Looking for a neat holiday gift that's sure to please but EASY on the pocketbook? CVS has the Craig 7" TV with DVD model CTV 1703 in stores for $99.99 - some weeks on sale for $79.99 and if you're lucky (and you hold a red CVS courtesy card) your register tape might spit out a "$30.00 off any Craig TV" coupon. That happened to me! Actually, it was on sale for $79.99 and I got the thirty bucks off... total: $49.99 + $4 sales tax!It's pretty easy to set up. Comes with remote control, antenna, AV in/out jacks, earphones, car charger and in-home power source. The hard part: digital TV reception. It's all about location and antenna placement. There are places in my house where I barely get one channel and other places where I get fifteen! My main concern about the TV feature is simply being able to watch local news in the early morning. When I'm at my desk, I have a mini-movie theater that enables me to watch as I work online... "ultimate digital multitasking???"
I stuck "specs" in the title of this post hoping to catch other folks who might be wondering about this little unit. It plays DVDs, Video CDs, audio CDs as well as files on SD/MMC/MS memory card - there is also a USB port!
The Craig can play .avi files that have been burned onto cds as data files! It reads WMA, mp3 and jpegs too!
You can adjust picture ratio, closed captioning, etc.
Have a look at the owner's manual in Adobe [PDF].
Any questions? If so leave them in the comments (look for the link below) and I will give you the technical answer you seek and/or my opinion, or maybe both! Here's a bigger picture of the unit with some of the accessories displayed.
Tags: Craig TV, CVS Craig TV
9 comments:
I got one of these today for my father and am cautiously impressed. In the old days I wouldn't have purchased this brand, but there wasn't much competition among the more trusted brands. Do you know the battery life by any chance for DVD or with TV or with MP3 memory stick playback with screen off?
I just bought the unit the day I posted - I plugged it in while screwing around with it for about a half hour, then I watched TV for about an hour.
Since then, I have (without connecting the AC power cord) experimented with different discs and files and watched a 45-minute .avi program, and watched 30 minutes of TV news this morning.
All that without the manual's actual recommended "charge" time! I think that's pretty good. If I get a chance to use the unit more extensively I'll update the post: other users please feel free to add your experiences with the Craig TV here!
Yes, AVI video seems to work pretty well and probably will extend the 2.5 hours the outside of the box seems to promise. I'm further guessing that mp3 audio with no screen on (it's for an older relative with no mp3 player or computer) will probably be at least double that.
By the way I put some foreign DVDs made for our region (1) in and had troubles with the menu screens (heavy pixelation almost like bad TV transmissions etc) but the DVD playback itself worked pretty well. Subtitles are a bit painful at 7 inches though!
Hi Dave,
I boght this model around xmas. I connected to cable(cox). Like you, I am interested in news when I am working. I am not getting major cable channels like, cnn,msnbc, mtv, fox, tnt. I set my source of receiption to cable.Found about 35 channels. Still no luck. This is my 2nd unit. same thing. Any Ideas.
Thanks.
Hey there Anonymous! Get into the unit and play with the settings. Re-scan. I hooked my unit up to my neighbor's cable - his living room is full HD but the unit only accepted certain channels - the kitchen box was an aftermarket brand and the Craig found ALL channels.
ALSO: certain types of .avi and .jpg files will not play on the unit (it doesn't recognize .avi's from my smartphone, nor jpegs taken with a Kodak camera) - stay tuned to this blog for more on that -- thanks for your comment!
Thank you for the manual link. Craig electronics did not even have this model posted on their website so I could not find it. It is very helpful for assisting relatives who are not technically inclined to set up their equipment over the phone if you can decode the manual for them.
much appreciated.(also the pricing was useful)
Hi Dave..I bought one of these..and having trouble setting up channels..I do have a converter box through comcast..but it keeps telling me I have no signal..what am I doing wrong
@Anonymous: go back to "square one" as if you had just opened the box. Be sure the wire connecting the converter to the TV is installed correctly and is secure. When you scan channels, make sure you are in the cable mode.
Your Comcast converter: is it converting signals as direct DTV or is it converting them back to analog? Does it work on another DTV set?
This is a nice unit. We use it mostly for the DVD player but having the ATSC TV tuner is nice. Does anyone know the inner/outer diameter of the power supply or a good source for a replacement power supply?
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