Review: The Haier HLTD7 is a Portable 7" TV-DVD Combination

Because I travel both by van and by motor home, the idea of having a self contained entertainment device that allows me to watch both TV and DVD's was quite appealing. The Haier HLTD7 meets this requirement in a neat small package that doesn't consume much storage space either.

When you add in the convenience of the included 12VDC power cord, and patch cord that allows you to pipe the video from the small 7" screen to another larger screened television, you've got quite a versatile little unit.

All it took was a weekend sale at Target, reducing the price to a paltry $89, for me to blow the moths out of my wallet and plunk down some hard earned cash.

Once I got this nifty little electronic device home I was anxious to see it perform. After removing considerable packing material, and glancing over the instructions, I attached the included antenna and plugged it in.

My first problem was in getting the DVD door to latch shut. After considerable fussing and rereading the instructions it finally latched properly, but continued to be a sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't situation.

Running the autoscan feature I was anticipating some good programming because we have 13 digital stations, all easily within range.

This was my next disappointment, with the included antenna you have to practically be sitting in the parking lot of a transmitting station to get good reception. By using an old set of rabbit ears I was able to bring in the stations, though it took some adjusting when switching from one station to the next.

My VIZIO 19" digital TV works just fine with the same set of rabbit ears without any adjusting. A solid indication that the receiver of the Haier HLTD7 is a bit sub-standard.

The next issue that was real obvious was the poor quality audio. Tinny sounding speakers that sound even worse the louder you set the volume level.

At this point I realized that though this is a feature loaded little TV, there will be some sacrifices in quality. If this was the end of my problems, I would have still been accepting of its limitations.

The remote control is loaded with features that aren't even included with the TV. It's as if they developed one remote for their whole product line and you must just ignore the extra buttons. Then after a couple weeks of only occasional use I started having real problems.

Three times the TV uttered a loud "SNAP" and the audio disappeared like you had pushed the mute button. By turning the TV off and back on the audio returned. I persevered because I really wanted this thing to work out.

One morning a week later I turned the TV on while I was checking my Email. Nothing, no picture, no sound. Turned out it just couldn't receive a signal, though after I got it dialed in I found the picture color to be too dark.

This was the final straw, as the menu to make adjustments or scan for channels would no longer come up. I was stuck with a lousy picture.

After repacking everything I headed off to Target in search of a refund. Thankfully, after 35 days, they gave me a full refund with a credit to my debit card.

It would have been a wonderful thing if this little TV operated as it was designed too. I almost wonder if they tried to hard to pack features in this small package. Even if it worked properly, the overall poor quality limits its usefulness, this is one product I can't recommend.