Olevia 42" LCD TV - 16:9

Pretty Good TV For The Price

Strengths: Price, stand, removable speakers, USB for Firmware Upgrade, Built In QAM Tuner

Weakness: Only One HDMI Input, only one ANT input, "Cheap" Plastic Looks, Imperfect LCD Panel

I have had this TV hooked up for over a month now and have used many different features. First off it comes with a decent stand with speakers that can be taken off by removing some screws and metal brackets. Since I was hooking this up to an Onkyo HT-S790 Home Theater System (which I will also be reviewing) I took off the speakers and placed the center channel speaker between the TV and the stand...
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I have had this TV hooked up for over a month now and have used many different features. First off it comes with a decent stand with speakers that can be taken off by removing some screws and metal brackets. Since I was hooking this up to an Onkyo HT-S790 Home Theater System (which I will also be reviewing) I took off the speakers and placed the center channel speaker between the TV and the stand (it fit perfectly!). I recommend upgrading the firmware so that it will recognize 1080i broadcasts. The QAM Tuner allows you to receive some HD signals through your cable company since they send some local stations through unscrambled. I have regular basic cable (Not Digital) and I get a few local HD stations which is nice.
HDTV looks very nice with this TV, as does Up Converted DVDS with my LG Dvd player. But I am a bit disappointed with how Standard Definition cable looks with this TV but I don't think the TV is at fault.
There are a few things that I'd like to mention that weaknesses of this TV.
The front bezel of the TV is really cheap looking compared to other brands of LCD displays. It has only one HDMI input so if you get an up-converting DVD player and a digital cable box with HDMI outputs you'll need to get a splitter which can be pricey. It also only has one antenna input so if you get an OTA antenna to pick up HD signals you will need to hook your cable up through a different connection because you can't scan multiple inputs at the same time. Not a problem if you have a digital cable box but since I don't it was something I had to work around. Finally the LCD panel I got had some imperfections which I found to be quite common with this model/brand by searching AVS Forums. I was lucky to only have one dead pixel in the upper left part of the screen (though you would hope to get none they actually won't consider a unit DOA unless there are 7 dead pixels which would be ridiculous!). Also when the screen is on but completely BLACK you can see some variance in the brightness of the screen in a blotchy pattern. Its tough to describe but only noticeable when its all black (like between changing channels). Also another common thing seen with this TV and is also noticeable in my set is a bit of bleed through around the bottom left edge of the screen from the backlight. Mine is very minor and considering the possibility of getting a LCD screen with worse imperfections its something I can live with.

By cnvrtble98 - Jan 23, 2007

Very Good TV

Strengths: Picture Quality, Inputs, Speakers

Weakness: Remote, Manuals, Turn-on time

This is a very good TV. The picture is very good and provides some good options for adjusting it. The full screen mode on a 4:3 picture looks pretty good, the panoramic mode is a waste of time. I am using it with verizon fios tv and an HDMI cable, I also tried it with component video cables as well. Here are the good things HD picture is excellent, good contrast and rich colors. The blacks are...
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This is a very good TV. The picture is very good and provides some good options for adjusting it. The full screen mode on a 4:3 picture looks pretty good, the panoramic mode is a waste of time.

I am using it with verizon fios tv and an HDMI cable, I also tried it with component video cables as well. Here are the good things
HD picture is excellent, good contrast and rich colors. The blacks are very good as well.

The speakers (especially from HDMI) provide a pretty robust sound, of course it is not surround but they are nice. Additionally the speakers can be side mounted, bottom mounted, or removed all together.

On the negative side.
Fist for me is the remote, actually their rf receiver and not the actual remote itself. I have the verizon remote which I like but there are no codes for any remote that will work with this tv, so only the Olevia provided remote works with this. I verified this with Olevia. So your only option is to program their remote to work with your other devices. Their remote is ok, but not as nice as other universal remotes I have used.

TV turn on time is about 10 seconds, this is slow in my opinion. I verified with Olevia that this is normal.

Manuals are only on CD and are just ok they could provide some better info.

By pfhok - Dec 18, 2006

Excellent LCD HDTV

Strengths: Great picture quality. Amazing intensity and contrast ratio. Build-in HDTV tuner. Multiple Input/Output ports.

Weakness: User Manual only comes in CD only. Slow web site for downloading firmware update.

Bought this LCD TV in past black Friday for less than half of other famous brands. I am so impressed with its picture and color quality. Not a single dead pixel is found. The intensity is so great even it sits by one of my bright windows. I was planning to buy a HDTV indoor antenna (even thinking an outdoor/roof-top one). However, after trying my old antenna, I found it works great and I can...
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Bought this LCD TV in past black Friday for less than half of other famous brands. I am so impressed with its picture and color quality. Not a single dead pixel is found. The intensity is so great even it sits by one of my bright windows. I was planning to buy a HDTV indoor antenna (even thinking an outdoor/roof-top one). However, after trying my old antenna, I found it works great and I can watch every HDTV channel in Detroit.

The bottom line: I highly recommend this awesome TV.

By wmd1942 - Nov 27, 2006

Good Quality, Excellent Price

Strengths: Price, Picture Quality, Opitions

Weakness: Looks and website

Bought this TV and hooked it up and everything looks great. The TV doesnot look beautiful but when you turn it does a great job with picture quality and sound. The website is very slow. Tried to get a firmware upgrade and kept timing out. Will try again later. But this thing is for sure a great buy at a very very great price. Its definitely is a bargain for the features it offers.

By thegreatone1 - Nov 26, 2006

Extreme value for the HDTV

Strengths: Built-in HD tuner, vivid color, Good image quality and high price-value ratio. Very sensitive tuner. Can receive all the local HD broadcast channels using regular in-door antenna.

Weakness: Only have one combo tuner. Can either receive signal from cable/box or antenna for air broadcast, not both at the same time. PIP can only swith between component and HDMI, not between components.

Overall, Olevia 542i is an excellent entry-level big-screen LCD HDTV. Though lack of some fancy features, it is definitely a super buy considering low price and very good image quality

By hellona - Nov 26, 2006