Customer Reviews

Toshiba 32C100U 32-Inch 720p LCD HDTV (Black Gloss)

5 star:		(63)
4 star:		(35)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This is my first HDTV, but not the first I've had experience with. I wasn't sure what to expect with it when I hooked it up but I am not at all unhappy with this television.

My main uses for this TV include:
HD Gaming (Xbox 360)
SD Gaming (Wii, PS2)
and DVDs

Usability:
The remote is easy to read and easy to use. It's far more streamlined than my previous television's remote and easy to get at what I want to. It's easy to set the Input channels: TV, Video out, Colorstream HD (the channel for the composite hook-ups), HDMI 1, HDMI 2, and PC. You also have the choice of 6 ways to display what's on screen, which is handy when switching between game consoles that are HD to one that is a bit older and displays in non-Progressive SD.

Screen Quality and Clarity:
The screen displays BEAUTIFULLY, crisply, and cleanly. The reaction time and contrast is very good just looking at it with a discerning eye. My HD video games play really well and whether I'm playing RPG's or a fast paced FPS games, everything comes out clear, crisp, and with no artifacts when the picture is moving fast. DVDs display sharply and clearly and I don't have to squint or toy with the contrast to make anything out, even in darker games or movies.
Another great thing about this TV is that you have to move at very odd angles, sometimes even almost completely facing the side to get a major loss in viewing quality. You don't have to sit straight across from it to get the only good picture, sometimes I sit on the floor a few front of the TV looking up at it and it's still clear and perfect. So if you're pressed for space like I am, this is a great TV.


Sound:
It's a bit tinnier than my previous set's bombastic sound but it's still great without an added speaker system. The volume is really good, and it sounds gorgeous for the sounds of my 360 games. With or without a home theater speaker system, it sounds fantastic.


All in all, this is a GREAT SET, doubly so if you are looking to have BANG FOR YOUR BUCK.
I am a regular DVD watcher and hardcore gamer and this perfectly suits my needs, as well as my family who just like to use it to watch television.

The ONLY gripes I have with it are that I wish that it had one more component cable hook-up and one more composite cable hook-up, but it's fine for what I'm using it for right now.

General:

I bought this TV to replace my beloved Toshiba CRT HDTV. I was a bit worried about the fact that Toshiba does not like to post the contrast ratio as well as their response time, but I knew that my CRT had a great picture and thought I would give this TV a chance. I am glad that I did. First this is not a high end TV so as a result the picture quality is definitely not going to blow you away. The picture is decent though and has accurate color and works well for all kinds of viewing: HD sports (nbc football), Television programs (HD and cable tv), Blu ray (LOST), and PC (actually a mac hooked up through the HDMI). Where this TV really shines is the features, especially if you own a PS3.

Features:
This TV only displays 720p (1366x768, like most 720p LCD's) but you are able to input 1080p so that the TV down-scales to 768 lines from 1080 lines of resolution to give you a great looking picture. This TV also accepts the 24hz 1080p signal from a PS3 or other blu ray player to give you the closest experience to film quality which this TV does a decent enough job handling this conversion, however to be honest there is not a whole lot of difference between having the 24hz on or off on the PS3. The Regza link is awesome. I have a PS3 hooked up through a Sony HDMI receiver the link controls the receiver power and volume with the TV remote it also controls the PS3 playback and XMB menu. Basically the link allowed me to go from 3 remotes to watch blu ray to only one and allows me to switch back to watching cable only using the TV remote (I should note that I have unscrambled cable, no cable box).

Picture:
The contrast ratio is definitely helped by the dynalight feature that locally dims parts of the picture that are black but you will still need to tweak the backlight settings depending on weather your lights are on or off. The main problem with the picture is dark scenes in movies in a bright room. The dynalight helps to keep blacks dark, but it would help to have 2 picture settings that were user defined for lights on and lights off, because the movie picture setting is pretty much useless unless you are lucky enough that it works for your setup. Also I have noticed the TV has trouble going from black to white in quick cuts in movies. You can see pixels that go from really dark to really bright are struggling to keep up with the rest of the picture. The picture quality is very good for a Television at this price. I struggled getting a LCD Television because I hated the pixelation that I noticed on all of my friends Televisions that adopted LCD and Plasma early. This TV has verly little pixelation, the picture is sharp and has spot on colors. For cable and OTA signals the cable clear helps to make pictures look smooth and clear. I own the first 5 seasons of lost on Blu ray and this is the most beautiful it has ever looked.

Gaming:
As you might have guessed I am more of a movie buff than video gamer, but games are important. I've played a few games and I must say the gaming mode is for real. I played Gran Turismo 5 prologue and the picture was perfect and experienced no noticeable lag. Do not be confused the gaming mode is not just another view setting, it turns off all the unnecessary processing to allow there to be less lag between the gaming system and the display. My CRT was perfect for gaming, CRT's are great because there is no lag, and this LCD does it's best to mimic the little to no lag CRT.

Sound:
Let's face it TV speakers are not going to blow you away. So this TV is pretty average. Where it really excels is it's ability to work with a linked receiver. It knows when I switch to my PS3 to let the receiver do it's thing and when I'm watching cable the TV tells the receiver to switch to the TV input. Also any audio input on the TV is passed on to the optical digital output. The sound coming through the receiver is great and the intelligence of the input switching through the link is so much better than just having a universal remote.

Final Thoughts:
This TV will not be the center piece of a demo quality home theater set-up, but at the price it is good at what it does. Which is display great HD for a 32inch TV. The great thing about this TV is it provides all the functionality without charging you extra for bells and whistles that will not improve your experience.

Pros:
Regza Link for HDMI controls PS3 and HDMI Receivers
Dynalight helps contrast ratio
Decent picture for all sources.
24hz input compatibility for Blu ray
1080p input compatibility to get all 768 lines of resolution on TV
Gaming Mode
Good Value

Cons:
Black to white response time could be better.
Only one set of user defined picture settings.
TV Sound alone is sub-par for this price range.

This is a very nice tv in all aspects. The only thing I don't like is that the speakers are positioned in the back of the tv. But, even then the sound projects clearly. It has half mute, and full mute which I like really well. The picture is really good, and it's a nice looking tv. For the money I'd say I got everything I want.

This has 2 HDMI inputs, not 3 as stated in the Technical Details section. I have been using this TV for just over 3 months (average 6 hours daily) and it has worked nicely. The picture quality is very good and the side viewing angle is very large. The input signals used for viewing DVD movies have been Standard Definition and High Definition, and both have been really satisfactory. The TV also performs well as a computer monitor, with absolutely no 'ghosting' of images when playing games, even without using the Gaming Mode function. The sound is adequate for a small room or a quiet environment. Out of the box, no adjustments to picture settings was needed for viewing DVD movies. There are presets available for Sports, Movies, PC etc. The TV has advanced features for picture adjustments which are really great, as they give the user lots of choices apart from the presets. All in all, this TV is worth the price.

I needed to replace the master bedroom TV (Viewsonic 26" LCD HDTV) that suddenly morphed into a boat anchor after less than three years of average use. I recently bought a 19" Toshiba LCD HDTV/DVD combo for the guest bedroom that impressed me with its picture quality and functionality. Comparing 32" (actually 31.5") models, I narrowed it down to the LG and Toshiba models that were price just below $350. There were cheaper solutions, but I wanted to stick to well established brands. Both sets seemed to be very comparable spec-wise and customer reviews put them both at just under 5 stars. Finally, I chose the Toshiba for its feature-rich menu options that included professional type picture calibration controls. Amazon prime delivery had it at my door within two days and it was up and running within 20 minutes. Out of the box it looked great with the HD (1080i) signal provided by a SA Explorer 4240HD box and HDMI connection. I immediately noticed the sound was a HUGE improvement over the horribly weak speaks sported by the Viewsonic, but bumping up the bass (10%) and treble (25%) over factory settings made dialog sound more full and natural. I tweaked the picture setting to tone down the color saturation a bit and remove a slight greenish tint in flesh tones. Having color temperature and gamma controls really opens the door to what you can accomplish when dialing in even the worst upconverted 480i signals. There are many, many more control features that make this an excellent choice regardless of how you wish to use this set, but I'll stop here by saying that, so far, I could not be more pleased with this set's physical appearance and overall sound and picture quality, especially at this price point. HIGHLY recommended!

I wanted to like this TV - especially with all the positive reviews and great price. Unfortunately, my set has a serious green tone to items in dark scenes in the image. So faces, background items (streets, windows, etc.) look distinctly green. Have tried all the color and temperature settings and adjusted for 2+ hours, and still has green tint. I only have so much patience. Doesn't happen on every scene - seems to be related more to the overall brightness of the area. Picture also seems to be blotchy (like old digital photos in low light).

Granted, I'm using SD cable (not HD cable) and some of the discoloration comes from pixelization in the signal, but I have 2 other LCD tvs that I had hooked up side by side, and they did not display this color cast or blotchy image. Could try another one, but I'm hesitant after this experience.

UPDATE: I exchanged this for a Panasonic TC-L32X2 (only a few $ more) here at Amazon and Wow, what a difference. The Panasonic has much better color (my opinion), but most of all it handles SD video input wonderfully. Where the picture was pixelated and grainy/blotchy in many scenes with the Toshiba, the Panasonic displays a beautiful smooth picture. I assume it is a much better upscaling processor that is accomplishing this. So - I definitely don't regret returning the Toshiba and getting the Panasonic (which also comes with an iPod dock). For just a few dollars more the Panasonic is a far better deal for me.

Going from a Sony tube T.V. to this Toshiba LCD has been a joyous experience. I had planned to get at least a 37 inch LCD screen, but the 32 inch was the right price and it does not take up much space in our living room. For a 32 inch, 720p is perfect. The screen is just beautiful. We don't watch much sports so we don't need a plasma. The sound is good, which surprised me. DVDs look good. HD content from Apple TV looks superb. I admit that the small size does not make this a theater experience, but my wife and I were not looking for such a thing. If you want to sit back and just watch a nice flat screen TV, this is it. I see no need for calibration. The standard setting works perfectly in my room. Every time I tried adjusting the TV, I would go back to the standard setting, where it now remains. I smile when I think about all the money I saved by not buying anything bigger and more expensive. Thank you Toshiba for providing a product that meets my needs.

This TV packs a nice little punch. And we LOVED that we could take it out of the box and basically plug it in. The picture is awesome, and the sound is crisp. It has a lot of features that we haven't discovered yet, but hopefully in time we will use it to it's capacity. The price was great, you won't be disappointed.

This TV is wonderful!! It feel like we are at the cinema. All I need is some popcorn. lol. Overall, for the price, the TV is excellent! I recommend buying this TV for your bedroom or living room.

I bought this TV for my mom after her old Sony CRT dinosaur finally gave out after 10+ years. At first I couldn't believe the price- 300 bucks for a 32 inch HD LCD tv?!- but read the reviews on here most of which favored the TV, so i decided to give it a try. Appearance-wise it's very sleek and refined- glossy but surprisingly not a fingerprint magnet. Setup was extremely easy- it's light enough for my sister to lift and simple enough for my mother (completely terrible with electronics) to do the initial set up. Picture quality was much better than her old CRT and its amazing using a bluray player- comparable to my Sony Bravia though not as clean. Given it's about a 1/3 of the price of a sony, though, it's incredible. The only downside I thought of was the remote control- it looks a bit cheap and plastic-y but that is the only con I can think of. Highly, highly recommend this product! Best LCD TV deal on amazon right now!