Customer Reviews
Irritating - I can't recommend it 
2008-06-30
We have become very frustrated by the startup logo where "Olevia" displays for several seconds before you can see real TV.
Very bad if you turn on the TV to quickly see anything: weather; sports score or the finish of a game; catch the end of a show...
Picture is very good; menu structure poor. But for all its good features, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone; we will not purchase a product from Olevia again unless they can prove to me they have removed that logo.
By the way, I searched the manual, spoke to Robert with Olevia's tech support and wrote the company a letter. This startup logo cannot be disabled. They consider it to be a good test to prove the power is on and the picture tube works.
We consider it a really bad idea in day to day use of the TV.
Decent quality TV for the price 
2008-04-28
Bought this TV as a bedroom set. Got it refurbished through an amazon vendor for less than $400. That's quite competitive for a 26" TV.
This set has, for me, a perfect size for a smaller room. Big enough to watch a movie and not be squinting but not so big that it dominates the room. Mine fits nicely inside a bookshelf so it's totally unobtrusive. Very cool.
Look: The form factor of the TV is quite clean and slick. Impressive design from a second-tier company. Better than any similarly priced models.
Connectivity: Set also has an impressive number of inputs. Only one HDMI, but I've found that component is pretty much indistinguishable from HCMI, especially on a smaller TV.
Image quality: Good but not fantastic. Not as good as a Sony or Panasonic, and put next to my 42" Panasonic plasma, it can't compete. But the images are sharp and clear and this thing is definitely bright. Contrast is adequate, though in a darkened room the blacks are not deep black, but more of a washed out dark gray. DVD's in an upconverting player through HDMI look excellent, save for the average contrast. The image controls are surprsingly extensive in terms of color correction, sound, contrast/brightness, and are reasonably intuitive. Standard Def (non HD) images look surprsingly good. One of the benefits of a smaller LCD set is that SD content isn't nearly as stretched out as on a jumbo living room set, so channel surfing isn't as painful an experience. In this regard this TV is better than my 42" panasonic. Though this is likely more because of the smaller size than a better HD engine.
Sound: not amazing but certainly adequate. Definitely loud for a small set, and while it doesn't have deep bass or a huge sound, it's totally fine for the casual TV or movie watcher.
Customer service: Very good. I called Olevia a few days after I bought this machine with a couple of questions and was surprised at how helpful they were. Walked me through a problem with my DVD player connection and offered some good tips. So refreshing to call a company, not wait on hold for twenty minutes, and then talk to a real person who was proactive in helping me. Bravo!
Some negatives: Remote control is sluggish. Must be a really weak CPU in this TV because changing between inputs, like from HDMI to component is SLOW. Changing channels is also slow. Also, the remote is not, at this point, compatible with universal remotes, so you're stuck with it. Finally, there is a BRIGHT blue light on the front of the TV that is on when the TV is off, so when you're sleeping, it's like having a night light, whether you want one or not! I put a tiny square of black electrical tape on it and it fixed the problem and you can't notice it unless you're inches away. But still, annoying.
All in all, at $400 refurbished this TV is a decent deal, but you can find better models, like a sharp or panasonic 26", for $500-600 at sites like Newegg or TigerDirect. If you have slightly more money to spend, you're probably better off buying a name-brand. If you're on a budget, this is definitely a good option, and while you won't think it's the greatest TV you've ever seen, it will certainly suit your needs.
Be Careful 2008-02-23
Bought this unit at Target for my elderly mother in law. Being an engineer, I thought it would take a few minutes to set up. Boy was I wrong! The biggest problem is that there are no remote control codes for this set that work with Time Warner Cable. It took a couple of hours of trying almost every code on the Time Warner sheet. Gave up and went home to search the internet, Found many people having same problem. All said there was no solution except to go out and buy an additional remote with a"learning" function. Solving Olevia's problem by me spending more money didn't make much sense. The other problem is the menu/setup function is very poor and not easy to use. An 83 year old cannot do it.
Solution- Took it back to Target and for a few dollars more bought a 26" Magnavox that works perfectly and is easy to navigate. People who solve Olevia's engineering problems by spending more of their own money, are only helping to keep a marginal manufacturer in business longer than they should be.
decent for the price 
2008-02-05
mine came with a bright pixel. note Olevia's policy on this: it only counts as a defect if you have like 2 pairs of bad pixels. not sure what other manufacturers' policy is, but my guess is something better. good contrast ratio, though. that's a huge plus. in short, a great buy if nothing goes wrong with it. if something does go wrong, you'll have to deal with annoying policy and super slack response times.
Nice TV, works well 2007-12-27
I bought one of these recently and am satisfied with my purchase. The good things about this TV:
- Clear, sharp picture
- Responsive: Responds to commands quickly, changes channels quickly
- Good tuner: The automatic channel setup picked up all my local stations fairly quickly. Digital channel scanning was faster than analog and picked up even more digital channels than analog for me.
- Good input options: This TV has S-Video, composite (RCA video/left/right), component (RCA red/green/blue/left/right), analog VGA (for computers), and HDMI. The only thing it lacks that would be nice is a DVI input (why an analog VGA but no DVI?)
- RS-232 input so that it can be controlled by other home entertainment components (I think)
- Firmware is upgradeable: If Olevia comes out with new features for this TV, it can be upgraded easily. This TV has a USB port so that you can download firmware to a drive using your computer and plug it into this TV.
The not-so-good:
- The viewing angle is not always great: The image looks great when you have a straight view of the TV, but at angles, the picture starts to look dimmer. I have the TV on a shelf and sometimes like to watch it lying down, and the image doesn't appear quite as bright and sharp in that position.
- No DVI input. This would be useful for connecting a computer to this TV. But that's no big deal; there are DVI-HDMI cables available that would do the job.
Overall, I am satisfied with this TV. For the price, this TV is a good value.
Great TV at a Great Price! 
2007-12-15
The Olevia 2 Series LCD HDTVs, engineered to provide exceptional video and audio, will impress even the toughest critics. Powered by ATI's state-of-the-art Xilleon video processor technology, the Olevia 2 Series HDTVs display exceptionally crisp, rich and vibrant images with unsurpassed clarity for viewing high definition digital programs as well as standard analog TV channels. With high contrast ratios and fast response times, rapid-action viewing such as sporting events or adventure films is displayed with super clarity and truly come alive! With a super-wide 170-degree viewing angle, images look spectacular wherever you are seated. These LCD HDTVs are perfect for home or office viewing and can double as a computer display with support for TV resolutions up to 1080i, and PC resolutions up to 1280 x 768 through HDMI and VGA. To further enhance your experience, Olivia's surround sound audio processor creates an awesome listening environment while watching TV, movies or playing games. Once you see the new Olevia, you'll agree that you've never seen HDTV like this!
Disappointing OLEVIA TV 2007-12-13
A lot disappointed with this TV. First, because OLIVIA is such a new brand, they have not yet produced remote codes that allow you to progran your dish remote to control this TV....which means searching for more than one remote to turn on TV and sattelite box and control functions on TV. Also, the blue power light on the front of the TV could land a plane....and it stays lit all the time! I use this TV for my bedroom, so I now have to sit something in front of the light or it keeps me awake. I bought a Toshiba at the same time I bought this one and it is much easier to use and has more innovative functions like 1/2 mute. The picture quality is okay on the OLIVIA, but I can't seem to get beyond the other annoyances. Delivery from the west coast to east coast took nearly 3 weeks.
Great 720p TV for the price! (But only one HDMI input!) 2007-11-16
First of all, do your homework before purchasing any HDTV. You have to know what you're looking for, especially as far as the aspect ratios of your movies, cable, and video games.
This TV is 720p and LCD, so it looks fabulous for its small size. Those of you who can afford anything you want should buy a large 1080p TV. But 720p is actually better than 1080i; don't let the numbers fool you.
Up-converted DVD's look great, really fabulous. After watching your favorite DVD on this, you won't be able to go back to standard DVD players on cathode ray tubes. I currently have a good, up-converting DVD player, the Sony DVP-NS75H. Obviously, you need an HDMI (high definition multimedia interface) cable for this to work. When I bought this TV from Target, there was a free HDMI cable with it.
I also have a Playstation 2 hooked up with an S-video cable. It looks much better than on a standard TV. No, there are no blurring problems because this is not an interlaced (1080i) TV. Hooking a PS2 up to this with Component cables (sold seperately) will make the PS2 look as good as you'll ever see it.
Standard cable looks OK, but in my experience digital cable looks better. High-def stations, whether through cable or broadcast, look stunning.
There are just a couple of drawbacks to this TV. Some of you may experience blurring with standard DVD players; this is why you shouldn't buy this TV (or any HDTV) unless you're willing to buy an up-converting DVD player or true HD-DVD players/Blue-Ray players. Also, yes, the remote is a little hard to use. You just have to aim and press hard. Third, there is only one HDMI input, which other HDTV's (logically) have more of. So if you want to hook up more than one HD signal (like an up-converting DVD player and a Playstation 3), you're in trouble.
Finally, keep in mind that HD equipment is more finnicky than what you're used to. Occcassionally, the lighting in some of my movies causes pixelation, or digital noise. This may be because of the TV, or my cheap HDMI cable, or my DVD player. It's rare, but don't buy all this stuff unless you're willing to grow with it. High definition is both more spectacular and more temperamental than standard TV's.
Great Resolution and Functions at a Super Price 2007-11-08
Excellent TV with great resolution. Perfect for gaming and for a room where a larger TV just won't fit properly. Amazon Seller XpressTech has the best price.
It's an OK television for the price. 2007-08-04
The picture on this tv is decent for the price, but there are a bunch of little nuances that make this tv more trouble than it's worth. The processor inside is very slow, and that makes everything take a long time: booting up, changing channels, switching between video inputs.. all very slow. The menu isn't set up very well, and the tv itself looks kinda bulky compared to others on the market.
I got this tv cuz i'm a cheap bast'rd and couldn't bring myself to spend a grand on a decent tv. but i had to have a flat-panel, so i compromise by dealing with the annoying navigation.
Also, in case you didn't read it anywhere else, you can't use universal remotes with this badboy because none of the codes are compatible with this device.
