Customer Reviews

Mitsubishi LT-46144 46-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I'll try to give as detailed a review as possible here.

Picture Quality: 5/5 stars
I'm sure this is what you're most interested in and I can tell you it is absolutely beautiful. The black levels on this tv are fantastic for an LCD product. The picture is extremely sharp and detailed and the colors are absolutely fantastic. I used the Avia Essentials Guide to Home Theater Avia II to calibrate the tv and it did make a pretty big difference in the overall quality of the picture. The one area where the set shines is with the ability to tweak every aspect of the picture. They have the standard settings (contrast, brightness, color, sharpness, etc.), plus they have additional advanced settings for each color. You can tweak this thing to get it spot on and it doesn't take long to do.

HDTV: 5/5 stars
I've got this hooked up to a PS3 (bluray) and an Xbox 360 and the video is absolutely gorgeous. I've watched BluRay and regular DVD's through the PS3 on this set and they are stunning. The BluRay's almost feel as if you can jump into the picture. DVD's, even though running at a much lower resolution still look great on this set. Part of that is due to the upscaling in the PS3 and the rest is up to the TV. I must say I'm impressed with the picture quality. Also, for gaming, I've noticed no motion blur or any type of ghosting. The set is very fast and keeps up with the action and is extremely smooth.

Standard Def Material: 3/5 stars
I currently have a regular satellite receiver hooked up to the tv and the feed from it is definitely watchable. Is it the prettiest thing ever? no...however, it's not distracting either. You just have to know (as everyone should), if you buy an HDTV to watch standard def television, you'll be unhappy. Therefore I'm not basing my overall review score on this section.

Inputs/Outputs: 5/5 stars
Three HDMI inputs - all 1.3 compliant
Three component inputs (up to 1080i)
2 composite/svideo inputs
2 coaxial cable inputs (1 for an antenna, another for a cable box/reciever)
1 digital coaxial output

Controller: 4/5 stars
There's nothing flashy about the controller that ships with the tv but it works well and gets the job done. The buttons are backlit so you can see them in the dark, and I actually like the input selection. You hit the Input button and then you can arrow left and right to choose the input you'd like to use. Some will like this feature, others would rather just have separate input buttons on the controller. Like I said, nothing special, but it works and it's a programmable controller so you can use it for 4 other devices.

Speakers (sound quality): 2.5/5 stars
If there was one place where I feel this set falls short, it would be in the sound category. The speakers actually sound pretty bad. I've never been a fan of tv speakers so I'm not letting this reflect in the overall score I gave this television. When you consider how small the frame is around the picture, it's not surprising that it doesn't sound all that great. However, I'd say most people (including myself) hook their nice, hdtv's up to a receiver or external set of speakers so I'm not going to crucify the set on this alone.

Conclusion: 5/5 stars
If you are looking for a tv that produces a stunning picture, especially when watching high def material, I think this is an absolutely phenomenal set. It has all the perks of an LCD (low screen glare, super crisp picture, no burn in, etc.) with many of the positives of a plasma (great black levels, ability to handle fast moving scenes, great color). I definitely recommend a bluray player (now that hd-dvd seems to be dying out) if you want to see what this set can really do. It is jaw dropping. On the negative side, if you place a lot of stock in the sound that comes from a tv, you may be unhappy with this set. I'm basing my review score on the picture quality, inputs/outputs, and setup of the set. I'd buy it again.

I have owned this TV for four months now (bought it in early March 08). In June, I had a line going from top to bottom appear in the left hand side. I immediately took it in to a authorized dealer, who diagnosed the problem as a bad panel. They ordered the part from Mitsubishi over a month ago and they still have not recieved it. I have called Mits. several times in the last two weeks trying to find out why it has not been sent (as well as the repair dealer also calling) and we keep getting told the part has been back ordered and should be in anytime. I find it funny that the manufacturer of the TV has to order parts from someone else, number 1. Number 2, their customer service has been rude, short and I have tried 4 times to talk to a manager and have left my number for them to call me, and I have yet to hear from them. Number 3. I feel that if they are going to take this long to get a part, they ought to just give me a new set. I have missed many sporting events that I wanted to see in HD, as well as ordered a HD DirecTV dish and DVR unit that I have paid for over a month and have not got to use.

In other words, I would completely stay away from this company. I just about did not get this tv because of horror stories I had read about them to begin with, but when I looked at the tv in the store, it was quite amazing in picture quality, though the audio was lacking (sounded very tinny). The set itself is very good, Just that this company's service is HORRIBLE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When this TV worked it was beautiful, amazing actually, and a great price. But Unfortunately, like the other reviewer, I experienced the problem with the lines appearing on the screen. That happened a month ago, and that is when I last saw my precious TV. The repair center picked it up and I have no idea when I will get it back. The part is supposedly on back order, and mitsubishi customer service is the worst I ever dealt with. They basically told me to wait indefinately for the part. So for the past three weeks I've been staring at a mounting bracket on my empty living room wall, wishing I had bought a Samsung and wondering if I'll ever see a TV show this fall.

My Mitsubishi LT-134 was beautiful to behold although the sound quality was poor. Then it developed a vertical line on the left of the screen. At first, the thin line was faint; then it became thicker and darker. Now it's black and I have a second line next to it. Mitsubishi was responsive enough, but they had to call three different repair services before one came out to assess the problem. This is after two months of numerous phone calls on my part and waiting for no-shows. Now we are both chasing after the repair guy and nobody's responding; and Mitsubishi seems not to know the status of anything. If this is an indication of how the service people handle their repairs, I'm afraid of letting them take the tv away and being left with no tv indefinitely. I've asked Mitsubishi to replace the tv, but they refuse to commit to a replacement so I've been put on hold watching my beautiful tv with lines running through it. I paid $2,000 for this?

Update: 2/4/09. The repair service finally showed up in January to assess the defect, and three weeks later (after multiple calls) picked up the TV. It was returned a week later with a new vertical line on the other side of the screen and a damaged base. More phone calls, and Mitsubishi still refuses to replace the TV. Now there's another serviceman on the case....

Update: 2/28/09. Mitsubishi finally conceded to replacing my TV, but with a different model which has a glossy frame (a quality I dislike). When the box was opened, it was obviously a returned item: the cables were undone, the protective tape was partly missing, fingerprints on the screen. When the screen was in dark mode, there was a wash of blue light over it. I requested another TV.

Update: 3/13/09. The second replacement TV arrived. The screen was RED and the picture was solarized. Another TV requested.

Update: 3/28/09. The third TV arrived. So far, so good. As I said above, it's a beautiful TV and I think even the audio has been improved.

Buyers Beware! The vertical lines kill this great TV. We love the picture when there are no lines and have no issues with the sound, but the lines are a total buzzkill! We bought this TV about a year and a half ago and the lines started apprearing about 35 days after we bought it. 3 vertical lines evenly spaced across the TV. We tried to take it back to the store and they told us we had to go to Mitsubishi. Called Mitsubishi and they told us we had to find a service center. There is not one anywhere near us! At first the lines only appeared after several hours of watching TV and since we aren't home all the time it wasn't too bad. We could turn the TV off for a few minutes and they would go away for an hour or so. But now, we can't watch the TV for more than an hour without the lines and they don't want to go away. I feel like I was totally ripped off.

We bought the 46" Mitsubishi LT-46144 HDTV because we were impressed with the picture and because we had owned a Mitsubishi big screen TV from before and had trouble free use for over 10 years. So we thought we were buying a top-of-the-line brand and quality HDTV. The picture is beautiful/awesome. Unfortunately, the quality is not. We purchased this HDTV new in on April 21, 2008. Within a few months, the LCD had vertical streaks on both the right and left side. We had to get it repaired, and as expected, they had to replace the LCD panel. It worked fine for another 6 months or so and then the vertical line problem re-appeared. We have now had it repaired a second time as of August 2009 (only 16 months old) and again the entire LCD panel had to be replaced. Thank goodness we bought an extended warranty on the unit or we would have been out about $2,000+. By the way, we also have a second Mitusbishi 52" HDTV (LT-52144) in our house that we bought in December of 2007 and it now also has vertical streaks down the ride side of the LCD. So based on my two purchases, it appears that Mitsuibishi's LCDs for their HDTVs seems to have a quality issue. If it were not for the LCD quality problems, I would have rated this HDTV a 4-star (not 5-star) because the TV itself is great (4 star) but because it was much more expensive than other HDTVs in the same size, I don't think it was the best value (and hence, I would not rate it a 5-star). But because of the quality problems, I'm rating it a 1-star. I would strongly recommend that you purchase an extended in-home warranty if you purchase this model. But frankly, I would recommend that you avoid purchasing Mitsubishi because of their LCD quality issues.

I purchased this TV 3 days ago. This model was introduced about Oct, 2007, and is a comparable to other 120 Hz/1080p TVs introduced then. This is my first HDTV. The first program I watched was a PBS special about Mt Everest. This was a 1080i signal received over basic Comcast signal (not the HD package). Stunning views of Everest lit by moonlight with stars overhead, sunsets, sunrises, etc. I thought the blacks and color tones were quite good. We sit 8 feet away and don't think it's too big. I hope to get many years from this TV because of the Mitsubishi quality.

Pros:
120Hz (should be good for sports, but I haven't watched any)
Separate adjustments for red,green,blue,cyan,magenta,yellow
Backlit remote, programmable and well designed
Easy to use onscreen menus
USB port for photo viewing from flash drive (worked fine)
2 coax cable inputs
HDMI 1.3 for deep color (if anyone ever creates material for it!)
Good viewing angles side to side

Cons:
Horrible, tinny sound from speaker
Upper corners are slightly brighter than rest of screen when viewed on dark screen, but not terrible.
Has only 2 color temp adjustments (warm and cool).

I haven't tried bluray or HD-DVD yet. One other thing: I suspect I would have loved almost any of the HDTVs in the store once I got it home. They all seem really good.


Edit: I've now had this TV for over 2 weeks. The TV will occasionally (rarely) shutdown on it's own. It can be turned back on in a minute. Other owners have this same problem [...]. Email to Mitsubishi by me and others has been unanswered. I suspect this is a software problem, but I'm not sure. Playing Photos via USB flash drive is painfully slow; takes 15/seconds per photo even though I set the slideshow to 5 seconds. USB does not respond to the remote control very well.

Color is even better after days of fiddling with color controls. Built-in upscaling of DVDs is good, but my Samsung upscaling DVD does even better job. Nearly as good as the Blu-ray disks from the blu-ray player I connected.

Great picture when there's no line. Not worth $50, let alone $2000 if it's gonna break down this fast. Like previous reviewers, the LT-46144 I bought my father-in-law is now exhibiting a dark-brown 1-inch wide line down the left third of the screen. Shadows of the line appear on either side. We are just now starting to investigate the process of getting it repaired, that's why I'm here. Doesn't sound too promising, but I'll update with our experience.

Mitsubishi use to be good brand name, not anymore.
vertical line started after 13 month (when warranty ended).
$2200 for 13 month of use!