I removed the fine tuners on all but the "e" string and retained the existing strings

The a fine tuner doesn't work

The A string and E string fine tuners were really loose and I had to reset them

The third thing I noticed is that the strings seemed cheap and were difficult to tune even though the violin comes with fine-tuners on the tailpiece (The fine-tuners are a nice included feature; you will end up loving them)

The a fine tuner doesn't work

The fine tuners seem fine

It has real wood parts, real tuners and fine tuners, and is generally a perfectly fine instrument.

The A string and E string fine tuners were really loose and I had to reset them

The strings really are the core of an instrument; the rest is just amplification and reverb, and even these are sold separately on an electric instrument.(Incidentally, be sure to put the little parchment tone-filter from the nice new E string so that it sits on the bridge, or the wire will slice through it over time, like an ultra-slow-motion cheese-cutter