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> Sylvania 6615LE 15" Stereo LCD Flat-Panel TV Review
Welcome
to the Sylvania 6615LE 15" Stereo LCD Flat-Panel TV Review page:
I first
saw this Sylvania one on display at Best Buy. It was in an array of 20 or so TVs.
For some reason, this little guy stood out as having a great picture. Even so,
the viewing angle was not very good - when all of the TVs were viewed from an
angle (to the right or left), most of the screens turned milky - including this
one. Keep in mind that many of the $1500 TVs also milked out as well. This one
suffers from vertical angles as well. If you look dead on, it looks great. Crouch
down and look at, and the screen has faded halfway to black. By contrast, the
LCD monitor I am looking into right now is outstanding from all angles. Expect
to spend 20 minutes or so adjusting the picture. There are no presets (i.e. movie,
sports, etc.). Finally, there are three backlight settings.
Best Buy had
it listed at $399 (plus tax). Amazon has it for $279.99. The next lowest 15" is
currently well over $400. In my opinion, that makes this a good deal for now.
The thing that really stands out about this TV is the light weight and
the lack of a power transformer. I'm telling you, this thing is light enough to
hang from a nail in drywall (not that I recommend it). It was BY FAR the lightest
TV on the Best Buy display rack; every other TV (even the 14-inchers) weighed
at least twice as much. Add to that the fact that most 15" LCDs require a power
brick. If you are planning on wall-mounting an LCD or Plasma, the last thing you
want to have to do is cut a hole in the wall to recess a transformer. The integrated
power supply is a strong Plus for this TV.
The datasheet lists the speakers
at 1W per channel - extremely underpowered. However, I was surprised at the sound
it delivered. No chest-pounding bass by any means, but not tinny. This TV was
never meant for serious A/V viewing anyway. There are no treble or bass adjustments.
You get Stereo or Mono - that's it. There is decent stereo separation, but don't
compare it to your 32" with surrpond.
The overall thicknes of the TV is
just under 4". If you wall-mount it, you will not have any surprises. None of
the connectors point out the back of the TV; they all point out the left side.
They are far enough away from the left edge so as to accomodate cable dressing;
no right-angled connectors are needed.
The inputs are everything a mid-range
TV has:
75 Ohm coax
Component
Composite
S-Video
For outputs,
there is a Headphone jack, but no video or audio RCA out.
The TV has a
picture-frame type stand (arm that angles out to hold the TV up). Most LCDs have
a stand that keeps the TV perfectly vertical, allowing slight angle adjustments.
This one is a little more manual. You can adjust the vertical angle by extending
or retracting a metal extension. The arm is not removable.
If you are
looking for an inexpensive LCD, this is a great bet at $279.99. I wouldn't pay
anything over $325 for it, though - certainly not $399 as Best Buy suggests.
Amazon
is offering a 17" SVA for $279.99 as of this writing. I am wary of any PC monitor
that has a built-in TV tuner. I would stick with the dedicated LCD TV like this
one.
Amazon got them here well within their gauranteed delivery time.
If you are buying one as a surprise, they are shipped in the actual manufacturers
box (not in plain cardboard), which lowers the surprise factor...
Buy
the Sylvania 6615LE 15" Stereo LCD Flat-Panel TV
