Customer Reviews

Toshiba 23HLV87 23-Inch LCD HDTV with DVD Player

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

UPDATE: Returned this TV and bought a Toshiba Regza 26" LCD TV/DVD combination (26LV67)...MUCH BETTER!
The Regza has good viewing at all off-angles (including looking up) and has an upconverting DVD player (the 23HLV87 does not). Paid only 'bout $150 more for the Regza 26" and got a better picture & upconverting DVD player-well worth the difference in my book!
ORIGINAL REVIEW
This isn't a bad TV, but be forewarned-the off-angle viewing when looking UP is terrible (looks like a photographic negative). I checked off-angle viewing from the sides in a showroom, but didn't think `bout lying in the floor to check the view looking up! I mistakenly assumed if it looked good from the sides, it would look the same from all angles-it doesn't!
I put this TV in my home office directly above my computer monitor, sitting on a corner unit. The 23HLV87 I had tilted it's max (5 degrees) and still had a couple of mouse pads to get more forward tilt and it still looks terrible looking up. The Regza doesn't tilt forward on it's stand as the 23HLV87 does, but it looks great when looking up even with no forward tilt.
After my experience with this TV, playing around in the showrooms it appears many LCDs smaller than 26" suffer the same (upward) off-angle viewing problem as this Toshiba. Apparently many manufacturers are putting newer/better LCDs in their 26" units.

I got this to replace the 19" conventional TV in our bedroom. The built in DVD player saves a lot of space. Over-the-air reception with a basic indoor antenna is pretty good, although programming the set of channels to receive was non-intuitive: it seemed like the list of channels was spontaneously changing. There is a signal strength display for digital channels, but it takes a lot of button presses to reach, changing the channel turns it off, and the value doesn't update, so finding the best antenna placement is more difficult than it could be.
The DVD player plays DivX DVDs, so now I can play downloaded videos somewhere other than my PC.

We have this TV installed in our Bedroom and it has worked well for us over the past two years. The picture quality is good and the sound meets our needs. In fact I have few complaints about the TV. One thing I don't like is that it automatically chooses the aspect ratio. You can't watch regular tv in widescreen like I can my Sony Plasma tv, but this is a minor issue. HD signals look great.

I can't actually review this item, since I haven't seen it in over a month. It was DOA. I did not read the return policy from the vendor before I ordered it. If I had, I would have realized that their policy is essentially "we can send you anything and you have to take it".

A leaflet in the box gives you the contact number for Toshiba customer service. My TV has sat for over a month at the Toshiba authorized repairman, waiting for a part that has yet to arrive. Yesterday I was told that Toshiba has now decided to send me a replacement unit. That should add an additional week or two to the wait.

I have successfully bought electronics on-line for over a decade. This is by far, the worst experience I have ever had. Lessons learned: 1. read the return policy from the vendor actually selling the item (that is to say, don't expect Amazon to look out for you); 2. Toshiba TV's get a lot of good reviews, but I would give their customer service a 1-star rating; 3. Read and know your credit card dispute policy; 4. Buy your TV at the local department store or mom & pop -- yes you'll pay a little more, but if the TV doesn't work, you'll probably have a replacement the next day. As opposed to taking my route, which equates to numerous, combative phone conversations with strangers, stretched out over a month.

I just got this a week ago, the picture quality is really worth it. The built-in DVD player is superb. So far, no complaints. Keep in mind that a 23 inch wide screen is suitable for a medium to small bedroom. I would have opted for a 26 inch screen, but I have space issues in this particular bedroom.

I have the 26 (26HLV66) inch version of this tv and needed a smaller one for the bedroom. Assumed the 23 inch model would be exactly the same. It is not. The software for programing channels is very different and very frustrating. If one takes the time to input channel favorites and tag each channel with a label (ie., "ABC, CBS, ESPN" etc.) which takes about 30 minutes, be careful. Right next to the add/delete channel camand is the auto program cammand. Hit that by mistake and all data is erased. It hit that cammand twice by mistake and wasn't happy. Very poor software design.

The 26 inch version recieves all RCN cable HDTV without a box. This one recognizes only 2 of the 18 HDTV channels.


If you have a cable provider HDTV box, none of this should be an issue and you will be pleased with the picture. I was hoping to avoid that expense, but now have no choice. It's part of the family now.



You must turn auto aspect off to view standard broadcasts in the full aspect. Its a manual override. The 26 inch did this automatically and properly.

I had a hard time finding a good HDTV with a built in DVD player of any size. This is the largest one I could find that could also be wall mounted and would look "right". I've only had this one day, but its performing very well and pulls in all of the analog and digital channels in my area over the air. The picture is very good and there is good control over aspect ratio, color saturation and such. Videophiles might say the picture isn't good enough but it is for my bedroom.

The only drawbacks I can find: no way to punch in a decimal point when entering a station, for instance 29.1. At least I can't figure it out. Info display doesn't display the program descriptions that are available on HD channels. I get these on my Sony, but can't get them on this TV.

With all the connectivity options, outputs and control, this is a very good TV for now and the future. I really don't think you can go wrong.

I bought the first unit in August 2007. It worked fine for a few weeks then decided to quit (just went blank!). I called Toshiba and was referred to an authorized service dealer. The unit stayed at the service center for 1 month waiting for circuit boards that never came because they were not available from Toshiba (A relatively recently produced unit and Toshiba does not even have replacement parts: that tells you something!). Finally Toshiba agreed to replace the unit and I received my current TV 1 month later. Now the DVD does not work properly and keeps on pixelating and skipping (I cleaned and played multiple DVDs but the problem persisted). I called Toshiba and insisted that I need a replacement for my replacement. They could not care less. All they were willing to do was to send me back to the service center.
This is the last Toshiba product I will buy.

I don't watch TV very often, so my primary reason for purchasing this was to save space by having a computer monitor that is also a TV and a DVD player. It was simple to hook up to my computer and worked without making any adjustments. I hooked up an antenna to the TV and channels come in very clear without cable or satellite service. The DVD player works well. I am very happy with this and am enjoying the extra space I've gained by getting rid of my old TV and DVD player.

I really wanted to like this television, given that I purchased it at such a good price, and it appeared to have all of the features I wanted. The picture quality on hdtv channels is very good - not quite as nice as my Sharp, but still very nice and certainly acceptable.

I wish I could say the same about the DVD player however. I was really disappointed with the picture quality from the dvd player and as a result this unit will be returned. I tried tweaking the picture settings to improve the picture, and while I could get it better, I just couldn't get to a level that I desired. Not to mention that it seems that you cannot have different picture settings for the different inputs, which is a big shortcoming, as the settings that provide a very good picture on the hdtv channels provide a very washed out image from the dvd player. There are 3 other preset picture settings, but none adjusted the dvd picture to a level I was happy with, and having to reset the settings based on dvd vs hdtv would be very cumbersome. Perhaps there is a way to save the settings for each input, but I couldn't figure it out, and the settings never adjusted the dvd to a good enough level anyway. I assume that the DVD player is not progressive scan like you can get on many competitors' models now.

I also must agree with others - the dvd startup is shockingly loud, irritatingly so. I also disliked that there appears to be no program info from hdtv channels being received, which I get from my years old Sharp. One other thing, small but very annoying, is the procedure to add a channel to you favorites. You have to go through several menu screens just to add a channel - a very tedious process. While this should be a one-time setup, it is so easy to wipe out the favorites list since the channel program button is mapped to one of the buttons on the remote normally used for the DVD player and can be easily hit by mistake.

Pros:
-Very good picture quality from HDTV channels
-Very affordable (when I purchased at least)
-Built-in DVD player
-Every connection that one could ever want

Cons:
-Relatively poor DVD picture quality (no progressive scan)
-No program info for HDTV channels
-Resetting the channels is much too easy, which wipes out all of your favorites, which is a very tedious process of entry
-Very noisy DVD upon startup and whenever going to DVD menu

All in all, an okay product if you are looking for a combination tv-dvd and this fits your price point. However, if you plan to use the dvd player anything more than occasionally, I suggest looking for a combination unit that includes a progressive dvd player, since the quality here just doesn't match the quality of the hdtv broadcasts, and there seem to be offerings around the same price point as this unit that offer the progressive scan.