Customer Reviews

Toshiba 23HLV84 TheaterWide 23" 16:9 HDTV LCD TV/DVD Combo with HDMI Input

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

 

 

I'm amazed at how many great reviews this device has, given my experience. I've just bought and returned one for work. Sure, there were people (not many) who couldn't see the problems, but I don't see how any videophile could stand looking at it (turned on and playing a DVD internally, at least).

First, the integration is really bad. Put a DVD in and it turns on (of course). It does NOT, however, switch to DVD mode. Then when you manually switch modes you have to wait for it to spin up the DVD, I guess it thinks you just put the disk in for storage or something... The few controls for settings are vague, limited, and there's a 100% disconnect between the player and the screen. Yet another example: ejecting a disk while it's off... *if* it works you have to hold down the button quite a while, it turns the TV all the way on, *then leaves it on once the disk is out*...

It's an HD screen, and I'm guessing with an HD input or DVD player with HDMI out it'd look great. That's because an HDMI out DVD player will almost certainly have some kind of 'upres' feature, whereas the built-in player appears to have none whatsoever. The image is simply crudely stretched to be big enough to fill the screen, and the result on the 23" LCD looks far worse then DVI out of a $199 player to a 50" plasma we also have here. The settings of course give you no control over this process, no way to view the image at native pixel resolution or any other tweaks that one may want.

They really spared every expense with the DVD player by the way, I have never used a DVD player so slow to respond to commands, such as selecting a chapter from the DVD menu, and when it does it usually visually screws it up, starting to start, pausing (maybe showing the menu again for a couple frames) then actually starting, etc.

Finally, there is a warning included INSIDE the box that the HDMI input is not for use with computers, I don't know if they screwed up the HDMI implementation or are saying that because there's no pixel orbiter or what, but that and the fact that this is one of the only consumer electronic devices I've seen in years that is limited to 60Hz power only are yet more ways this unit disappointed me. In the end I was very relieved to be able to return it.

I got this today and am in love. What a great set! The progressive DVD on the side is a nice space saving touch, but this set is awesome for two reasons, picture and aesthetics of the cabinet. I also love the carrying handle in the back. I bought the optional wall bracket, but since we are now considering putting in place of our older 35" 4:3 analog, I haven't mounted it yet, but am using it on the stand little stand that comes with the set. It is completely inoobtrusive, exactly what I had in mind, all about the picture, looks like a piece of art.

I was concerned that after watching an older 35" 4x3 analog set and going to a 23" 16:9 the image would seem tiny to to me, but I realized that the viewing area on the old 35" 4:3 for movies on DVD is not really any larger when you consider the black bars, so I am losing nothing, and gaining in space and image quality.

The set has an HDMI connection, which I have yet to try, as I don't have any components with this capability, but since I plan to get a DVR with this, I wanted to have it. I can say that one of the faults of the 9 year old Hitachi 35" that I had was that it only had one "S" connection, and although that was "State of the Art" at the time, it was quickly not enough to accomodate my needs as I acquired new products like a DVD and home theater.

Anyway, I highly recommend this, I was incredibly impressed with the out of the box performance and the great contrast, and think that this will be a best seller for Toshiba.

Bought back in May 2005 for about 1047.00 at the time, one of the best DVD /LCD TV's I had seen. No issues with dead Pixels yet, or anything... Good sound, Very clean picture as long as you are viewing from at least 5 Feet, have it in bedroom at 8-9 feet for viewing and its better than my 50 inch Sony * DVD is a bit clunky and looks to be better than 480p + but not up in the HD higher ranges, but still much better than straight Satellite signals! I would still buy this exact TV for the same reasons _ Light weight_ great Picture, good sound_ and fits where you need it to !

I run a B&B and bought this unit to use wall mounted. Can you believe that whomever designed the remote control neglected to put a DVD Eject button on it and when wall mounted all TV mounted control buttons are unseen because they are on the top. Imagine my delight having to explain to every guest in that unit at every check-in, how to locate the DVD eject button. I am on this site now because I was looking for -and not finding- a Toshiba troubleshooting information section as the integrated DVD now makes a grinding noise but refuses to eject the DVD and has no external pin socket to try to reset it. Unless you live across the street from a repair site choose a set without an integrated DVD.

As several other users have posted, the DVD on this unit stopped reading DVD's within 6 weeks of purchase. Now _I_ have to remove the television from its wall mount, pack up a fragile, flat-screen television for shipping, and pay for shipping to a Toshiba. I am now crossing my fingers that they will fix it, instead of, e.g., breaking it, or doing nothing to it and sending it back to me. Had I known, I would easily have paid an extra $150 or so for a different brand.

What a great set - perfect and bright. Having the side slot progressive DVD player is a great combination - if you're using this in a tight spot such as in a media cabinet, it's good to have the TV on a swivel base. It replaced an all-in-one 20" tube SDTV and it's got many features over and above what we expected.

The 16:9 screen image with scaling for normal 4:3 SDTV is very clear, bright and sharp. DVD movies play without a problem and teh player is forgiving: DVDs that don't play on an older Toshibal dual deck DVD/VHS (scratches) play on this TV. And it plays VCDs, whihc is a bonus for our home movies that we've burned to CD in MPEG1.

The additional bonus of so many inputs is tremendous, allowing us to connect a ReplayTV, Xbox with room to spare. Highly recommended!