Syntax Olevia 27 inch LCD TV $749 after rebate

[gbrux]

I bought a Olevia 30" model from the Fairfax, VA, Microcenter today. Price $1,199.99 before $200 Syntax mailin rebate. The rebate form says it's good only for today, November 26, 2004.

This Microcenter deal has been substantially the same for about 10 days. Only applies to instore purchases, not online. They are hot. The Fairfax store sold out Monday morning. Today's delivery was the next one they got. Some people were buying two, and doing an eBay play on one of the two to lower cost of remaining unit.

Sales clerk said that their shipment of today would probably sell out tomorrow. I doubt it though based on the speed at which they were going out the door.

See reviews of this Olevia 30 inch at Anandtech.com, and Extremetech.com, both of which thought highly of this unit. Cnet.com sorta trashed it.

Note that I did a search on these forums for other threads about the 30 inch model, but apparently this deal slipped though someone's fingers. All I saw was the 27 inch model being discussed.

By the way, the 27 inch model is in the same housing as 30 inch model, so they are the same physical size. The 30 inch housing just incorporates the wider screen.

I haven't put it up yet, so I have no performance notes. I'll connect it to a new Windows XP Media Center 2005 box. Will include a Hauppauge WinTV PVR 250MCE card and an ATI HDTV Wonder.

 

[JImmyK]

I currently have the 30 inch in my bedroom and Im getting a 27 inch for my kitchen I can do a straight up comparison when I get it about size and quality etc.

cheers

 

[topdawg235]

does anyone know, with the rebate, it must be mailed within 15 days of recieving the tv, not 15 days of purchase correct? thanks all

 

[wlee]

Well, I ordered one of these on Thursday Morning. I called on Friday to check the order status. They told me everything was OK and it would ship on Monday. Now I just call them again only to find out that my order has been canceled. My card was already charged, but they've now issued a refund. I would suggest anyone else that got stiffed order Radio Shack to take you off their customer list.

 

[imported_dynamikz]

I received a call from a RS rep about an hour ago and they wanted to verify my shipping address and said that it would be shipped today and that the rebate was valid. I don't know why they would cancel your order?

 

[wlee]

Well, I just got off the phone with RadioShack CSR. It seems there was a prob with their transaction SW. Item not being deducted from stock as they were being ordered. As a result they sold more than they had. I'm told they are trying to sort through and fullfill orders in sequence that they were placed. The CSR was very nice and certainly tried to be as helpful as possible. He said he'd try to get my order through and call me back. I told him people post about this and trade stories on the boards. This kind of thing generates a lot of "ill-will". People like me will certainly hold a grudge against them for a LONG time to come. Good luck to you on actually getting your order fulfilled.

 

[gbrux]

There is a separate thread for the 30" Olevia. 30" Olevia Thread

I did not know of it.

I will amend my message from above and report that, if you bought the 30" Olevia from Microcenter on Black Frinday, two $200 MIR apply, for a totle of$400 MIR, for a net price of $799.

With respect to the $200 MIR that is good for purchases on Black Friday from Microcenter, the time for returning begins on the day of purchase. This makes sense because the only way to take deliver is to pick up the unit from the store.

 

[wlee]

I looked at the 30" deal. I didn't feel like driving a couple hours to MicroCenter only to put my name on a waiting list. As for the rebates, they'll prob pay out all the $50 & $100 ones without a hassle, but I think everyone applying for the big $200+ Syntax Rebates is gonna be in for big fight. I'm sure there will be a BIG thread in Rebates Tracking and Brag&Moan.

 

[Webgod]

Allow me to announce the first person to be screwed over on the $300 rebate. Me!

I ordered the Syntax 27'' LCD TV from RadioShack.com on Thanksgiving morning before leaving town. I printed out the "Order Receipt" and the rebate. $750 after rebate plus a good chunk of tax thrown in there sounded like a great deal for ~$820.00. On the order I listed my work phone number as a daytime number (naturally) and my home number as an alternate. Of course I had Friday off, so Monday when I come in I get a voicemail from a RadioShack.com CSR, calling to confirm my order. I called back and left a message to call me back, since no one answered at the extension I was directed to call. So no one called me back, and I got through Tuesday. Now why my order needed to be confirmed, I'm not sure. They wanted to know if I wanted the TV shipped to the address I put in the online form - my work address, which is already listed with my credit card company as of only a few months back - so alternate shipping addresses expire every 6 months, but it hasn't been that long yet! When I asked the CSR about the rebate, she said the order date was shown as November 25th and the rebate would be valid.

So yesterday, Friday, December 4 I received my Syntax Olevia TV, which so far seems so/so, but not bad. But on the packing list it shows the order date as 12/01/2004. Same as the ship date, same as I confirmed it with the CSR.

The rebate asks specifically for
"2) Receipt. Include the qualifying Syntax product purchase and the purchase date on the RadioShack.com receipt dated on November 25, 2004 and November 26, 2004. Receipts dated after November 26, 2004 will not qualify. Photocopies of the RadioShack.com receipt will not be accepted."

additionally, elsewhere on the rebate:
"Original sales receipt must be dated no earlier than November 25, 2004 and no later than November 26, 2004. Order confirmation e-mails are not considered acceptable receipts."

That's bad #1. Bad #2 is that the price on the packing list is $967.12. It doesn't list any sales tax and my credit card hasn't been charged just yet with it, so I don't know the exact amount I paid, but considering the offer was for the TV at $1049.99, and then - a $300 rebate, charging me only $967.12 looks like some attempt at appeasement. Like "sorry, we screwed you out of your rebate but at least you're only paying $967.12 instead of $1120." The current price for this TV at RadioShack.com is still $1049.99.

I should of course be getting the TV for around $820 After Rebate instead of $967.12 with no rebate. Something in the back of my mind was urging me to buy the same TV from outpost.com that morning for $899.00 with no rebates involved, but I figured for around $70 difference, I'll take my chances. Oops.

But, now that I've enjoyed the TV for a few hours thus far I do kind of like it, and I'm tempted to just keep it and live with getting somewhat of a deal on the TV, instead of the hot deal that I bought it for. Previously I used a 6 year old 19''/18'' monitor. The Syntax 27'' has the size of a 22'' CRT, except it's widescreen. I appear to have a single broken pixel which has the red and blue subpixels stuck on, but it is near the top of the screen where it is unlikely to bother me. The actual analog TV tuner is better on some elements than my ATI All in Wonder 9800 Pro, but the majority of the picture looks a bit noisy on the motion, as if it's all being converted to MPEG-4 before being displayed. So far my opinion is that it's still better than my AIW. Also the 16:9 letterboxed zoom feature is really a zoom-stretch feature. If you wanted to watch standard definition ER or Enterprise, which are always broadcast letterboxed, you'd have to watch it in 4:3 mode with bars on the left and right.

So that's where I'm stuck. It's not too late to return it, but I'd be out the shipping on a bulky 50 lb. TV which I probably like enough to keep anyway. I guess part of my disgust is where the CSR told me my rebate would be ok, when I was honestly about to cancel it for fear I just wouldn't get the rebate. And then my packing slip says, order date 12/01/2004. I'm stuck until I can call a RadioShack.com CSR sometime Monday.

$300 Rebate

 

[dethman]

Originally posted by: Webgod
Allow me to announce the first person to be screwed over on the $300 rebate. Me!

I ordered the Syntax 27'' LCD TV from RadioShack.com on Thanksgiving morning before leaving town. I printed out the "Order Receipt" and the rebate. $750 after rebate plus a good chunk of tax thrown in there sounded like a great deal for ~$820.00. On the order I listed my work phone number as a daytime number (naturally) and my home number as an alternate. Of course I had Friday off, so Monday when I come in I get a voicemail from a RadioShack.com CSR, calling to confirm my order. I called back and left a message to call me back, since no one answered at the extension I was directed to call. So no one called me back, and I got through Tuesday. Now why my order needed to be confirmed, I'm not sure. They wanted to know if I wanted the TV shipped to the address I put in the online form - my work address, which is already listed with my credit card company as of only a few months back - so alternate shipping addresses expire every 6 months, but it hasn't been that long yet! When I asked the CSR about the rebate, she said the order date was shown as November 25th and the rebate would be valid.

So yesterday, Friday, December 4 I received my Syntax Olevia TV, which so far seems so/so, but not bad. But on the packing list it shows the order date as 12/01/2004. Same as the ship date, same as I confirmed it with the CSR.

The rebate asks specifically for
"2) Receipt. Include the qualifying Syntax product purchase and the purchase date on the RadioShack.com receipt dated on November 25, 2004 and November 26, 2004. Receipts dated after November 26, 2004 will not qualify. Photocopies of the RadioShack.com receipt will not be accepted."

additionally, elsewhere on the rebate:
"Original sales receipt must be dated no earlier than November 25, 2004 and no later than November 26, 2004. Order confirmation e-mails are not considered acceptable receipts."

That's bad #1. Bad #2 is that the price on the packing list is $967.12. It doesn't list any sales tax and my credit card hasn't been charged just yet with it, so I don't know the exact amount I paid, but considering the offer was for the TV at $1049.99, and then - a $300 rebate, charging me only $967.12 looks like some attempt at appeasement. Like "sorry, we screwed you out of your rebate but at least you're only paying $967.12 instead of $1120." The current price for this TV at RadioShack.com is still $1049.99.

I should of course be getting the TV for around $820 After Rebate instead of $967.12 with no rebate. Something in the back of my mind was urging me to buy the same TV from outpost.com that morning for $899.00 with no rebates involved, but I figured for around $70 difference, I'll take my chances. Oops.

But, now that I've enjoyed the TV for a few hours thus far I do kind of like it, and I'm tempted to just keep it and live with getting somewhat of a deal on the TV, instead of the hot deal that I bought it for. Previously I used a 6 year old 19''/18'' monitor. The Syntax 27'' has the size of a 22'' CRT, except it's widescreen. I appear to have a single broken pixel which has the red and blue subpixels stuck on, but it is near the top of the screen where it is unlikely to bother me. The actual analog TV tuner is better on some elements than my ATI All in Wonder 9800 Pro, but the majority of the picture looks a bit noisy on the motion, as if it's all being converted to MPEG-4 before being displayed. So far my opinion is that it's still better than my AIW. Also the 16:9 letterboxed zoom feature is really a zoom-stretch feature. If you wanted to watch standard definition ER or Enterprise, which are always broadcast letterboxed, you'd have to watch it in 4:3 mode with bars on the left and right.

So that's where I'm stuck. It's not too late to return it, but I'd be out the shipping on a bulky 50 lb. TV which I probably like enough to keep anyway. I guess part of my disgust is where the CSR told me my rebate would be ok, when I was honestly about to cancel it for fear I just wouldn't get the rebate. And then my packing slip says, order date 12/01/2004. I'm stuck until I can call a RadioShack.com CSR sometime Monday.

$300 Rebate

cliffs notes.

 

[topdawg235]

i have same issue, except it says my order date was 11/29. SO i did 2 things. called radio shack they faxed me a new receipt that says bought on 25th and said it would work. i then called syntax, and they said to send in the recipt, orginal packing slip, and the order confirmation email , saying i bought on 25th, even thought it says its not accepted on the rebate. they said it would work. and with sending that it proves i bought it, and that i bought it on thankgiving, now the ? is to i tell radio shack they under charged me? also the recipt radio shack sent me says the right price 1120, as does the order email, but the packing slip says 967 or whatever? what to do hmmm? any ideas?

 

[Sheena]

My 30" from microcenter came with 1 dead pixel (red) in top left corner. In 16:9 mode it's in the black area above the picture so easy to notice from close but otherwise picture is great. Remote is ok and very happy with it. I'd probably go with the 27" of this deal however. The panel size is the same for both models. The 27" has just more plastic around a smaller screen.

I passed on the warranties also. At the rate of price drops, if I paid $300-$500, it'd be more than the TV is worth in a year or so. Definitely not worth it for me.

 

[Webgod]

As an update on my situation, I've decided that it doesn't meet my needs, so I'll send it back and just not worry about the rebate. Like Topdawg235, I could probably get a receipt faxed, but I just don't like it well enough. If I were planning on using it just as an HDTV, I think it'd be outstanding. But the SDTV is lacking in quality, and I was disappointed with the black level when playing Doom 3 and Half-Life 2, and watching DVD's. I mean I turned the brightness down quite a bit, but it was still too bright of a black, and that I wasn't prepared for. I thought a 750:1 contrast ratio would be um, better. I had some sort of echo on the text on a white web page, kind of faintly streaking off to the right of the end of a sentence. And some unexplainable twitching on various blocks on the screen. And I couldn't get my Windows desktop to work with the DVI input with my Radeon 9800 Pro - to which I would have to blame ATI's drivers.

The black level on games is I guess what canned it for me. I didn't feel like I was gaining anything with the Widescreen Doom 3, but Half-Life 2 was a tad bigger and better in widescreen. I'm at least comforted to know I'm not really missing out on anything by not going widescreen. And as far as watching DVD's goes, the black level made the letterboxing of an Original Aspect Ratio movie more visible, and even kind of distracting. The letterboxing looked like a dark grey instead of black, I mean. So.. this is a real eye-opener for me to LCD TV's. I had previously been looking at a Philips Pixel Plus 2 model that had an 800:1 contrast ratio, for around 2x the price. So unless the Syntax model's specs are wrong (ExtremeTech measured the 30'' model to have ~550:1 contrast, contrary to specs) then even the Philips may not have suited me.