Nextbase TVM57-D

I expressed my view to having one of these and low and behold one turned up for my birthday this year. Reason for wanting one was because sitting outside shops waiting for the wife or children at after school clubs I had nothing to do. I started watching a little analogue TV but that soon died a death so I reverted to a portable DVD player but you can only watch so films twice. HENCE!!!

This T.V not only picks up your normal analogue ...
...50 channels, including Sky news, Sky 3, E4, all extra BBC and ITV channels.

The TV comes as a LCD 7 inch screen which is encased in a black soft rubber outer casing that also houses the speakers and controls at the front with the volume on the side. The TV has a pullout tilt stand that pulls out from the back and locks. It comes with a very slim remote control that has all the usual features on it that comes with a battery. The TV ... more

I expressed my view to having one of these and low and behold one turned up for my birthday this year. Reason for wanting one was because sitting outside shops waiting for the wife or children at after school clubs I had nothing to do. I started watching a little analogue TV but that soon died a death so I reverted to a portable DVD player but you can only watch so films twice. HENCE!!!

This T.V not only picks up your normal analogue T.V (BBC,ITV,etc) but digital (free view) that’s just under another 50 channels, including Sky news, Sky 3, E4, all extra BBC and ITV channels.

The TV comes as a LCD 7 inch screen which is encased in a black soft rubber outer casing that also houses the speakers and controls at the front with the volume on the side. The TV has a pullout tilt stand that pulls out from the back and locks. It comes with a very slim remote control that has all the usual features on it that comes with a battery. The TV has two aerials one for analogue and the other for digital but don't touch the magnetic bottom of the digital aerial as it can be damaged but static. These plug into the TV just like any other TV. The TV comes with all the other usual plugs and jacks for plugging into other appliances as well as a carry case.

It's not that hard to set the TV up, as on the side of the TV is a switch that you move between analogue and digital. From there you plug in the aerial. Switch the TV on from the front. Press auto scan on the remote and this finds all the available channels. For the digital, the aerial is best situated on metal, like the body of the car. The TV will then save the channels it’s found and start showing the first channel found. From there it’s like a normal TV flicking through the channels.

On the digital function there is an electronic program guide that tells you what’s on through the day on whatever channel. But this can still be viewed with the last programme you was watching put to the corner of the screen.

There is a function where you can save the channels to favorites but if like me you se it for the car, everytime you move the aerial, you have to rescan for channels. The TV also picks up digital radio stations and it comes with a couple very simple games.

The picture is very clear on digital and the sound is ok for the size of TV. However I'm assuming because the whole country is not covered by the digital revolution, its a bit of a lottery as to what channels you receive on digital based on what part of the country you’re in. The analogue is normally ok. Also if the signal isn’t that great then you may watch something and the picture breaks up. Again I would say it does depend where you are. Where I live I can pick a mixture of channels but not all of them at the same time. It would take just moving the aerial a bit to receive the rest. The battery life doesn’t seem to last as long as it states which can be a bit annoying when you're in the middle of watching something.

I think this TV is great for what it does for the size and the fact you can take it anywhere provided the battery is charged or you have some sort of mains or the car. It can only get better as the whole country goes digital by 2012. We hope. 

...less