Portable DIGITAL Television - Page 11

Last night we bought the 3.5" Radio Shack (Auvio) digital portable TV for emergency purposes - it runs on AA batteries.

Well, got home and found that Time-Warner cable was "down" in our area and down all of Sudnay morning too.

So actually, we got the chance to use the new TV instead. Scanning got 25 channels, including all the main network ones. And we could do our Sunday morning watching uninterrupted. It is amazing how sharp digital HD TV is, so that watching on a little screen is not bad at all.

"The CVS Craig 15" has a standard VESA 75 square (75cm) mounting pattern on the back after removing four rubber plugs so you could buy such a wall mount. After removing them to examine it I was surprised that instead of a threaded screw hole all I saw was soft plastic and not metal threads, although this may be the norm for inexpensive units and I'd certainly think four screws into that would hold the unit firmly since it is so light in weight.[/quote]"

Just an fyi, I bought this tv at CVS a few weeks ago for $99.95 - great tuner! But I contacted Craig regarding the wall mount issue and here is their response:

"The CLC501 unit can not be mounted. If mounted any damages will be consider

out of warranty. We do apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused. If you notice that the unit upon removing the back plastic covers there are no grooves that will support any type of screws. In which it can not be mounted. If you have any further questions or concern, please do feel free to contact us at 1-866-321-7191 or you can

E-mail us at ( service@craigelectronics.com) "

I also called them and asked why it had the 4 holes that match up with the wall mount if it was not meant to be mounted and was told that the new units coming out next year would have the threads in the holes to support screws, which doesn't explain why this model has the holes

Since I just bought a wall mount that cost almost 2/3's what the tv cost, we're going to try putting 'mollies' in the holes tomorrow to see if the screws will be better supported for use with the wall mount.

If anyone has already tried this or has any other suggestions, please let me know.

Thanks!

^Thanks for the info.

I can see how their official policy has to be "not wall mountable" considering the holes aren't threaded and there is probably no protective metal back plate in each hole, so screwing too far in will crack the panel. Ouch! [Be careful.]

I'm not sure what "mollies" are, although I certainly get the concept. My inclination would be to find a screw that's just slightly too large for the plastic holes and using the screw itself, in lieu of the proper tool; a tap, grind in the threads forcibly. Of course if it all goes horribly wrong, say you crack the panel, for instance, I take no responsibility, I'm just saying what I'd do.

Some other possibilities would be:

A) to wall mount it on two L brackets resting under its existing foot [with double sided adhesive strips under the foot so you are relying on more than just gravity if a cord gets yanked so it won't topple off the mount or similarly black nylon wire ties croscrossing the foot to secure it (although that's more visible).

B) If you bought an articulating wall mount attach the L brackets to the Vesa plate using appropriate hardware and attach to the foot.

C) If you bought an articulating wall mount attach the L brackets, or a flate plate perhaps even made from a thin piece of wood to the Vesa plate using appropriate hardware and attach to the screw holes left in the LCD's body once you have removed the foot.

D) mount a piece of wood across the entire body using spacers and the LCD's existing real screw holes, maybe even just the two centrally located ones, and attach the Vesa mount to that piece of wood.

Sorry if I gave any bum advice before.

^I just thought of yet one more option. Take the rear panel off (yes I suppose technically that voids the warranty but I doubt anyone could tell) and stick four screws in the four holes from the inside surface sticking out and connect to the vesa bracket holes with nuts/washers. I think this is the simplest and most efficient of all the ways I mentioned. Good luck, let us know how it goes.
Happy holidays.

I'm getting the MyGoTV 7' model for my birthday. It has analog, digital and QAM tuners and says it has 800x480 resolution. It seems like an excellent model! It won't arrive until next week and will post more then.

When ATSC-M/H is available in my market and if this is available then, I think this might be a portable TV worthy of consideration.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/29/c...-tv-capabilit/

The rear panel is probably (RF) conductive in order to reduce leakage FROM the unit,
to meet FCC emissions requirements and prevent interference to other receivers
in YOUR and your neighbors homes....as well as to reduce leakage INTO the unit from
surrounding interference sources....

^I meant take the rear panel off in order to access the inside of the already vesa spaced holes, insert the screws, and then reattach the panel.

EDIT to add: I took the panel off to examine and took pics. [Note I'm handy with electronics and take no responsibility if anyone damages their product or is harmed in attempting to disassemble, which technically voids the warranty) Here are the steps:


1) Unplug all wires, including power, and turn the unit so the back faces you. Remove the 8 screws indicated by the arrows on the plastic back cover. Note two are a shorter length so note where they came from for reassembly later.

2) Gently pry the front panel away from the rear assembly using your hands only so you don't harm the soft plastic casing. Once you get one corner or edge snapped away, slowly move around the circumference similarly.

LCD's scratch easily so use a soft work bench cover. I used paper.

3) Remove the four screws that hold the LCD panel in place and carefully lift the LCD up a few inches to look underneath and discover where the two sets of wires are anchored and how they can limit how to flip the panel to access the main cavity's rear surface. Don't disconnect or tamper with any of the internal electronics. Only hold the LCD panel by the metal side edges only and gently put the panel face down, resting on a soft cushion ( I used a sock) so you don't mar the screen as I show here:


The orange arrows I've drawn in show two of the four Vesa rubber plugged holes where screws could be inserted from the now exposed rear panel (no RF shielding, BTW) going outward to a bracket using bolts on the bracket's side. To access the remaining two Vesa holes the input jack panel also would need to be removed and the yellow arrow shows one of the screws which would need to be removed. I didn't bother since I was just on an exploratory mission. [Also the TV is so incredibly light I wouldn't be surprised if just using two screws would work fine but YMMV]

If anyone cares the panel is a B156XW01 V.0 AU Optronics 15.6 inch WXGA HD Glossy 1 CCFL Notebook Display.

Danger Will Robinson! Stay away from this part on the right:

To M. Zillch above-thanks for the tremendous information (inside and out!) on the Craig 15" lcdtv. I purchased one of those sets when they were $99 at CVS, primarily because it had the PC and HDMI input at that pricepoint. I'm am in no way an electronics guru-the unit is obviously extremely light, even compared against other inexpensive such sets you'll find in retail. Since you've taken this unit apart and have extensive electronics knowledge-what is your overall view of this set given the pricepoint? I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts/review on this if only to validate my purchase-thanks!

Also...just curious, doesn anyone (else) have the Pegasus 9" portable lcdtv? I was able to get one at a rediculously low price. It has it's limitations in that it's plug in only and doesn't have a QAM tuner, but seems to have a nice cinema format picture and good sound, and an excellent remote control for this type of small lcdtv. Even though it's plug in only, it should work for me for use on the patio in the summer-currently it's hooked up to my cable in a home office and working just fine in that mode.

For $99 (when on sale) getting an HD TV with all known inputs including composite, s-video, 480i/p, 720p, 1080i component, RF with a QAM tuner inside, VGA, and HDMI is amazing. I consider it a work horse. It also has an LCD with real HD resolution of 768 x 1367, made originally for laptops, and is quite sharp with true HD sources; whereas most of these other portables are 234 x 480 or 480 x 800 if you are lucky. Being able to read fine print such as the credits at the end of a movie is critical for me so I really like this.

Once color calibrated with settings I posted earlier, the on axis viewing is acceptable but I wouldn't say great nor even good compared to full size 32" LCD TVs on the market (not that I've seen any for $99, ) but as portables go I can live with it. Off axis viewing is poor, so viewing with multiple people is problematic since only one person get the "sweet spot", at least when viewed form just a few feet away, that is.

Note: my calibration settings I posted earlier may be unit specific. YMMV. I used an Avia calibration disc with a blue filter gel. I don't own any colorimetry devices.

M.Zillch-thanks again, seriously great information! You referneced the Craig does have a QAM tuner-I didn't realize that it did. I've got mine in the kitchen-and if it does indeed have the QAM I will probably get another cable hookup installed to take advantage of that. I know you did refernce, that-but could you confirm that the Craig does indeed have the QAM tuner? (if that's the case along with those specs.....like you said, what a deal!).

Randy, I purchased the Craig 15" for $99.99 at CVS the week it was on special there, and it absolutely positively unquestionably does have a clear QAM tuner. It has only one RF input, but we have RG cables from the roof antenna and from Comcast behind it, so it's a matter of detaching one, attaching the other, and going into the menus to change tuners when we want to switch between them.

And like the first two sets we bought with QAM tuners but unlike the next two, when you scan QAM channels it doesn't fill up the table with the scrambled ones.

Dattier/MZillch-thanks, and Happy New Year! Sounds like we all got quite a year-end bargain with the Craig's-who'd have thought you could get that type of thing from a "drugstore". Reminds of the old days when you'd go to the drugstore to buy the $5 transistor radios, it's almost like the drugstores of today (CVS) are still providing that service in a way!

I'll probably be buying this affordable, dual swing arm mount for the Craig CLC501 later in the week and will report back here how screw attaching from inside the unit goes.

I agree it does have a QAM tuner, that takes an incredibly long time to scan and lock in the channels (like 10-20 minutes!) but if it is cleverly not taking the scrambled ones forcing me to delete them one by one later, then that's OK by me. I tried it to verify the QAM part and yes I got some wacky QVC channel in HD, widescreen, 1920x1080i, on some weird double digit channel designation like D 42-30 (d's are digital, a's are analog) but I actually don't use the tuner since I use a DVR cable box with component and HDMI out instead.

can i find a Panasonic portable TV on net ?

That's not bad at all. One of our other sets needs about fifty minutes to do a QAM scan.

This looks pretty portable. No tuner but I don't think US tuners work where you live anyways:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...D_Monitor.html

I bet the image quality is good but I've never seen one.

The problem with that Panasonic is it's 1024x768. A 720p signal is 1280x720. Barring scaling - the picture's going to be squished (I think). This is designed to be an on-camera monitor, not a television display.

Wrong....HDTVs have employed all sorts of odd-ball pixel configurations.

My 6-yo Hitachi 42-in ALIS Plasma is 1024x1024 and a few years ago
1366x768 LCDs were very common.

The internal rescaler processes the various SD and HD formats coming
in on the Component Video I/F into the panel's native display format.
Of course, on such a small display, you'll never see the difference....

FWIW: Fry's Electronics has some Viore 7-in Portable DTVs on sale....

Hello all.

I purchased the 3.5" Radio Shack (Auvio) digital portable TV a couple of weeks ago and really like it. I am running it on rechargeable AA Nimh LSD Eneloops.

I originally bought it to stash away and use for emergencies, but found I like to use it more often. So I purchased the AC adapter from Radio Shack.

One of the things I noticed is that the AA batteries run down if I leave them in the TV while using the 5VDC AC adapter. The TV works fine with the adapter with the batteries removed.

Which got me to thinking. Four nimh AA batteries in series equals roughly 5VDC. Which is the same as what the AC adapter puts out. Is the adapter and the internal batteries running in parrallel and is why the batteries run down when using the adapter with the batteries installed?

Also if this is true, could four D cell nimhs in series operate this TV through the AC adapter port. Four 2000 mah AA nimhs operate the TV for 2.5 hours. Four rechargeable 10,000 mah nimh batteries could operate the TV for 12.5 hours if my thinking is correct.

Can any battery geeks out there tell me if the idea of building a battery pack out of D nimh(or alkaline) batteries to operate this TV is feasible?

^Yes, I'd say that'd work if you don't mind the bulk of the D cell 4 pk. To be safe you could test the plus and minus electrical contacts in the battery chamber with a simple volt/ohm/continuity meter ($19 or so if you don't own one or can't borrow one) to determine that they are one and the same as the DC power input + and - .

Thanks, it appears I am barking up the right tree. This is a little out of my expertise, but I'll do some research on battery carriers that I can solder the connections to suit my purposes. Or maybe try to mod a 4D Maglite.

Most all USB ports on a computer are powered at 5 volts DC and up to .5 amps at that voltage. I have cut the a USB cord and figured out which wire inside was what, and hardwired a 5 volt fan to it.

Most all cell phone chargers are in the range of 5 DC volts as well. If you have any old car chargers laying around, you could hook them up to a larger 12 volt battery like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Enersys-NP12-1.../ref=pd_cp_e_1

For 32 dollars. These are the batteries comonly used in the smaller jumper packs for jumpstarting cars and will outlast many sets of D batteries.

Or you could pay more for a jumper pack that already has a ciggy plug installed and comes with a wall charger. Save that Mag light for what it was designed for. Blinding, then thumping intruders.

I dont know if any of you are interested, but I have been in the market for several weeks now buying, testing and returning 7" portable LCD TVs in search of one that completely impresses me......

I have tested the

Digital Prism 7" LCD from CVS

Haier 7" LT7 from Target

Element 7" T7 from K Mart

Auvio 7" Hi Resolution from Radio Shack


Let me know if any of you are interested in my feedback....I feel like a portable guru now


Im in North Bergen, NJ

Yes, can you post your impressions?

I don't recommend people should try to rig up their own DIY battery charging mechanisms using striped USB cables, etc, because they aren't "smart". Real battery chargers have sensing circuits which protect one from several dangerous scenarios including excess heat build up, overcharging, and accidental reversed polarity come to mind. For barely more money than the price of a sealed lead acid battery alone I'd instead recommend buying a complete self-monitoring/charging when necessary rig such as a UPS:

http://www.google.com/products/catal...465&sa=title#p

One could attach wires to its internal 12V battery to power a TV plus you get a free surge protector/power strip to boot.

Of these units I have tested....and let me tell you, Im very anal when it comes to performance and features. While I dont have any technical testing equiptment, I use alot of side by side observation.

With this said, I am literally torn between 2 units for different reasons.


First off, picture quality is no contest.....with the (800x480?) of the Radio Shack Auvio, the picture is simply razor sharp. The level of proportionate detail is equivalent to my 1080P 42" Panasonic Plasma. What I mean by proportionate is this, while obviously my Plasma has a higher resolution, it is also a much much bigger screen. If anything, I would have to say that watching the Superbowl looks crisper and slightly better on the Auvio then on my Panasonic Plasma.

Im actually watching the Superbowl on the Auvio 7", Eviant T7 7" and my Panasonic 42" Plasma at the same time to compare the differences in images

The Auvio unit is also a solid feeling well designed TV. It feels like a nice piece of electronic equipment. It feels sturdy and tough. The screen is matte so it minimizes reflection well.

In addition, the Auvio was very intelligently engineered. It has alot of little things that give you the impression that thought about the consumer was put into each feature that is included

Such as the ability to click one of the face buttons and a real time Signal Strength meter that comes up with batter life and channel title, resolution and audio information. Also a very cool thing is the ability to bring up a channel tv guide that lists all the shows that are scheduled to come on sorted by time....fantastic

However, there are 2 things that keep this TV from being perfect, at least for me:

There is absolutely no image setting tweaks that can be made other than changing the the Brightness Level. For me this is a big downer because I like to tweak LCD displays to be a little less LCD like and more natural CRT or Plasma like. However, the picture seems to be factory tweaked almost to perfection so this may not bother most people. For me, I still like the ability to tweak my images.

The 2nd even more troubling thing for me is the antenna. Its toothpick thin...well almost. It's simply not up to the level of competition and it shows because the TV is very sensitive to movement and needs to be very still otherwise you will get artifact signal breakup at times if it takes a slight bump. I Live in North Bergen, NJ and ABC and Channel 11 are good tests of an antenna strength. Both these channels struggle to come in consistently with the built in antenna.


The other unit I am torn between is a bit of a surprise considering all the reviews I have read seemed to praise the Haier LT7 as the best 7" Portable but I found the Eviant T7 from Kmart for $79 to be the best overall (400x320?) D LCD Portable. In side by side visual testing, I found the picture on the Eviant to be cleaner and visually more natural after picture tweaking then the Prism or the Haier (which btw are the same exact unit)

Also and a huge plus is the antenna reception/tuning on the Eviant was the best most consistent of all the units. In fact, I never had to resort to my magnetic external plug in Antenna with the Eviant. I was able to successfully tune into every station with the internal Attenna from all over my house. Including those pesky ABC and Channell 11 stations

If the picture on the Auvio wasnt so damn nice, I think I would be keeping the Eviant T7 with no hesitance because of its portable reception strength and good all around albeit low resolution picture.

By the same toiken, if the Eviant didnt have such a consistently good internal reception with the attached antenna, I wouldn't think twice about keeping the Auvio!

So Im still in a dilemma because they are almost both important for me....as well as the fact that the Auvio is also $149 vs the Eviant which is only $79 making things even more difficult for me to make a final decision.


However, Its definitely between these 2....the Haier and the Digital Prism didnt impress me.

With all this said, Im leaning toward the Auvio simply because of that crisp 'IPOD-like' visual pop. Its so hard to goto anything lower once your spoiled with being able to read scrolling marquees and sports boxscores clearly on this screen!



My Plasma TV for Reference






Any questions?

Unless I misunderstood, I don't think landyacht318 was suggesting that I try to charge up anything. The TV in question is powered by four AA batteries. It also has a port to accept 5VDC. The factory (Auvio) didn't supply any kind of AC adapter or 12vdc adapter to provide 5VDC externally. I think he was trying to help me find alternative options for this 5VDC supply to operate the TV.

Having said all that, I was not aware of most of what was in his post. I was kind of excited about the USB option, but my TV is rated at 1 amp. It appears USB is too light in the britches to power it.

I would like to find a 12VDC cigarette lighter that outputs 5VDC. I have a couple of cellphone car chargers lying around, but I cant tell what their voltage is or if they can handle 1 amp.

I have been spending this winter checking out the latest and greatest in LED flashlights, batteries and chargers. Most of my time has been spent over at candlepowerforums.com and I have bought into the precharged or lsd(low self discharge) rechargeable nimhs. I have already invested in D cells so that is why I am leaning that direction.

I have the MyGoTV which is the same unit as Radio Shack's Auvio, and I agree with you that it's got a beautiful picture and a lot of nice extras including a QAM tuner, closed captioning, and more. I also agree that the built in antenna sucks, but I hooked it up to my RCA external antenna and get nearly 30 channels. BTW I'm not far from you-I live in NYC!