Customer Reviews

Toshiba 32AV502R 32-Inch 720p LCD HDTV

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

So I was in the market for a 32 inch tv and found this Toshiba to be a great value. I 32 inches, having 1080P isn't necessary and worth the extra cash. I also reviewed the 37 RV525R, which is virtually the same set but with 1080P. It's got good blacks, better than everage. Excellent whites, as most LCD'S have. Handles motion very well despite not having 120 refresh rate. Does a good job with 3:2 pulldown, although you have to turn that feature on, which is the cinema mode turned to film. Viewing angle isn't too great, but then again no lcd is. Once you get 14 degrees off-axis you lose 50% of the picture's contrast. Reflections aren't too bad with this Toshiba, so it's ideal for brightly lit room. Color accuracy isn't too bad but there is a green push which the picture menu allows you to correct. The audio is also very good for a little flat panel, except you get a little vibration with certain dialog with the bass turned all the way up. The remote is excellent and is very user friendly. The menu system is very simple and easy to navigate. Overall, this is a great value. Sure, you will get a better tv with either the Samsung or the Sony, but you will pay more for the extra features they come with. Are they worth it to you? It does, however, outperform the LG,Sharp, and the Panny in most areas. At the price you can grab this for it's hard to turn down. Here are calibrated settings for this tv.
. Note: I will keep updating these settings until I feel they are perfect, so keep checking in from time to time.
UPDATED SETTINGS..1/2/10...THESE NEW SETTINGS WILL GIVE YOU MORE POP.
HDMI
MODE: PREFERENCE
CONTRAST: 48
BACKLIGHT: 80
DYNALIGHT: On
BRIGHTNESS: 56
COLOR: 39
TINT: 0
SHARPNESS: 0

ADVANCED PICTURE SETTINGS:
DYNAMIC CONTRAST: OFF
STATIC GAMMA: 0
COLOR TEMP: WARM
B DRIVE: 0
G DRIVE: -5

NOISE REDUCTION:
DNR: OFF
MPEG REDUCTION: OFF

THEATER SETTINGS:
PICTURE SIZE: NATIVE(HDMI)
CINEMA MODE: FILM
AUTO ASPECT RATIO: OFF

I gave it a four star only because of the speaker vibration during certain dialog and the major color adjustment it needed, but for the money, I could have easily given it a five star.

Got this in today. UPS delivered with a hole in the box and broken styrofoam blocks. TV was fine, though.
No dead pixels and everything is functional. Picture is very good with strong clarity and fine tuning controls that help a lot. Black levels are better than my Philips 1080P set!

Setup is a bit lengthy and the manual is not as detailed considering how big it is. Play with the controls for awhile and you'll get the gist of the tuning controls for picture.

Works with cable or Antenna OTA signals just fine. Strong signal too with a signal meter that is very helpful.
If using OTA HD antenna, set the TV to an "antenna" input and then do a channel search. Once it worked, the OTA signals look better than the HD Uverse.

The sound is VERY clear with a decent bass to it. Compared to a Sony, Samsung, and Panasonic that I listened to at a store this was MUCH better sounding.

Channels change quickly with the remote. Remote is universal with up to two other input controls. Size of text on the screen is good without being too big. Info buttons show the display of the show info very quickly.

Will put on a good power surge protector after reading a post about power supply issues. Most of that tends to be because of power flucuations from the socket or cheap surge protectors. However, sometimes things just die as I've seen on both regular and HDTV's.

Excellent set overall. I compared this to my 42" 1080P set and the difference was minor. Awesome for the bedroom, den, or even a main HDTV.

Will update if I have any problems. Paid with Amex so that I double the warranty for free.

I bought the Toshiba 32AV502R for my elderly grandpa. I wanted to get something for him that was easy to use and took up very little space. This TV is working out perfectly for him. He watches TV solely in standard definition. The picture on this Toshiba is better than either of my Panasonics in SD. The colors appear vibrant even in standard definition. The picture in standard definition isn't perfect of course and will likely not impress people used to HD TV. For my grandpa though, this isn't an issue. He likes the picture and is able to use the remote easily.

We also tested the TV in HD and found the image to be quite pretty. The blacks were dark and the colors were vibrant.

The TV fits nicely on my grandpa's smallish credenza and doesn't overwhelm his small bedroom. The case is shiny and the speakers are unobtrusive.

Overall, my grandpa has had a great experience with this TV and so far it has been the perfect TV for his small space.

This is a great tv.Sound and picture quality are very satisfactory.You have different sound and picture settings for different purposes,gaming,movie,sports etc.Since the frame is also black,it seems larger than 32" at first sight :D. There is only one problem which is rare.When you try to switch the input (from HDMI to cable etc.),the screen goes black.In that case you should shut down the TV and then turn it on.That's why I gave 4 stars.Otherwise, it is great.We have been using it for 7 months and we are very happy.

My new TV arrived today. It took 5 minutes to unpack and set it up. Another few minutes to adjust it the way I wanted. This is a great product for the price. Picture and sound quality are superb. As my last TV was a Toshiba, I didn't have to reset anything on my cable remote. Don't know where all these other buyers are coming from to give anything less than a 5. If I could have, I'd have given this a ten. This isn't a $1500 TV, but that's not what I bought. I am very happy with my purchase.

Toshiba 32AV502R 32-Inch 720p LCD HDTV

We have had this TV repaired 3 times. Contacted Toshiba customer support who had us contact a local TV shop. They returned TV 2 weeks later, installed and it immediately did not function although they said they had it working in the shop. They took it back and did not bring it back for another month. After it's return it had a different issue. First issue was black screen, unresponsive buttons, steady on green light. 2nd issue was the TV wouldn't remain on for longer than 1 hour initially, then wouldn't stay on for more then 1 minute. After a long cool down the same pattern would repeat. The green light was responsive. Toshiba customer support is understandable but they lie and don't escalate your issue to upper level. They also stated warranty is for repair only - not replacement. The TV shop informed us they have so many of these TVs in for the same issue. This is truly a lemon model! We didn't want to send our TV back to the repair shop and be without once again but were told that was the contract agreement they have with the repair shop. The TV shop brought our TV back stating that all parts have been replaced and if it breaks again it has to be returned to Toshiba...which just happened. The TV us having the same issue as it did initially. I will not buy another Toshiba product.

I wish more people waited 6 months to review. We bought this TV last fall and we loved it. Great price, good picture, easy to install with Netflix. We had read about some Toshiba power problems and wondered if that would be us. Well, guess what? It started to shut off on its own in May. Then it wouldn't shut off. Then it started shutting on and off repeatedly over and over. It gets progressively worse with time. We can do nothing with it at this point. I'm pretty sure Toshiba is going to do to me what it seems to do to everyone who calls - they act like they've never heard of it, even though there are forums everywhere mentioning this issue - including Toshiba's own forum. Got a great price, but can't do this once a year. Better to spend $600 on a better brand than to throw $300 a year at this one.

I liked this TV just fine, until after a year of watching maybe 12 hours a week of only DVDs it cuts out mid movie and starts turning off then on. After a couple weeks of this it doesn't even turn on anymore. Having researched problems with this model for a few days online, it appears that this is a very common problem with this television. Guess what Toshiba's response turns out to be? Time to buy a new TV. What a waste money, no more Toshiba crap for me.

This is a great TV, excellent picture and functionality; however, the first TV was "dead on arrival" - nothing worked except the power light. Obviously I was disappointed, but J&R Music (seller) took it right back and sent a replacement which functions as it should. I was pleased with the service and now have another great Toshiba TV.

Bought this Dec 2009 and now one year later this TV broke. The symptoms of this TV for the past 2 months has been sound coming in and out for several minutes at a time. The screen going black completely until channel is changed then restores. Today the TV is near death, the TV wont turn on without major help. After 3 secs the screen would go black, requiring a channel change, then 3 secs later black again.

Paid $400 for this TV a year ago. I guess when it's this cheap they figure you'd keep buying it every year. I have a 55" Mitsubishi DLP that has lasted me 5 years and still going strong with no issues and this TV died after a year. Served it's purpose as a bedroom TV while it lasted. Good for casual TV watching. Disappointed with overall quality. They don't make electronics like they used to. New technology breaks sooner now days and companies expect you to keep upgrading after a year or two. Ridiculous!