224
people found this helpful, as of 2023
ranked #135,253 most helpful
out of 571,544,897 reviews
★★★★★
I LOVE this TV but...
I had a 5" black and white in my kitchen and knew with the digital conversion, I would need something else. I ordered this based on the 2 reviews out there at the time and I am so pleased with this TV. I live in Houston so there are almost 40 channels available between the digital and the analog, I get channels on this that I don't even get on my standard cable! initially I had trouble with some of the digital stations, I kept moving the TV around trying to pick up the signal (my problem was that I want the TV to sit under my cabinets and I guess that was interfering with the antenna picking up clear signals). I was getting frustrated and then remembered the other antenna it comes with. I unplugged the internal connection and plugged this extra antenna in and placed it on my window sill and all the channels came in perfectly without having to adjust anything. The cord on the extra stand up antenna is long enough to put it rather far from the TV which is very convenient because you can move it around to find the best reception. The picture is clear as a whistle and the sound is very good, not muffled or fuzzy at all. The wide screen is another bonus, most of the digital HD channels are in wide screen mode so it works out well. This is a no brainer to set up and I am so glad I took the plunge and bought it!
Update: I have not had to use this yet in a power outage but have occasionally unplugged it and brought it to the table to watch during dinner when I wanted to see a show I was in the middle of. The 1 1/2 hr. battery now barely works for 1/2 hr. and I have not used it often. I really bought this to use in my kitchen but also just as importantly, to work during another hurricane after having a small black and white that took batteries and worked beautifully last time I needed it. With the new digital change, I had to find something else to have on hand and apparently, this won't be it. There is a new one coming out in August that does take regular alkaline batteries, I would suggest you go for that one if you want something to work in emergencies. Will still use this in my kitchen but now I will probably have to buy the other one just for emergency use since I live in a hurricane prone area. Very disappointed.
Update #2: Found a solution to the low battery power. The new TV that has the battery option is not well rated and apparently to get the battery power, you have to buy an additional $70 piece. After some research, I discovered that Duracell makes an 100 watt inverter power to go unit, it is a supplemental battery that can be charged from any outlet and/or from your car as well, and it will provide additional battery power not only for this TV but for cell phones, ipods or any other small electronics. Not only will it provide power, it will recharge your devices as well. It provides 44 hrs. of charge for an ipod, 12 days for a mobile phone, and 2 hrs. for a laptop. And, it has several outlets on it so you can use more than one device at a time with this battery. This item sells for about $40 and is a good solution for anyone who worries about being without power for any length of time.
Was asked for a link for the power source so here it is: Duracell 852-0281-07 DC to AC 100 Watt Inverter & 4.0 Amp/Hour Lithium Ion Mobile Power Source and I have this one which I picked up for about $40 but it is currently $99: Xantrex Technologies 852-0281 XPower PowerSource 100 Watt Inverter
UPDATE #3: Finally found a real old fashioned battery solution that this TV will work with. You just need D batteries and can keep replacing them for long term outages. This will also work with other small electronics with the right cords (like cell phones and ipods and anything with a car charger). Unfortunately Amazon doesn't sell it but here is where I got mine:
[...]
This should finally solve a lot of the problems with these digital TVs!
November 2008 · Electronics · verified purchase