ViewSonic 2201w TV with integrated DVD player

Cool Yule rating: 5 stars

Price: $346.01

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Description: The ViewSonic N2201W offers crystal-clear and crisp video in a compact form factor with a built-in DVD player on the side of the unit. One of the first worries that TV buyers deal with is hooking up an external VCR or DVD player, which is taken care of here as it's built into the TV. The ease of setup on the device was proven when my 11-year-old had it out of the box and powered up in less than five minutes!

The kids picked a couple of family favorites they wanted to watch. Even with the basement flooded with 120 Watts of lighting, we couldn't help admire the amazing picture quality and out-of-the-box clarity this TV has to offer. Given that the movies selected have been previewed several times on our other two TVs (one of them a similar LCD HDTV), the ViewSonic TV took the prize of presenting a better picture on the movies.

Another cool feature of the built-in DVD player is its memory recall function. After watching a movie about halfway through, I ejected the DVD. On the next day, I put in the same DVD and the player started the movie right where I had left off the night before. Unlike our tired old DVD player, this saved me the trouble of painfully navigating the scene selection menu.

We also tested an Xbox game console to the TV via the AV inputs, and the TV provided amazing picture detail while the kids played their favorite racing game. The N2201W includes several inputs and outputs, including an HDMI 1.3 for HD cable, and VGA input if you want to use it as a computer monitor.

The audio is pretty strong (not earth shattering) and is sufficient for viewing in an average sized living room with viewing distance of 10 ft or less. I wouldn't recommend putting this in a large room, as the small size would offset the good stuff this TV has to offer. The TV is lightweight and we had no problems carrying it up two floors and plugging it into a wall socket elsewhere in the house. The compact size would make it a great kitchen TV, where wall space is premium. The remote needs a little getting used to as I could not find the eject button for the DVD player at first glance.

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