If, like me, you live in a medium-fringe TV area, and you are going to be using the supplied (or other external) antenna, one of the first things to do when you receive this cute little TV is to connect it to the best antenna available to do your auto-scan. That's easy because it has a standard antenna connector, and necessary because this TV will_not_tune to any channel not previously found by auto-scan. Manual tuning just selects a channel previously auto-scanned. At my location, the attached rabbit-ear antenna is virtually useless. But with my large, amplified home antenna connected, I easily picked up all the digital stations I usually get, plus one more, and with no problems from the many big trees around my home. So the tuner is very sensitive and not very subject to multipath interference. With the supplied external antenna connected, I eventually managed to get all the stations received using the big antenna, which was a nice surprise, although it took some fiddling with antenna position (Two inches can make all the difference). The digital TV picture provided is very good, with very nice color, resolution and contrast.
I didn't expect great sound, since the speakers are tiny (about 1 inch diameter, on the front). It's certainly not high fidelity, but it is intelligible at least. The sound from earphones is somewhat better.
Other surprises include no volume and no power on/off switch on the credit-card sized remote (No big deal. Gotta be almost within reach to see the picture details anyway). And the internal battery cannot be charged on the car adapter -- It's charged only when the TV is connected to AC power.
The Axion web site is listed in the manual as [...]
Follow-up 2/4/09: Still like this TV, but I'm now on the second one -- The first stopped responding to the remote control after about two weeks, and was quickly replaced for free by Amazon. The second one performs at least as well as the first. Further thoughts: This TV is intended to be placed on a table top, like a picture frame, but if you must mount it elsewhere, well, there is a threaded hole like a tripod socket on the bottom. It doesn't look very strong, and appears to be just molded into the plastic. The manual says nothing about it. Also, the AC adapter does generate some electrical noise (so does the TV), so AM radio reception may be affected, especially if the radio is close by. Axion AXN-8701 7-Inch Widescreen Handheld LCD TV with Built-In Tuner, Black
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! - Battery Operated Tv - Portable Tv - Dtv Ready Portable Tv - Lcd Tv'
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