Poor Marks For Casio
Written: Aug 10 '01
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Pros: lightweight, able to connect to other A/V devices
Cons: poorly designed, no included AC adapter
The Bottom Line: Cheaper and higher quality products are available, skip on this one.
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| bub78's Full Review: Casio EV-550 2.5 in. Handheld TV |
I purchased the Casio EV-550 four months ago at a Texas Circuit City. At the time I was travelling by tankership from Houston to New Jersey every week or two, and decided to purchase a portable television that I could take with me when I left. I selected the EV-550 from four models they had available primarily because of its TFT screen. Although an adequate product, the 550 suffers from an overall feeling of cheapness, and to me is a less than ideal product.
Specs
The Casio EV-550 is about 3/4 the size of a paperback book. The unit has a 2.5 inch active matrix TFT screen, with adjustable backlight control. A speaker and adjustable volume control are present along with a headphone jack. The television also includes an audio/video input jack that can accommodate a VCR, camcorder, etc. (with the proper cable). A telescopic antenna swings out from the unit and extends to around 3 feet, although I have found that many times is is unnecessary to extend the antenna to its full length. The EV-550 can use three AA batteries or an AC adapter, although neither was included.
Picture Quality
The LCD screen is passable for TV viewing, but is no where near the quality of a laptop LCD, or even a digital camera/camcorder. The space between pixels is much larger than it should be, resulting in what looks like small black dots interwoven with the colors of the screen. The adjustable backlight does a good job of providing uniform illumination, however, the brighter it is set, the quicker the batteries will drain.
Poorly Designed
While not an awful product, the EV-550 definitely has some design flaws. The speaker is positioned at the very top of the unit at a 90 degree angle from the screen, meaning that the sound is not projected at you, its projected away from you. The battery compartment cover simply slides in place in the front, without any secure locking of fastening mechanisms, so dropping the EV-550 means hunting around on the floor for the cover and batteries. Channel tuning with the EV-550 can be more than a little frustrating, as manual tuning is unavailable and the unit is unable to remember the last channel that was watched before it was shut off. In areas with a large number of stations this means continually pressing the scan button to seek to the channel desired. Additionally, the units telescoping antenna bends very easily, and no external antenna jack is provided. Overall, I was surprised by the all together 'cheap' feeling the product has when less expensive products are available from Casio and other manufacturers.
If I Had It To Do All Over Again...
In retrospect I regret purchasing the EV-550. The cost of the product is outrageous when all of its flaws are taken into account. Anyone in the market for a portable television would do best to stay away from this offering from Casio.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 150
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Epinions.com ID:
bub78
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Location: Maine
Reviews written: 26
Trusted by: 4 members
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