Review by Ed D.
Rating:
I bought this TV for my kitchen with some trepidation after reading the other reviews. Happily, though, I am rather pleased with it. First, I should mention that I am not using an antenna with it; I’m using cable. With cable, picture and sound quality are good but certainly not outstanding. The TV comes with a remote that has a magnet so it will stick to your refrigerator – a nice touch. I don’t experience any of the audio “chirping” that other reviewers complain about. One reviewer said he couldn’t find a way to switch between widescreen and 4:3 aspect ratio. I couldn’t either at first, but after some experimenting I found that the “Format” button on the remote allows you to choose widescreen, 4:3 or auto. In auto mode, the TV automatically selects the correct aspect ratio. That’s the mode that I use and it works well. The problem is the user manual; it’s horrible. It explains little and I should deduct a star on my review just because of the manual. A small minus is that I wish the stand would allow the TV to tilt more. But overall, I’m happy with this TV’s performance and it looks good in the kitchen.

Review by Mark Twain
Rating:
I had high hopes for this digital LCD TV but ultimately was very disappointed.

First, the main things–picture and sound. The tuner pulled in most of of the OTA (over the air) digital signals in my area, but the picture looked washed out and no amount of playing with brightness, contrast and sharpness would help. It just had a kind of drab look to it. The sound initially sounded ‘scratchy’ at certain volume levels (with a small amount of static, almost like a cracked speaker cone) and then … the dreaded chirp! After a few minutes of the TV being on, the subtle (but definitely there and plenty annoying) chirping sound appeared.

The case overall was OK, a little plasticky, but OK. The tilt stand did not tilt very much (about 10 degrees), making it hard to find a good viewing angle. The base or tilt stand also had no weight to it, so it was hard to get the TV to sit straight, particularly with a cable attached. There also did not seem to be a way for the user to change from Normal to Widescreen view, it showed you whatever size it thought was best, resulting in flattened faces sometimes and too small of a picture at other times.

The chirping sound was a real dealbreaker and I returned it, although the picture quality was also unsatisfactory and I likely would have it returned it for that also, even with better sound. The TV is made for Audiovox by Venturer Electronics, who also makes some other TVs, cable boxes, etc., and a quality look and feel do not appear to be top priorities.

I would look elsewhere, and recommend you check out the Haier HLT71 instead. Comparing the Haier HLT71 to the Audiovox PLV16081 side by side was no contest, particularly given that the Haier is cheaper in price and has a much better picture and better sound, and overall appears much more well built. I have been looking for a portable LCD TV for a while and while I was very disappointed with the Audiovox PLV16081, I am equally happy with the Haier HLT71. Not an endorsement or propaganda, just a consumer/end user expressing his opinion.