Olevia 232V LCD HDTV Review
I managed to nab this gem from Circuit City over the Thanksgiving weekend. Regularly $899 CC had put it on sale for $499, and the reviews on the web were pretty upbeat, all things considered. Alas, I missed it on Friday but one of the stores here in Charlotte happened to find eight of them in a corner of their warehouse Saturday morning and they were listed on the CC website for $499. Trying not to get pulled over by Charlotte’s finest, I zipped to the store and snagged one of two remaining units. While there, we were told the price had been reset to $899 but the store honored the $499 price, we did call first to make sure they had them.Anyway, I finally got around to getting it hooked up and I must say, it’s much more than I expected. I realize that if compared to a new Sony or some other top of the line model the Olevia 232V might seem lacking, but for a bedroom tv, it was a great bargain. In fact, it would go a long way as a primary tv in an apartment or for the new homeowner that would like to get and LCD HDTV but just doesn’t have a couple grand to fork over right now.
The 232V has a built in HD tuner, is widescreen so you can watch movies without the annoying letterboxing and 3:2 pull-down for clear motion pictures. The tv is compatible with 1080i/720p/480p/480i digital programming with a 178 degree viewing angle. The 232V also doubles as a PC monitor for those serious gaming enthusiasts and the audio is great for built in speakers.
Unfortunately I haven’t seen this model at that awesome bargain price since this past weekend, but if your looking for a good LCD without having to spend a bundle I’d recommend you seriously check this one out. Even at $899 it’s a steal when compared to other models in that price range and if you can find it on sale, well buy two and put one on eBay.
Update: Seems a large number of people are having an issue with the HDMI port and XBOX 360’s (including Elites). It appears to be an incompatibility with both compenents that neither manufacturer (Olevia or Microsoft) have been able to work out.There’s an interesting thread on this topic on the Team XBOX forum, the suggestion is to just use the Component option to run the XBOX as that seems to work fine. Not the right answer I’m sure but honestly, if your buying a TV to get the most out of the XBOX video display this TV is probably below your standards anyway and unless your one that insists on counting the individual pixels, I doubt most people will notice the difference.
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Comment by Ryan Grier on 2 January 2007:
Thanks for the review. I bought this TV last week and am very happy with it for playing Xbox 360. :D
Comment by Taylor Akin on 3 January 2007:
Tks for your review of the 232V. Was looking for some reviews outside of CC’s website. Bought this tv and it will arrive in two days. Seems like the perfect one for our new home! Any advice on certain settings to focus on or any other info on the initial setup would be greatly appreciated! We are Time Warner subscribers and are contemplating getting their DVR system.
Thanks again!
Comment by Justin McCraw on 22 January 2007:
Hi, so you would suggest getting this TV at $599.99? That’s the current price at Circuit City. I’ve been searching for a good HDTV (my first) for my apartment–I’m a college student–and this one seems really fine. I enjoyed your review and would also like more information about suggestions for setting it up, etc., and if you have it mounted or using a stand. Thanks.
Comment by James on 22 January 2007:
Yeah, that’s good price, I’d definitely consider it. I love this tv, it performs great, looks great, sounds great. I have it in a bedroom, it has a built in stand so it sits on the chest of drawers perfectly. The only downside to the thing is it has one of the brightest blue led’s I think I’ve ever seen on it that comes on whenever you power the unit off. One sharpie fixes that though..
For setup, I did the same thing I’ve done with my rear projection. Let it play for a month, then I used my Avia DVD to calibrate it. Nothing fancy. Mind you now, this isn’t one of the new Sony’s and if your into counting the pixels, etc, etc, then this isn’t for you but if your looking for a good, clear affordable LCD this is a very nice unit.
Comment by Pierre on 25 January 2007:
this is such a great buy ! be patient with getting it able to connect to cable i.e. if have problems with connection for ps2 or dvd player is because the settings need to be set correctly and IMPORTANT set the color it says to 6500!! very important for it to work properly!! this is a great bargain for someone who wants to buy something after they save and cant buy much also for ppl on budgets…. and want their new home to look nice…
Comment by Pierre on 25 January 2007:
also this is great my parents tube tv makes a hi pitch sound - this olevia tv at circuit city doesnt make n e annoying hi pitch sound either … that is great!
Comment by Kevin on 28 January 2007:
How do standard cable signals look on it? I know that on some HDTV’s the analog signals from standard cable will actually look worse than with an SD television. Is there much ghosting or trailing effects during sports or fast action scenes? Are there any little annoyances, like delayed response to the remote, or channels take long to change from one to the next? Thank you.
Comment by James on 28 January 2007:
I can’t speak for standard cable, but I have a DirecTV Series 2 Tivo hooked up to it that receives their SD feed. I’ve watched ball games and fact action movies, they look no worse than on my Hitachi that’s 2 years old. Haven’t watched any races yet, but to me it’s pretty decent.
As for annoyances, haven’t found any really. The menu for the tv is a bit lacking and not well thought out but it does what it needs to do. My DTV receiver handles everything else anyway.
Comment by K on 5 March 2007:
I was looking for a TV under $300 but can’t find anything decent. I’ve looked at Samsung which said to have geometric problems. Insignia said to have audio, slow response/startup issues. Toshiba which I can’t find any info on at all. Sharp samething. Magnavox not really what I wanted. Sony same. The only one left is this. $600…plus tax and maybe a warranty…ugh. I’ve never had an LCD or widescreen TV before so I hope I’ll like this.
Comment by Damien on 11 March 2007:
FYI guys K-Mart has this tv on sale for $499 until 3/17.
Comment by Bruce on 7 May 2007:
Ok ….
I have this TV and hooked my Xbox 360 up to it using the component cables. I cannot use it for more than an hour without my eyes starting to hurt. I’m also experiencing Headaches. Is anyone having issues with this model?
Yes I am sitting a good distance away from the screen.
thanks
Bruce
Comment by James on 7 May 2007:
Bruce, can’t say I can offer anything of substance and I haven’t tried the Playstation on mine but I do have a 52″ that the PS2 is on. I had to go out and get wireless controllers to use with it because the corded controllers were just too close. SSX2 made be dizzy if I wasn’t a good 6-8 feet away.
Comment by Shawn on 9 May 2007:
CC has it on sale now for $549. Think I’m gonna go for it. Watcha think?? Anyone had any problems with their’s? I’m gonna go with a Sony 5.1 Surround system as well. It’s going in my guest BR over my computer desk. Think I’ll hook it up as a secondary monitor as well so that I can play games on PC and PS3 if I ever get one!!! Any other suggestions??
Comment by Adam K on 11 May 2007:
Hey, bought this TV yesterday. Took advantage of the CC sale at $549. The CC site specifications stated that there are 2 component hookups. I can only find one component hookup. I was wondering if I am overlooking the 2nd or if there is a misprint on the CC website?
Comment by Chris on 14 May 2007:
Hey Adam,
I noticed this too.
I had CC take 100 off the 549.99 price to make it an even 449.99 for the misprint :). Come to find out though, the second COMPONENT input is over VGA, which I dont’ understand just yet.
~Chris.
Comment by Cliff on 27 May 2007:
OK Circuit City has this HDTV on sale today and tomorrow only $499. I just bought a Westinghouse 32w6 two days ago for $599, so wondering how these compare.
Comment by Anne Rainier on 28 May 2007:
Hi, I saw this tv is on sale at cc for 499. I have an old 19 inch sony I would like to replace with a larger screen tv. I only have cable right now, won’t get hdtv for at least a year and I am concerned about the picture quality on these lcd tv’s. Would like to hear more about peoples experiences. Does it give a picture as good as the old Sony trinitron with regular cable? Thanks so much and happy hdtv viewing to you all.
Comment by Anne Rainier on 28 May 2007:
Oh, I forgot: what’s up with the remote? The Olevia website says it is optional? Isn’t this kind of strange, to have to buy the remote seperately? How much is it and why is it not included? Did you all buy it or is it not needed or am I misunderstanding something? Thank you, Anne
Comment by Doug on 29 May 2007:
Hello everyone, I just purchased this television over the holiday weekend, it was $499 at CC. For those that were wondering it does in fact come with a remote. The manual (cd only) says to leave the TV on 6500k temp settings but I found when playing my XBOX 360 that colors that should show blue have a green tint to it. If temp is set to native it produces colors as it should.
I have not hooked up my hd cable box because the box has only component and dvi connections, no hdmi :( and the only component connection on the tv is being used for the xbox 360. So I can either wait for the NEW hd boxes with the hdmi connection to come out or get a dvi to hdmi converter to connect to the tv.
Someone had mentioned a AVIA DVD calibration disc, are these easy to use?
Thanks,
Comment by James on 29 May 2007:
The Avia DVD calibration disc is fairly easy to use. It depends on how much calibration you wish to do. There’s the basic calibration of brightness, contrast and sharpness but it will also aid you in doing a more technical calibration. I’ve not tried that on my Olevia so I’m not even sure if it has a “technicians mode” but the basic calibration seems fine to me.
Comment by rhubygirl on 29 May 2007:
doug, you can use the AVIA disk, or there’s a simpler version on many pixar movies.
Comment by Doug on 29 May 2007:
Thank you everyone.
Comment by Jackie on 29 May 2007:
Hello. THis question is from a low techie. I am trying to connect a dvd player to my new tv with a connecting cable that has three prongs on both ends. What do I need to complete the connection at the TV??
Please Help.
Thanks
Comment by James on 29 May 2007:
Jackie, I’ll take a shot in the dark here. When you say “cable that has three prongs on both ends” is each prong a different color? One red, one green, one blue? (Should match one each end). If so, if you look at the back of the tv there will be three inputs of the corresponding colors and there should also be the same inputs on the back of the dvd player. Just match them up on each device.
You will also need audio cables, you should have a two prong set that has a red and a white end on each end of the cable. One the back of the dvd is a left and right audio out, those mate to the audio ins on the back of the tv. Just match up the colors.
Comment by Xman on 12 June 2007:
I bought this one a few days ago from CC and for the most part I like it, especially the picture quality. I use VGA (not VGA component) for 1080p full length movies playing in my laptop. By setting the display mode to 1920×1080 with 30Hz refresh rate, the picture was fantastic. The build in HD tuner is a pleasant supprise since it let you watch HDTV from AV cable without setup box ($10 cheaper each month with more digital channels and save energy $ since the setup boxes use a lot more electricity than you think). The digital channel are those listed as x.x. For example, I receive ABC from channel 7. So 7.0 is the analog channel with 480i resolution. 7.1 is a HD channel with up to 1080p resolution. Switch back and forth the picture quality is night and day. There are a few thing I don’t like very much. Just wonder if you guys happened to have the same problems.
1. Remote responding time is too long. Difficult to switch between different input modes. So if I want to switch from VGA to HDMI, I have to go through VGA component, Tuner, Composite, S-Vidoe and component with delayed response.
2. Viewing agnle is 178 degree only if your eyes are at the same level as the TV set. If you watch in a large angle from above (when you just want a glass of wine, standing there and share the time with your family), the picture dimmed and had more green appearance. I wonder if that is common. Suggestions?
3. Use it as a computer monitor is OK for movie watching with higher picture quality if your PC setting is alright. But if you open any full screen applications. (for example, a internet explorer window) The outside line of your application windows go beyond the edge of the TV screen. Therefore you can’t scoll up and down using the scoll bar from the edge of your applications, and it is difficult to close the applications as well. Is this right?
Comment by Kyle on 22 June 2007:
Hey xman, Try going into the menu and changing the cropping while your web browser is open, this may or may not fix your problem. And about the remote, i dont believe there is anything you can do about it, I have no figured out a way to make it go faster and everyone has that problem, Im going to be getting a Harmony remote in the next month I will post if I see a difference between the remotes, and or if I am actually able to train it to work or not…
-Kyle
Comment by Melinda on 13 August 2007:
I just bought this TV at CC and it has an annoying humming sound. The sounds seems to dissipate some the longer the TV is turned on. Also, does anyone know how to get rid of Olevia displaying everytime I turn it on?
Thanks
Comment by Paul on 13 August 2007:
Melinda, I just bought this TV myself and didn’t have any humming sound coming from the speakers. Granted It’s hooked up to a surround system now, but the few hours I tested the tv prior to hooking everything up it worked fine. Have you checked all connections to make sure they’re right?
In respect to some comments about slow changing times for channels and inputs are something I didn’t find bad at all.
Comment by Doug on 13 August 2007:
Melinda, if you have just purchased this tv I would say to exchange it. I’ve had the tv since May and have not had that problem. My main complaints are the slow remote speed and the fact that my cable company(time warner) lists the Olevia tv codes for the remote but they don’t work.
Comment by James on 13 August 2007:
Agreed. I would take it back and get another one. I’ve never noticed mine humming and the speed of the channels seem to change fine. Although mine are done via the DTV receiver and not really the TV. Can’t say I’ve seen an option to get rid of the splash screen either(assuming that’s what your trying to get rid of). There’s not a lot of options in the system config that I’ve found.
Comment by Melinda on 14 August 2007:
Thanks for all the responses. We returned the TV and bought one from Target. Also, for those that have complained about the LED, ours has a menu option to turn it off.
Comment by mark on 15 August 2007:
Hey why doesn’t my olevia232v work on full screen when I use the hdtv monster cable…it only works when I just use the wire from the cable box???
Comment by Joey on 2 September 2007:
Hi, I just got this tv and tried hooking xbox elite 360 through hdmi to the tv, but I get invalid format. Anyone can help me figure this out please, thanks.
Comment by Kyle on 2 September 2007:
Go into your Xbox’s setup options and try changing the HD picture settings, Im not positive where the settings are that you need to change on the Xbox but there is an option between 420 720 and 1080, that may or may not help, give it a shot
Comment by Joey on 4 September 2007:
Tried that :( still won’t work. Still getting invalid format :(
Comment by Nasah on 8 September 2007:
WTF is wrong with this TV I bought it yesterday thinking its going to rock with my X-box 360 ELITE just to find out I get a “Invalid Format” when conncting my X-box 360 ELITE thought the HDMI to the TV, some one help!
Comment by Kyle on 8 September 2007:
When you guys go into the Xbox 360 settings, what format do you choose, the best picture you can use is 720p or 1080i, not 1080p, Im sure you read my post from before soooo that may be your problem.
Comment by Joey on 9 September 2007:
I did set it up as 720p :(
Comment by Trina on 9 September 2007:
We just bought a Westinghouse 26″ HDTV from Best Buy ($599). Ours has a very audible humming sound coming from the back panel (not the speakers), and only when the tv is turned off. It a bedroom tv, so it’s annoying at night. Anyone have the same problem or know what it might be?
We want to avoid exchanging it before we can find out if it’s just a normal thing with HDTVs and/or with Westinghouse (this is our first flat panel tv).
Comment by Kyle on 9 September 2007:
I work in the electronics department at a Sam’s Club, and as far as I can tell those things are as good as junk (just my opinion).
Comment by Trina on 9 September 2007:
Thanks Kyle, but I can’t tell if you mean all flat panel tvs or just Westinghouse? Do you have a recommendation?
Comment by James on 9 September 2007:
For those having issues with the HDMI on the Olevia, from what I can find out it seems to be a problem that neither Olevia nor Microsoft can figure out. The suggestion I got was to just use Component. There difference in 1080p via component vs. HDMI isn’t going to be apparent enough to anyone but the hardcore gamers and truth be told, if your that concerned about it, the this TV is probably below your market anyway.
Comment by Kyle on 9 September 2007:
I was specifically talking about Westinghouse, We had one of there 46″ flat panels on display and it actually crapped the bed on us. We also have to 26″ flat panels one with a built in dvd and the other without. Both of them as far as picture quality and what not i feel they did a very bad job on both the 26″ and 46″. I would recommend an Olevia if your looking for a cheaper but very good quality tv and picture. I also like philips as a great picture good quality and low price tv for flat panels. The higher end tvs are always nice too. Panasonic, Sony, and LG. One company I would not recommend purchases is a Vizio, there TVs seem to be very cheaply made and have a much lower picture quality than what they actually say. Just my opinion.
Comment by Trina on 10 September 2007:
Thanks so much for the help, Kyle! I called the Westinghouse help line this morning. Even that guy said that it’s not normal and that I should return it. He said that it sounds like a mechanical problem as opposed to a programming issue that I could resolve. Anyway, Circuit City has a good deal on 26″ Panasonics right now.
Comment by Trisha on 10 September 2007:
Update on 26″ Westinghouse: We exchanged it this morning at Best Buy for same model and it has the same humming sound coming from the back panel. Buyer beware.
Comment by Jason on 13 September 2007:
I’m thinking about buying this tv but I need to know the follow:
Can I hookup my pc to this tv? I would be going from DVI to the HDMI port on the T.V.
Has anyone tried this?
VGA is not digital and therefore I’m not interest in going that route.
Comment by James on 13 September 2007:
Never heard of anyone trying it and I’ve never seen a pc connected to any TV, HDMI or otherwise that looked “normal” to m. That said, I’ve walk into CC with a laptop and tell them to let me hook it up.
Comment by Comedy Blog on 13 September 2007:
Anyone have any problems with this TV and varying volumes? One minute it’s quiet, the next it’s out of control. No rhyme or reason. I can’t figure out if my cable or TV is doing it.
Comment by Kyle on 13 September 2007:
Jason, There should be no problem hooking dvi to hdmi, but if that fails there is a dvi slot on the back so you could always do dvi to dvi. Comedy Blog, The varying sounds is most likely the signal itself, such as the commercials and what not. They try and make it louder to get your attention, which it always does cause its so damn loud. I believe there are tvs out there that can counter act that but I havent done any research yet so…good luck
Comment by harlan l holien jr on 19 September 2007:
I had a 40″ olevia that I purchased on a home shopping network. It was great.
I sold it to my sister and she loves it. I had to buy a sony , came across some
extra cash. BUT, My Dad wanted to trade in his sony Trinatron. Curcit City had
The Olevia 232V on sale for $458.00 Great deal. Now my father has an HDTV
that he is very happy about. The cable company came out so he has a Hi-def
Picture and he was very impressed. Plus all the color adjustments, contrast,
and So one. We have a happy family it is a great entry level HDTV. You can not
go wrong with this TV Enjoy H.L.Holien Jr.
Comment by harlan l holien jr on 19 September 2007:
Good
Comment by Jake on 8 October 2007:
Hey this tv looks goods with analog cable, can’t wait till I get an all digital hookup.
Comment by will on 14 October 2007:
I’m looking at the Olvevia 232v and the 232t. What’s the difference besides the speakers being on each side of the 232v? The 232t has a lot of complaints of annoying low volume high pitch sounding speakers. The Olvevia 32″ 232t is on sale at Office Depot for $499 I’m wondering if this is a good deal or should I wait for the 232v to go back on sale somewhere? Thanks
Comment by Kerr on 1 November 2007:
I tried this and got my 360(hdmi) to work on the Olevia 232v.
May seem awkward but really works!! Trust me.
1.) Find and plug in the VGA adapter in
2.) Plug in the hdmi cable
3.) Set the TV input to HDMI
4.) Turn on the xbox
5.) Go to the dashboard
6.) Place the settings on 1280×720
7.) Remove the VGA adapter from 360
8.) Start the game
9.) Reset the system to check if works permanently
If not repeat and change resolution (step 5.) until it works.
I HAVEN’T TRIED THIS WITH THE COMPONENT CABLES
but you may try, let me know if it works.
My Two Cents:
It seems to be a syncing problem between the xbox an the tv, I figured that
manually syncing them would work, and it did. It works fine.
P.S. Oh yeah there is a difference detween VGA, and Hdmi
even on these sets.
Comment by Doug on 1 November 2007:
My Xbox 360 has only component but I remember having to plug and unplug the cables and rebooting the system a few times for me to have both the 720p and 1080i settings. For some reason it would only see one of them at first. When I get the HDMI version I will try Kerr’s steps.
Doug
Comment by Tiffany on 1 November 2007:
Honestly, I bought a 232v back in Feb. I was quite happy with it…I only watched television an hour a day and a few movies a week. This tv was great for that reason.
Up until July. When it would no longer turn on. So, I call Syntax Brillian (the makers of Olevia), they tell me the tv needs to be sent back at my expense. I pay $140 to ship this 45 lb tv all the way to California (I’m in GA). This was in August.
Today, (Nov. 1st) I was fortunate enough to receive a refurbished unit. The remote does not work and they will be hearing from me tomorrow.
The customer service is a NIGHTMARE at best. 78 minute wait times. None of the customer service reps have a clue as to what’s going on. I called at least 50 times. Sent numerous e-mails that never recieved responses. Left messages for supervisors. Got into arguments. You name it, it happened with this “company”.
At times, I was told they did not even have my television! They would put me on hold for thirty minutes while they went to track down my information.
Even AFTER I had recieved confirmation that a refurbed unit had been sent out to me, I called to get a tracking number AND THEY DIDN’T KNOW WHAT WAS GOING ON. I had to literally talk to five different people to get a tracking number.
These people are idiots.
Honestly, if I could go back in time, I would’ve spent extra money and bought a name brand television. At least I wouldn’t have went through the complete hell I went through with Syntax.
Oh and it’s not just me. Scour around on the internet and you’ll see how very bad Syntax is and how much the Olevia tvs suck.
I believe they’ve received over 300 complaints to the BBB.
Buyer beware.
Comment by Kerr on 11 November 2007:
A friend of mine just purchased an xbox 360 and bought it to my room to set it up (I am a collage student!!), and upon plugging it to my tv received the same “invalid signal” message. I did a look further and realized that the Xbox comes configured to use the “optimal” setting in the display type area (This may not be there in other connection types but is in HDMI). I bought out my VGA cables and did steps 1 through 9 and it worked on the first try. In this case i realize that it is not either the fault of the TV, nor is it the fault of the system, simply a miscommunication between the two.
Furthermore: I read that most TV companies purchase their LCDs from the same set of mfrs and configure it to their own logic, the sets sometimes have mor than the needed amount of pixel arrangement to go 720p or 1080i.
My interpretation: (and i may be wrong) this translates to the TV sometimes not being able to access all of the pixels that are actually present in the set and maybe why we in turn receive this error, because “optimal” refers to all pixels, not just the set that are defined by the standard.
But anyways: IT REALLY WORKS!!!! if you are curious try it, there is no reason to being this close to an end and not realizing it. You’ll be glad you did.
Comment by Ali on 19 November 2007:
I’ve had my 232v for a year and it’s been absolutely perfect. HD looks amazing, and it works wonderfully with my HTPC setup (connected via DVI-HDMI). No complaints whatsoever. Great quality + unbeatable price.
Comment by Steve C. on 21 November 2007:
FYI
K-Mart has this baby on sale tomorrow only, Thanksgiving Day, for $419! Based on above reviews (thank you all) I’m probably going to pick one up.
Early present for me :)
Steve
Comment by Arien on 25 November 2007:
Alright I know my mom bought this TV for me for Christmas. But I need to know. Can you have a PS3 hooked up to it with Hdmi cables and the 360 hooked up at the same time?
Comment by LadyB on 27 November 2007:
I got this tv from K-mart on Thanksgiving too ($419) and I love it so far. I already own a hitachi DLP 56′ and a Zennith Plasma 46′ in my home and honestly, this was the cheapest one and so far it is out-perfoming the others. If something goes wrong, like with Tiffany’s TV, does the one year factory warranty cover the repair??
Comment by Jimmy Dean on 27 November 2007:
Picked up this deal at Kmart also. Anybody have a clue as to how to save an HD channel as a favorite? He HD channels are in this format for example: 243.10. Thanks
Comment by wrico on 23 July 2008:
I strongly recommend against buying Olevia lcd tvs because they only provide very expensive repair options and take as long as 6 - 8 weeks to repair your tv.My 23 inch Olevia tv broke right after the 1 year warranty ended. I had to send it from ny to california at a cost of $90. I was told the tv needed a new power supply at a cost $50 for the part and $100 for the labor. I replaced the power supply and 2 days later I only had sound and no picture. I called Olevia who concluded that it was probably the lcd inverter which they only sold by replacing the entire lcd panel at a starting cost of $250 plus shipping. The supervisors for 2nd level support would not approve any consideration or discount for the repair.
Comment by Component Cables on 28 July 2008:
Should hook up XBox to your TV with a high quality connection cable. VGA cable may not be the best choice.