

The description here is a little vague as to what it comes with. You'll get a magnetic base antenna, car and wall power cords, A/V-in cable, remote, earphones, and a screw-on base. The TV also has a built in picture frame type stand that I'm really liking. There's also keyhole slots in the back to hang the thing on a wall.

I've been able to get about 2.5 hours out of the battery while running the DVD player. I'm going to guess that the TV will run longer.

I've looked at and bought quite a few of the combination player/TVs and this is a great deal (I paid $50 more than it is now) and the only one that worked right out of the box.

EDIT: Three weeks into ownership, the device would start playing DVDs and then hang up. It would attempt to try and read them, but eventually it would get a disc error. I tried with three different discs and got the same thing. I returned it for a refund. I'm not even going to try another one to just have to return it again.

Nice little TV.

My only complaints about it are the DVD door seems a little cheap, and clicks loudly every time you push the drawer back in.

There are some functionality issues that I'm learning to deal with. The DVD player will not eject unless you're in the DVD "Mode."

Also, I looked and looked before I bought the TV to find out what a "external rod antenna" was. Now I know. :)

The antenna is just a 4 or 5 inch stick on top of a very strong magnetic base. It is "external" because it just plugs into the coax jack on the side of the TV. It has a cord that's somewhere around 3 or 4 feet long.

Overall, I'm impressed that it gets as many channels as it does. With digital TV I was expecting a lot worse.

I Love my little TV/ DVD player. It's compact and fits just right on top of my Tredmill, that's why I bought it. I Love it ,I Love it, what more can I say. And I'd Recommend it to my friends too.

The DVD on the first tv did not work. Contacted Viore customer service via phone and email but no response. Returned the TV and Amazon sent another one fast. The DVD worked. The tv is clear.

I love all the features of this unit! It's absolutely amazing for the price and has a great picture.

I agree with everyone on the remote control. I am technical and it is not intuitive at all - probably why people think it doesn't work. You have to put the side of the battery marked with the + up then slide it in from left to right - there is a little wire with a plus next to it, the battery needs to slide under this wire. After I figured that out it worked like a champ.

I'm just hoping that it is durable.