Customer reviews for Z-Line Designs ZL788-50MvU

Ratings

Category: Electronics
Brand: Z-Line Designs
Model: ZL788-50MvU
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Read Z-Line Designs ZL788-50MvU User Review

Z-Line Designs ZL788-50MvU Review by Bizdady (USA)

This is a great stand. The drawer unit is a good size for small storage needs. The best part about this stand is the swivel mount. I mounted a 50 inch plasma thats roughly 80 pounds or so but once mounted it is so easy and light to swivel the tv for easy angle viewing, can move it easily with one hand. I fit my center speaker, receiver, cable box, ps3, remotes and there is still plenty of room if I decided to add items to the shelving.

Z-Line Designs ZL788-50MvU Review by Kimberly Lazarski "Kimberly" (Boston area)

This integrated TV stand is excellent - for the price.

I have been shopping for integrated TV stands at brick & mortar stores for quite some time. I specifically looked for integrated TV stands, which limited my choices quite a bit. The stands I found at brick & mortars were either not deep enough or not enough space between the shelves for my Pioneer Elite receiver, or were just plain ugly.

Style and capacity: When I found this unit on Amazon I checked every brick-and-mortar I could think of, and all of the local resellers on Z-Line's dealer locator, but no one had this unit in stock. I wanted to see it in the flesh because after all, it is furniture. Now that I have the stand put together (about two hours, doing it by myself) I am very pleased with the look - it's black, which is what I wanted for an understated look, and despite its massive width, it remains understated and unobtrusive. I can fit most of my components on it without resorting to the top shelf (which I reserved for the center channel) except the VCRs, but in all honestly I use VHS so rarely that I have no problem with connecting the VCR to the front inputs on the receiver on the rare occasion I will be using it. I was able to fit my receiver, DVR, blu-ray player, DVD recorder, tape deck (rarely used but I still keep it connected), Xbox 360, wireless router, and center channel speaker with room to spare. The only thing I wish for shelf space is that the unit were 2" deeper because the volume control of the Elite receiver hangs out over the edge.

The TV stand is quite sturdy, and the mount works in the standard fashion. While installing the TV on the stand I had a mishap and found out just how strong the tempered glass shelves are - I had someone assist me in lifting the television and he did not hold the base (which I had unbolted) so when the TV was being hung the television's integrated base crashed down onto the shelf; glass-on-glass and the impact was quite loud, but there was no damage whatsoever to the shelf.

TV stand features: the cable management is a bit less than I expected; there are no clips on the back, so if I want clips to hold cables in place out of sight, I need to drill and install those myself. The television can swivel but it cannot tilt, so I was pretty disappointed about that - and it's enough of an issue that I am planning on adapting a standard VESA mount to fit the Sync. However, if you do not care about tilt, it works extremely well and is an excellent choice if you want the television off the shelf, but do not wish to drill your walls for a permanent installation. Hanging the panel on the mount is pretty standard; it just hooks onto the rail, then retaining bolts are installed from the bottom to secure the panel in its place.

VESA-mount specific details: The VESA mount is a good, sturdy swivel-only mount; no provisions for tilt are supplied. Your panel will be installed just as with any standard large-panel VESA mount: the mount hooks onto the rail from the top, and you insert bolts from underneath to lock the panel in place. The rail bolts include a great feature to ensure strength: you bolt into the threaded inserts on the stand, and then you screw a locking threaded rod onto the rail bolt from behind the stand; it is a simple locking method which is elegant in its simplicity and effectiveness.

Media Drawer usability: this is a great feature and it is where the manuals for my new components will live, along with remote controls I am not actively using. The drawer slides pretty well, and there is a definite detent when the drawer is pushed in fully.

Media Drawer quality: this is more of a concern. The drawer itself is fine, but the bearing race is not well-designed; out of the box mine was bent and so it was a bearing dispenser, and I did not catch this until trying to install the drawer only to find it would not push fully in place. I checked the rails and found out that the bearing race was bent and missing bearings, so I checked the packaging and sure enough there were ball bearings mixed in with the foam packaging. Determined to complete the task tonight, I went through the tedium of placing the bearings back into the race, and bending each section back into place. Once I completed this the drawer of course slid and locked right into place as it was supposed to.

Packaging: the foam bits are not as bad as others would lead you to believe. There sre a few styrofoam crumbs which will be clinging to the parts, but apply some science; discharge the static electricity by applying a light mist of water and the styrofoam will not be so clingy, then you can easily wipe them off without fighting static cling. Simple.

Assembly process: this is of course as others mentioned the most time-consuming part of the process. You /will/ need more glue than is supplied with the unit so buy a separate bottle of wood glue and throw away what they supplied. The wood dowels are designed to be glued in place, not lock via friction, so the best way to apply them is to put a liberal amount of glue into each hole, then screw and push each dowel into place, which will draw glue up throughout the "thread" and result in a very sturdy bond between the dowel and the panel, and do this at each step. Have moistened paper towels or rags on hand to wipe away the excess wood glue, and after assembling each unit (the wood shelf, the drawer, etc) let each piece sit for a while for the glue to begin to set. I let them sit for about an hour prior to continuing the assembly process. The rest of the assembly proceeds /very/ quickly so while the glue was setting I had the rest of the assembly together, aside from the VESA mount rail.

Cons: the bearing race for the drawer needs to be more sturdy, the shelf could stand to be a bit taller to provide more space on the second shelf so I can fit all components, even rarely-used VCRs, and cable management brackets (or at least threaded flanges installed on the back of the rail for proper cable management). An ideal solution would be offering an additional Sync model with the taller shelves and a VESA mount which incorporates tilt as well as swivel.

Conclusion: aside from the little snags I hit, and the qualm I have with the VESA mount itself, this is a very nice unit and well worth the asking price. When I shopped for a TV stand I had set my budget a bit higher, but no furniture or department stores had any similar units, at least not any that I considered to be not obtrusive or ugly. The (in my opinion) lackluster VESA mount can be addressed by adapting a third-party mount to fit; a simple task to have a body shop cut and drill a steel plate to my specification and spray it with black urethane, or to simply use a plywood plank. Given the price of the Sync, I can understand the compromise made as a good, high-quality VESA mount for a large panel by itself can approach the price I paid for this entire unit.

Z-Line Designs ZL788-50MvU Review by S. Prescott

This stand has solved several problems I had, and 1 potential problem I was going to face. I have been wanting to mount my display for awhile now and just haven't been able to being in the apartment I'm in. The Sync stand solved that for me, next my receiver is pretty beefy and in the previous stand it just wasn't getting the clearance it needed for proper air flow. Again, fixed with this stand. Next like I said I'm in an apartment so I have to try to maximize the space I have and with my old stand I had to place my center channel in the upper component compartment and place my Blu Ray and DVR in awkward positions, this solved that for me. Providing me with enough room to get a new media storage unit that makes the entire room look cleaner and better. As well as allowing me to get a slightly larger sub, and I will now have room for the 65VT30 without fear of not having room. This stand is a life saver have it be your in a house or apt.

The stand itself is definitely sturdy, and will hold a 65" with ease. Each shelf is rated to hold 65 lbs and 150 lbs for the mount itself. So it can accommodate most set ups. The only downside I see with this stand and its not even really a downside just a little more effort is that since the way it is designed and how most will probably place their components you will have to be on top of wire management. I just ordered some zip ties and shorter hdmi cables. These will be your friend. If you have long wires it will be tough to hide them. Other then that the only other bad thing I have to say about it is the styrofoam is out of control in this thing. Definitely as other reviewers have mentioned vacuum while unpacking.

Assembly does take some time, but well worth the effort. My suggestions for assembly is have a vacuum available, and when you open the box, DO NOT open from the end and pull it out. Lay it flat and cut it open on the top so it opens like a door. Take everything out carefully and stage it if you have the room. After you get everything out hit it with the vacuum, and get the box out of the way. If you do this you won't have to worry about foam floating around everywhere.

Now step one is what actually takes the longest and it is the part where you're putting in cams, cam locks, and dowels. Now if your heavy handed and use a ton of glue you will run out. So use it just be cautious with it. Once you finish step 1, your home free. It takes about an hour to get from step 2-End. So it will probably take 1hr 45min or so if your pretty quick, maybe 2+ if your casual about it.

Also before you finish assembling decide where you want it then put the glass shelves on. Basically just skip that step, same with putting the drawer in. Much easier to move without the shelves, but put the shelves on before you mount the display. Also what helps is getting your components in place on the bottom shelf/drawer first then run your cables, etc, then once thats done put on the 2nd shelf (glass one over the drawer). Get your 2nd shelf all set up and then place on the top glass. Reason I say this is because its easier to maneuver without them.

Overall I'm happy, very happy. Even though it is a stand you almost don't think about it. It's like your display is just floating there. Very nice.

If your on the fence, GET OFF OF THE FENCE

get this stand. Great buy

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