Syntax Olevia LT30HV 30-Inch HD-Ready Flat-Panel LCD TV
Avoid Buying This Item From Amazon - but do buy it
AVOID BUYING THIS ITEM FROM AMAZON.  The TV itself is probably excellent. But unless you're home all the time to receive it, getting the shipment from UPS or getting a customer service response from Amazon is pure hassle.  UPS had this item `out for delivery'. I took a day off and stayed in earshot of the door. Nothing. At 6am the following morning (this morning) I called UPS. They won't make the shipment available for me to pickup. The call center forwards two messages to the facility. But there's no point in attempting delivery. This shipment requires a signature. No one will be home to sign for it.  So I drive to the UPS facility, knowing darn well this box is on a truck and they can pull it off. Which the agent at the counter does. But while I'm staring at the box, I get a call from UPS on my cell phone. Janet (UPS agent at the facility) says the shipment is out for delivery, sorry about that. In other words, she doesn't feel like going and getting the box to put in will call. I am not making this up. And it gets worse.  While all this nonsense is transpiring, I examine the box closely (it's good and beat up) and see that it is a LT27, NOT the LT30 that I paid for. So after all this, I have to refuse the shipment because it is the wrong merchandise from Amazon.  For Amazon's part, like others have commented, there is no real customer service. I dug around clicking and looking. You can send an email. Obviously customer service is not one of their strengths.  My unit will go back undelivered, despite my efforts to retrieve it myself. Amazon, eventually, I assume, will credit me for the failed order fulfillment. Eventually.  Now I'm looking to buy the Olevia elsewhere, as I definitely still want it. Somewhere with a customer service phone number. And who ships FedEx.    *******UPDATE*******  There are plenty of places to buy this unit with good customer service and who ship FedEx. The folks at IBuy Digital called me (not me trying in vain to reach them) to verify information about the order. And as always, FedEx was right on schedule. I can just about set my clock by these guys.  Important points about the LCD buyers may value, in no particular order.   If using as a monitor, you need a deep workspace. I had to rework mine. The minimum comfortable distance for me with this LCD is more than 4 feet. Most desks aren't that deep.  Resolution and refresh are critical. I settled on 1280x960 at 60Hz. I also found a ClearType Tuner power tool to finesse the text to be as clear as possible.  I am using a 2PC KVM, with just a VGA connection to the Olevia. With resolutions and refresh set the same, the only issue is sometimes switching back and forth the Olevia sets brightness and contrast back to defaults. It takes 10 seconds to fix.  I have a PC attached to the Olevia with an ATI All In Wonder. Easylook Media Center with remote is a nice way to use this unit.  Text is OK. My wife thinks detailed graphics work might be difficult. I will probably try it anyway. Games look fantastic.  Composite video and DVD from a PC also look fantastic. Analog TV shows itself for what it is, crap. This is something that goes unnoticed until you directly A-B analog TV with composite DVD video. I will switch to HDTV immediately. Which brings up PIP. This unit has true dual NTSC tuners, which is true PIP. But for HDTV, you still need a set top HDTV box from the cable company. So there's a compromise in there.  There's also a limitation with split screen and PIP. Inputs are in 'groups', so you can't always get the combination you want.  I'm having no trouble with the remote. But I'm always in proximity to the LCD. As others have commented, you have to use the right arrow key in lot of settings where Enter makes more sense. It's stupid, but you just get used to it.  Overall, you will get immediately spoiled with one of these. The dual 19's at my mixing console suddenly look a little small. Did I mention games and video look fantastic?