Home > Consumer Reviews > ViewSonic N1630w 16-Inch 720p LCD HDTV

I am looking for a small HDTV so I can use it as a secondary monitor - this one suit my purpose considering I only paid $199 for it.

PLUS
- Very good HDTV picture quality - I connect it to my cable and the tuner is smart enough to pickup all ANALOG and UNSCRAMBLED HD channels automatically. Overall HD picture quality is good.
- It has one VGA, one HDMI, one component video, one S-Video and one composite video input - pretty good for a cheap TV.
- NO NEED FOR AC ADAPTER!! The power supply is built-into the TV cabinet.
- Sleep Timer

MINUS
- Not very bright at all
- Limited vertical viewing angle
- Limted tilt; does not swivel from side to side
- Anemic sounding speakers / slightly better after I adjust bass/treble
- Mediocre picture quality as a PC monitor

Overall, for $199 don't expect it to perform like a Sharp or a SONY but I give it 4 star based on its sheer value and it's HDTV picture quality. It's a nice addition as a second monitor because you can also use it as a HDTV.

We have small televisions in our office. We have about 15 Sharp Aquos tv's that we are very happy with, but Sharp stopped making the smaller screens. There are really not that many options for small screen tv's. I read the reviews on the Viewsonic and at first was hesitant, but decided to try one. The picture is very good and since we watch them sitting at a desk, there is no problem with the viewing angle. The sound is not very good, but acceptable for our purpose. I would not recommend this tv for home use unless in low volume situations or use with external speakers as the other reviewer mentioned.

Got the N1630w 15-inch TV for the kitchen counter, but will need to find another use for it because the speakers are totally tinny, even with full bass and treble added, or different sound preferences selected (I think Viewsonic expects you to add external speakers to this unit so the sound is as good as the picture). Unit also sits very low to the countertop, and doesn't have a swivel feature to allow it to be tilted upwards. The viewing angle is critical .. like viewing a projection TV .. you must look straight into this screen or the picture washes out. We propped a dish towel under the front of the stand in order to have the screen looking up at us ... why no swivel, Viewsonic? It won't be good for computers for the same reason it doesn't swivel up-or-down. Analog TV performance is also quite poor, but then we all need to get away from analog anyway. Buy a 19-inch or larger as you can fit into your needs .. this TV is small in size, and performance.

I bought this TV after reading about the poor sound on the small Sharp. I should have waited for a review here. The sound is annoying (I found the music setting to be the least annoying for listening to voice). The picture must be viewed at eye level, as also noted in the first review. On a positive note it has all the inputs and outputs you would need.

With the set on the counter top and looking straight at it while standing, the picture was good but it appeared faded when siting at the table about 12 feet away. (Vertical viewing angle issue). Also, volume needed to be turned up near the max. Tinny sound. Maybe it's a 1-star. Returned it. Too bad. I miss the birds.