[dylanemcgregor]

My TV appears to be going out on me, and so I'm looking to buy another one. The problem is I'm a poor college student who moves very frequently, so I don't want a big or expensive TV. I'm pretty much looking for the cheapest 20" CRT TV I can find that has two composite inputs, preferably both of them on the back.

I was in Target today and saw a Polaroid TV that matches that description pretty well, except the 2nd set of inputs are on the side, but I can live with that. It also comes with a seperate DVD player, which I don't want since I have the Humax DVD-R with TiVO.

Anyway, my question is does anyone know if the TiVo has a remote control code for Polaroid TVs? I hear they are manufactured by a Chinese company, but my limited research so far hasn't told me what company.

-Dylan

 

[mrpurple]

Theres a joke about shaking the TV in here someplace.

Didn't the camera company go out of business? Maybe someone bought the name to try to give their products smae brand name recognition.

 

[aadam101]

They did get bought by another company but they are still very much in business. Their corporate headquarters are in Boston and not much has really changed.

 

[classicsat]

Chances are it will use some generic Chinese codes.

 

[jblake]

I would suggest Funai/Symphonic/Emerson type codes

 

[itstrue]

If you go to www.polaroidelectronics.com there is a contact page where you can e-mail them and ask. The company is Petters Consumer Brands so doesn't look like there's any direct connection to Funai.

 

[ZeoTiVo]

just to let you know - I had a polaroid DVD/VCR player that just sat on a shelf and did not get abused, The DVD player stopped working after about 6 months. I deem it a peice of junk I should not have bought.


maybe you can find a small LCD TV for cheap enough, probably it would be 15 inches in the right price point though but just a thought and much easier to travel with.

 

[dylanemcgregor]

I ended up getting a 20" Magnavox instead, it was 20 bucks more, but the A/V inputs were more conveniently located, plus it has a component video connection, which I just now realized I can use with my Humax. My first impression of the video quality though is that it is rather poor. The TiVo text is almost unreadable, and not just in the guide, but in the TiVo menus as well, and the overall picture looks like I'm getting a weak over the air signal. I've played with the settings a bit, and it helped but not much. I don't expect much from a $150 TV, and I'm no videophile, but I'm still a bit disappointed

maybe you can find a small LCD TV for cheap enough, probably it would be 15 inches in the right price point though but just a thought and much easier to travel with.

I had hoped that the TV we had would have lasted us another few months until hopefully I had found a job and a more permanent residence, then I was hoping to treat us to a bit bigger LCD TV, maybe 30" or so if the prices dropped enough by the fall...

-Dylan

 

[dmravage]

just to let you know - I had a polaroid DVD/VCR player that just sat on a shelf and did not get abused, The DVD player stopped working after about 6 months. I deem it a peice of junk I should not have bought.

Sounds familiar. I bought a Polaroid DVD/VCR combo from Best Buy, and returned it within a week. The sound skipped or popped on DVD's.

Good choice to spend a little more it seems.

 

[ZeoTiVo]

I ended up getting a 20" Magnavox instead, it was 20 bucks more, but the A/V inputs were more conveniently located, plus it has a component video connection, which I just now realized I can use with my Humax. My first impression of the video quality though is that it is rather poor. The TiVo text is almost unreadable, and not just in the guide, but in the TiVo menus as well, and the overall picture looks like I'm getting a weak over the air signal. I've played with the settings a bit, and it helped but not much. I don't expect much from a $150 TV, and I'm no videophile, but I'm still a bit disappointed

I had hoped that the TV we had would have lasted us another few months until hopefully I had found a job and a more permanent residence, then I was hoping to treat us to a bit bigger LCD TV, maybe 30" or so if the prices dropped enough by the fall...

-Dylan

maybe you should try some of the other inputs. I can not imagine a 150$ TV having a state of the art component interface. I also recently purchase a TV and went with a Toshiba flat screen Tube from Best Buy as the picture quality on standard coax cable(I just use extnded basic cable right now) was much better than the Sony Wega or the Panasonic. I wanted to hold off on LCD until HD was more common and the prices dropped more.

I did not say anything before as you are on a student budget but perhaps you should go back and look at Toshiba 20" for 199$

 

[SleepyBob]

As far as the TiVo remote codes working on the TV, I think the main thing is to avoid the combo TV/VCRs. They tend to use VCR code sets, which the TiVo remote doesn't use.

 

[dylanemcgregor]

maybe you should try some of the other inputs. I can not imagine a 150$ TV having a state of the art component interface. I also recently purchase a TV and went with a Toshiba flat screen Tube from Best Buy as the picture quality on standard coax cable(I just use extnded basic cable right now) was much better than the Sony Wega or the Panasonic. I wanted to hold off on LCD until HD was more common and the prices dropped more.

I did not say anything before as you are on a student budget but perhaps you should go back and look at Toshiba 20" for 199$

Thanks Zeo, I think I might do this. I had a pretty decent job before I went back to school, so I have a bit of money saved up, but I have been trying to be more frugal while I don't have an income coming in. I didn't really expect there to be much difference between small CRT televisions these days, except in the type and number of inputs. The TV I had that just broke was a discarded unit from a video store, where it ran 24 hours a day for a couple of years. I can't imagine it was very expensive, but the picture looked fine to me.

I haven't tried the new set with the component connection yet, since I don't have any component cables. I'm going to pick some up tonight on the way home, and see if there is a noticable improvement in PQ, but if there isn't then I plan on taking it back and exchanging it for another model. I might even go LCD, I saw yesterday that Circuit City has a 27" Apex on sale for $900. I have to do some research to see how bad of PQ I can expect on a unit at that price.

-Dylan

 

[anom]

I've got a slightly larger polaroid tv in the bedroom. It's got s-video and composite inputs, and to be honest I've got no problem with the picture quality, although I admittedly did not have high expectations given what I paid. Certainly much better than the Magnavox you described.

The remote codes are another story. Someone in the Help Center Forum suggested I try Mitsubishi codes, but no dice. If anyone knows what remote codes (if any) work on Polaroid TV's, I'd love to find out.

 

[dmdeane]

Theres a joke about shaking the TV in here someplace.

Didn't the camera company go out of business? Maybe someone bought the name to try to give their products smae brand name recognition.

I still drive by their huge location in Waltham every day when I go to work. I think it's mostly empty now, but the lights are still on and they still do something there. Not sure what.

 

[marksman]

When I was out-of-town a few years ago for an extended period of time, I had need to buy a small cheap tv. I ended up with a Daewoo. I think I got it at a Circuit City, or Fry's or Best Buy... Don't really remember. It was right around $100, is 20 inches and even after having moved it 2/3rds away cross country bouncing around in the back of a van it still works fine. Things like TiVo not readable and such not an issue.... I have had zero problems with it, and it is about 3.5 years old at this point and time.

I think buying cheap tvs is a major crapshoot where craps comes up all too often. That being said I have had blessed luck with tvs in my life. I can not even think of a single television I had that died or broke down on me. I have some tvs that are close to 20 years old still filling some sort of duty.

 

[Missmaxx]

Sorry I cannot help you about your remote, but maybe the company can. I also own a 20 inch Flat Screen Polaroid, and after 2 years, I love it!

 

[Edmund]

Polaroid Tv owners give the Mitsubishi tv codes a try.

 

[kb7oeb]

Polaroid will whore out their brandname to anyone with cash, its a guess on who actually built the product.

 

[jay_man2]

Polaroid will whore out their brandname to anyone with cash, its a guess on who actually built the product.

Just like GE, Westinghouse, RCA, Zenith, Magnavox and Sylvania before them.

 

[ccutler]

I just got the FLM-3232 32" Polaroid TV and the Mitsubishi code 0011 worked for me.