Olevia 537H vs Visio VX37L

[Cavediver]

Does anyone know which of these two LCD TV's are better? They both appear to have similar specs and pricing. I'm interested in buying a TV for my parents for a Christmas gift. They don't do much with a TV except watch standard cable channels w/o a cable box.

[Jack Hammer]

Does anyone know which of these two LCD TV's are better? They both appear to have similar specs and pricing. I'm interested in buying a TV for my parents for a Christmas gift. They don't do much with a TV except watch standard cable channels w/o a cable box.
I've been looking at both of these tvs. I haven't been able to see the Olevia in person but have looked at hte Vizio. From what I've read the Olevia has a slightly better picture, not a lot better, just a little. And it has a few extra features. I've read conflicting info on the native resolution of the two. I believe the Olevia has a native resolution of 1366 x 768, while the Vizio has either 854 x 480 or 800 x 600. I've seen some reviews that say the Vizio has 720p native and some that say it doesn't.

I'm leaning toward the Vizio, because I can pick it up at Costco and because of their liberal return policy, even though I think the Olevia is a slightly better tv.

The prices on the Olevia keep dropping, It can be found for $900 delivered. So that is a consideration.

Any one else?

[stratman]

I've had experience with an Olevia branded as DELL and I only have one word: RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To be nice IT STINKS....Go with the Vizio, Costco has a reputable return policy.

[Seth=L]

Apex died, but before it did it had offspring, Olevia, Protron, and countless others.

[stratman]

Olevia came from Apex????Huh, that would explain alot!:mad:

[Seth=L]

No, no that is not what I am saying at all. I am simply saying that it seems to me once Apex left the building, ten more piles of steaming crap took its place.

That doesn't remove the possibility though, they do have a striking resemblance to the old Apex LCDs.

[stratman]

Anything with the name Olevia rattles my cage....cheap,crappy, lcd.

[Xsound]

Depends on which Olevia it is, I think. They have 3 lines (3xx, 5xx, 7xx), the bottom is definitely super budget (thought still good enough to be an audioholics recommended piece).

Not trying to be a homer for Olevia, but comparing them to Apex? That's harsh. Of course, who knows. Goldstar certainly made a turn around. People are buying and loving their products these days!

Enjoy
X

[stratman]

Hey X

I don't know which series Dell branded but it must have been the bottom of the CRAP pile!

[Buckeyefan 1]

My Olevia 20" from 12/04 that I use for my PC has operated without a glitch. I love this set. I purchased the Olevia LT37HVS for my parents last Thanksgiving, and it's been perfect. They get nothing but complements from friends/family. My younger brother liked it so much, he's got one and loves it.

HHGregg ran an employee discount sale about a month ago on the new 537H for $797, so I picked on up and to date can only find a few complaints about it. Here's my rundownon the 537H:

Pros:
Picture is beautiful - sharp and bright in HD. No complaints.
Tons of inputs, including HDMI. Very flexible.
Subwoofer output (a bonus if it's not being hooked up to surround)
SD picture is very good with cable
Awesome tweaking ability
Didn't have to mess with any rebates
Can't beat the price for a 37" (but I've seen others for $699 in Black Friday ads)
I've never seen one dead pixel on any of these sets.
If using an OTA antenna, the tuner is outstanding with a perfect picture - nothing beats free HD.

Cons:
Rebates and customer service - very slow if you go that route
* customer service takes about 5 days to respond via email
Flat black color of casing is boring - wish it was piano gloss
Speakers are good for highs, but lows stink - need a sub or HTIB at minimum
Cannot disconnect speakers at bottom of set if you have an HTIB
Not sold at Costco, which is the best place in the world to buy a flat screen due to liberal return policy

Someone was selling a Vizio 50" plasma for $1599 on black friday, which to me seems like a killer deal. I'm pretty content with my 537H at $797, and can recommend it highly after 4 Olevia purchases between the family and myself.

[Jack Hammer]

Stratman & Seth, what specifically was your bad personal experience with the Olevia? Simply saying it sucks and run away doesn't really help much. Why do you think it's a such a terrible POS?

Buckeyefan, thanks, nice pro and con list.

I haven't seen any bad reviews of the OLevia set. It has been highly reccomended in all the reviews I've seen, as has the Vizio. I'm still leaning toward the Vizio, but I keep seeing the Olevia has a better picture and it can be found for a few hundred less than the Vizio.

The main benefit I've seen for the Vizio unit over the Olevia units is Costco's return policy.


Jack

[Jack Hammer]

I bought a Vizio VX37L at Costco the other day. The first one had a defective screen and the picture was grainy and looked awful overall. The second one has a better picture but the colors look somewhat washed out. They are not vibrant at all. The display models (I went to two Costco's) looked pale compared to those around it. I had noticed this before I bought it, but guessed that they just didn't have everything turned up on the display unit, actually they did, that's just how the picture looks. I'm dissappointed in this, especially because the L37, it's less featured and lower contrast brother, got such awesome reviews.

The tuner is nice, I picked up 136 hd channels and 80 regular channels via my basic cable connection. The regular tv channels look extremeley pale and greyish. Plus they are all fuzzy, not very good clarity. The hd channels are hit or miss. So far, Starz! is the only channel with a really nice picture, though it's still a bit faded out looking. To be honest, with the exception of the one channel, everything looked better on my old RCA 36" crt tv. DVD's are less than inpressive, currently I'm using the components and feeding it a 480p signal. These looked much better on my old tv too, and that was fed through a 480i signal over component. There is a lack of detail that was there before and the colors are all lifeless and dull.

I'm going to return it in a few weeks, after I decide what else to get.

Jack

[Booster]

Here is some info Olevia 537H (http://tv.about.com/od/lcdproductreviews/fr/Olevia537H.htm), Olevia is A Syntax Brillian division and uses the LG panels in the 537 (very good) , Produced in California Syntax (http://losangeles.bizjournals.com/losangeles/stories/2006/10/23/daily15.html?surround=lfn).

[BMXTRIX]

I just got the V432 from Office Depot. Apparently it is a generation old but includes HDMI and component inputs as well as RS-232 and VGA. I immediately hooked it up to my PS3 and you know what?

I'm keeping it! I really am quite impressed with the viewing angle and the response time seems very solid.

I've seen some LCDs that just look poor in comparison, but I have yet to really run this display through the paces.

Compared to Vizio? I don't have any comment on that. I will just say that as of right now, I am happy with the display and the deal I got ($550). We'll see how long that rebate takes to come back from them though.

[Booster]

I had also tried the Vizio VX37 because of a review, that thing sucked. I purchased it at Sam's Club for a grand, it had so much light bleed that it always looked washed out, when I returned it the kid in the TV section said there had been a few returned for that reason. I read the reviews and forums on the Olevia 537H and bit the bullit, bought from Zipz00m for 18% less shipped than the Vizio. The 537H has a very chrisp HD picture (when the content IS HD, a lot of content on HD channels is up converted to 720p or 1080i from SD) and the SD is better than the Vizio and others I have seen.

[bstyyle]

I purchased the 537h last week @ pcconnection.com $899.w free
shipping and 15% re-stock fee should you want to return it(ouch).Anyway my problem is with the remote and the "easy to navigate menu".I'm able to access areas in the menu that I want ie;bass/treble settings,but once I Make
an attempt to change the settings via the arrows left or right,I get nothing
either through the remote or directly on the tv.What the h--- is going on here? Is there some type of internal lock that I should know about?Has anyone else had this problem?The Oper.Man.{disc} that came with it does not work in my computer or in my dvd player,can you help me fig. out that 2?
I also read a lot of reviews {90%good}on this brand and particular model and
thought I had a winner,now I,m not so sure.Concerning the picture quality,it got rave reviews,am I missing something{certain type of cords etc.} because
my picture is not raving great at all.I'm ready to take the 15% re-stock fee hit and walk away,should I not get the answers I'm looking for.Also the
customer no service line{20 min.on hold b4 hanging up}is a joke,and not a
good one.Is there a light at the end of this olevia tunnel?'cause I'm stuck in
the dark,elp me pleez,elp me.

[Booster]

bstyyle, How to change from “Showroom” mode to “Home” mode?

(Nothing can be changed in the OSD menu)

Step 1, Make sure the TV is on (“No signal” may be displayed on the screen)

Step 2, Press the Menu button and then press the down arrow until “Picture” is displayed.

Step 3, Once “Picture” is displayed then press Enter.

Step 4, Next press the down arrow until you see “Mode” and then press Enter.

Step 5, The next menu option you will see is “Power Up” – press Enter again.

Step 6, When you see “Show Room”, press the down arrow and it will change to “Home” mode. Then press Enter. (nothing happens on the screen).

Step 7, Press the Menu button 3 times to return to “Picture”. Now you can change any of the menu items or run a channel scan.

Note:

***Showroom mode is designed for retailers to display the TV and to protect from customers erasing channels found during the auto scan. Picture settings are also set to a predetermined value and cannot be changed when in Showroom mode.***

Hope this helps.

[bstyyle]

Booster

Thanks for your prompt and accurate assessment of my problem.I was
prepared to box her up and send her packin',now if I can fine tune this baby
and get the picture I desire,the 537h may live up to it's reviews.Thanks again
Booster much much appreciated:)

Styyle

[Booster]

I have found the 6500 color to be the most accurate, I used a Avia video calibration setup disk and really didn't have to change anything. I had some light leak in the upper right of the screen but after some burn-in the light has disappeated (mostly), I have read that with LCD the bleed would after some time.

[djbeta]

I just had to chime in... I purchased the bottom-of-the-line Olevia 37" LCD TV from MacMall for $550 or so. I knew it was a risk, but the specs look great on paper, and I've read loads of good reviews.. so I bought it. And.. I'm thrilled with mine. The picture is great. Sure, I have seen some really expensive plasmas for a few thousand dollars that look a bit more brilliant, BUT.. for the money, I can't imagine another brand coming close to Olevia.

[sholling]

I bought the Olevia 532 (side mounted speakers) and it was a total POS. I couldn't even unbolt the stand and there was something rattling around inside. It's designed to unbolt, but the build quality was so bad the screws just turned freely. I returned it to Costco and picked up a Vizio VX37" . It took me maybe a half hour to tweak the settings to my liking for my bedroom and I couldn't be much happier with it for a bedroom TV.

For a main TV I'd be more inclined to go Samsung or Sharp budget allowing.

[LCDholic]

I know Costco accepts anything via their return policy, Costco sells Vizio not Olevia, how did you return the Olevia to Costco? Olevias, they look great and are very inexpensive.
I bought a Sharp, 52" 1080p LCD set, it is very nice, but I would have had almost just as good of a set for a third less. Even Consumer Reports has great reviews on Olevias for their value, and has them as a "Best Buy." The company that makes them actually reports that they have relatively low return frequency on warranties, much less than regularly anticipated. Read the thread, more people are satisfied and it looks like you are the only one who is not, are you sure it was an Olevia that you bought from Costco?

[scumbageric]

I had a Vizio and now have an Olevia I returned the Vizio to get a larger Olevia
The Olevia has a slightly sharper picture in HD, but the vizio's colors are brighter and more vibrant so it is a trade off. If you purchase a vizio though costco is the place to buy it though because they double the warranty. If you buy the olevia check out target i got mine for 550 plus ten percent off for a 37 inch on black friday and am happy with it but keep in mind with both of these t.v the regular channels do not look great the high def channels look amazing though.
Also you will find yourself wanting a dvd player that upconverts as well.

Hope this helped