Mintek 23 Widescreen HD Ready LCD TV with Built-in DVD Player DTV-233. 1280 x 768 resolution with built-in DVD player. DVD DVD+R/RW VCD CD CD-R/RW Kodak Picture CD MP3 and JPEG compatible. Built-in SD and Memory Stick card reader. TV tuner receiver stereo audio amplifier with vertical speakers. Tilt swivel base with USB jack. Includes A/V cables AC power and remote
Mintek's graceful, slim, and lightweight DTV-233 combination 23-inch widescreen LCD TV and full-function DVD player is suitable for placement anywhere in your home or office. DVDs slide easily into a side slot for space-efficient integration. Just 3.4 inches thick without its stand, you can even mount the DTV-233 on the wall, picture-style, using an optional wall-mount bracket. It's suitable for use as a PC monitor, too.
All DVD functions are accessible via the supplied remote control, and the unit plays DVD-Video, CD, CD-R, CD-RW, MP3 CD, MPEG-4 video, and JPEG digital photos stored on recordable CD. A combination SD (SecureDigital), MMC (MultiMediaCard), and Memory Stick memory-card reader is perfect for viewing your digital photos fresh out of your camera and right on the TV screen.
LCD screens offer a number of benefits over CRT monitors and televisions, including general ease of use, freedom from eye strain (no screen flickering or radiation emissions), quiet operation (no high-pitch "flyback" noise, an issue with CRT TVs), accurate image geometry (no curvature distortion or susceptibility to magnetic interference from, say, speakers), long screen life (with no risk of image burn-in), space savings, and light weight/easy positioning. They also tend to be cheaper and, to some eyes, slightly more natural looking than their plasma flat-panel counterparts, which usually "spec" higher (higher brightness, higher contrast ratio).
The set offers 1,280 x 768 native pixel resolution with impressive ratings for both contrast (450:1) and brightness (450 cd/m2). Its wide-angle clarity extends 176 degrees vertically and horizontally, so the screen is easy to see from just about anywhere in the room. Mintek's Digital Pure Video Engine analyzes audio/video signals and ensures that the display reaches high-definition levels fast while addressing 6 key aspects of video: detail, color, contrast, dynamic (response time), brightness, and levels of shading.
The set's stereo speakers are driven by an ample 6 watts each. Connections include 1 each composite-video, high-definition component-video, coaxial RF, and VGA PC (15-pin D-Sub). The set also includes a USB interface for a direct digital connection with your digital camera and digital camcorder.
What's in the Box
TV/DVD player with detachable stand, a remote control, remote batteries, and a user's manual.
1 Mintek DTV review
After alot of research on Mintek we decided to give it a try. The tv is great, DVD player works well. Cutomer service STINKS, I called numerous times and no one ever returned my calls. My main question was about codes for a universal remote. Finally found out there are none, but did purchase a remote ($28-Best Buy) that "learns codes" and am now able to use 1 remote for TV and DirectTV reciever.
2 Impressive, I like it
Great HD picture and sound. The DVD player is excellent! The size is perfect for a bedroom. I've used it as a monitor, it took me a while to figure out how to set up my laptop with it but once I got it working it looked pretty good. The only minuses is the sound, there is a noise, like the hum of a computer monitor, when the sound is turned down. Minor issue for me. Also regular TV channel picture quality is not that great, I am hopeful that a lot more stations will start broadcasting in HDTV in the near future. The remote can be an annoyance at times given it's not universal.
I also like the feature of viewing pictures from my digital camera's memory stick, that feature is fun to play with. Overall I really enjoy this TV, especially the DVD!
3 Excellent value and performance for a basic HDTV
We bought this unit for our den to fit into a 27" wide space and are very pleased so far. Easy to set up and run in 1080i mode with Time Warner cable - HDTV performance is excellent. Sports programming is particularly impressive - hockey and basketball are great in 16x9 format although optimum viewing distance for a set this size is around 6'. Regular TV programs can be viewed in a 4x3 centered image or stretched (distorted) to fill the screen. No surpises so far off the internal DVD and I've not tried using it as a computer monitor yet. I also wish it had a second HD component input for our xbox. It would be nice if I could get the TimeWarner remote to control the TV as well - I've not figured out how to do that yet. Colors are bright - I'd like black to be darker but am happier than I expected to be at this price. Biggest problem so far is I want a 40" LCD HDTV now for the living room.
4 Nice product but no remote support and no customer support
This product is at the moment (March 2005) at the leading edge of falling prices in its category. And the product works pretty well, as documented in William's review. Yet I had two problems that have caused me to pack it up and return it. First, the remote control supplied with the set is a bad joke; it cannot control any other devices, such as my cable box on which it sits, and it is nonprogrammable itself. Worse, Mintek / Shinco has implemented a set of IR remote control codes that are completely incompatible with any universal remote control I can find. Our Pioneer HD cable boxes all come with nice universal remotes (from Universal) that have many codes programmed in, but none for this set. In fact, I can't find IR remote codes for this set on the web, or on the websites of remote manufacturers. Why did Mintek / Shinco have to adopt an obscure, proprietary IR code instead of using a commonly used code set? Oh well, and when I called for help with this issue, I was told by a young fellow who could barely complete a coherent sentence, that tech support would call back "in a coupla days...". And he was the only person in the 'customer service', so he claimed, that could speak to a customer on the phone. Oh well, RMA, and I'm going to buy the Toshiba.
5 Mintek DTV 233 great value and performance.
My review is only four stars because long term durability is still an unknown. Well, before this purchase I did some research. First, who is Mintek? Answer, the U.S. distributer for Shinco electronic products out of China. Second, were the LCD products from China (some early magazine reviews advised avoiding LCD Televisions from China & Korea) going to be equal to established brands already out there. Well, some business article research led to reports of Minteks's marketing director Bill Daugherty advising "It returns to China half the products Shinco sends, filtering out things like clunky models with poor screens". With this documented attitude about quality control on the record I made the plunge and ordered the Mintek over the Toshiba 23" LCD/DVD Combo which was my original choice. Granted this is an initial review but it appears this product is everything advertised. Sleek styling, great picture (this was bought for bedroom use) on satellite and DVD. LCD can have artifact issues during action scenes so "Private Ryan" went into the built-in slot load DVD player knowing that the initial D-Day landing scene would most likely uncover this problem if it existed. Well, the puke over the landing craft was sharp, as were the bullets underwater and tracers overhead later on the beach. Even the explosion of the soldier carrying the flame thrower was perfect. Obviously this unit can process the information. Another surprising plus, the system actually comes complete with all the needed cables (HD, Component, RCA, USB, etc.) except oddly, an s-video cable. The DTV 233's complete versatility is a definite plus. Top all this off with Amazons free SuperSaver Shipping and the fact it was delivered in only three days all in all this product is one heck of a deal.
