Customer Reviews

Toshiba 62HM195 62-Inch Diagonal Theaterwide Integrated (1080p) HD DLP Rear Projection TV

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

 

 

I've had this DLP projection television for three months now and today the lamp blew out. I called the Toshiba Customer Support number and spoke with Kevin. He was pleasant and professional and assured me that a new lamp unit would be in my hands within three to five business days. I got the distinct impression that I'm not the first customer to have problems with this lamp, and after a little more research I found that quite a few of these lamps blow out exceedingly early in their working life. Aside from that little issue this television has been great - the picture quality is exceptional when using an HDMI DVD player, and still pretty good when viewing broadcast and satellite channels. I gave it a rating of "3 stars" because I can see this lamp problem becoming a real pain in the neck if it continues. I forgot to ask Kevin if the warranty clock resets with each new lamp unit. Whaddaya think?

I am on my 2nd set in 5 months. The first set's fan assembly went out, and the parts were back-ordered for 2 months. My 2nd set has lasted about 4 weeks before it started having intermittent problems with a loud buzzing and a random shutting off of the TV set. Still jumping through hoops with Toshiba to get this sucker fixed or replaced....

Having said all of that, the picture of this set is fantastic. So, if you're feeling lucky, go for it. Just make sure you buy an extended warranty, and have another TV set available for those long weeks when this puppy is in the repair shop.

Needless to say, I will never buy Toshiba again...

I've had this set for about six months, and I absolutely hate it. The fans literally scream so lound it's hard to hear the audio. I had the fan replaced, and the new fan was louder than the first one!

The thing draws almost 25 watts of power while doing absolutely nothing and the fans still run when it's turned "off". I killed the useless TV Guide feature, and it still runs and draws power. No doubt the fans will fail soon also. Unbelievable.

The bulb just blew, in under 800 hours of operation, obviously not even 10 % of the 8000 hours Toshiba quotes. When the warranty is up, they will cost $250 - $300 each.

The remote control is sluggish, the menus were designed by an idiot, etc., etc. Speaking as an electronics engineer, this is a piece of poorly designed junk that is an embarrassment to everyone involved.

Worst single purchase I've made in years. As soon as I can afford it, I'm going to give it to one of my relatives and buy something decent.

Don't buy this set!

We bought our 62HM195 on April 1, 2006 and received it on April 14, 2006. On August 4, 2006 (not even 4 months of normal use) the lamp of the set popped.

On August 7, 2006, I reported the problem (particularly the disappearing picture and the shattering sound of glass inside the set) to Toshiba. Adding insult to injury, the customer rep by the name of "Don" insisted that I must open the back of the TV, to make sure that the problem is really the lamp, before he can send me a replacement part. Luckily, upon further inquiry it turned out that I did not have to move the humongous paperweight from the entertainment unit, because days before my wife had already contacted Toshiba to complain about the set's dimming picture and that Toshiba already agreed to send us a replacement bulb.

The TV is great when it is working. But, Toshiba's "Xtreme BLAC technologies" is overrated. It is only fine when viewing bright scenes; when viewing dark scenes, it is awful because it degrades the contrast quality of the picture.

This TV should be avoided at all cost. From our experience, "Xtreme BLAC" really means nothing more than "absolute darkness resulting from a short-lived lamp." Page 103 of the Owner's Manual estimates "The average useful service life for the lamp is approximately 8,000 hours in Low Power mode or 6,000 hours in High Bright mode." But based on the reviews of the product here at Amazon, this claim must be way overstated.

Our set has practically always been in Low Power mode, thinking that it is the best way to stretch the life out of the bulb. Our family is just an average TV user. To disclose our viewer profile, we are a family of 4. I am a lawyer and my wife is a grade school teacher, leaving us no time to watch junk programming. Our 2 kids also attend the highly gifted program of the LAUSD, so we highly discourage them to watch TV during the weekdays.

I bought a refurbished 62HM195 and I couldn't be happier. My only complaint is that the set does not perform miracles with standard def signals, and honestly standard def at 62" looks pretty marginal. HD signals are out of this world. Deep blacks, superb sharpness, no detectable DLP rainbow effect. Perfect.

No comments on sound quality since I use my home theater.

TV Guide works perfectly, but only after many calls to Toshiba. It turns out that the TV had disabled the channel it needed for the signal. Once that was corrected, it has worked absolutely flawlessly.

As for the fans, I do not notice noise except when the TV is shut down and they run for a while to cool the set. They certainly are not heard over the TV sound in any normal circumstances.

Bulb life? Unknown. I'm only a few months into ownership.

Frustrated by the remote, would not operate some components. Put it away and bought a harmony. Do the same and ssave yourself some pain.

I experienced tiling or pixelating of my picture from the first day I plugged it in. I thought the problem was with my cable service, but after 5 visits by the cable company and one tv service call, I discovered that I just needed a firmware upgrade. Toshiba sent me a smart digital card with the firmware upgrade and they talked me through installing it. Problem solved.
The TV guide feature that had worked, stopped working after the firmware upgrade. I contacted Toshiba and they are investigating the problem. They have been investigating the problem for over a month now. I have found out from a service representative that they only have one person that deals with all of the TV guide problems. I am waiting for that person to call me with the solution.
In the mean time, the lamp blew. First, I noticed that the picture became dim. I increased the brightness but then I heard a loud crack. That was the bulb exploding. That happened after 3 months of light use. Toshiba sent me a new one and I installed it without difficulty. No TV for a week though while I waited for the new one to arrive.
When changing channels, there is a 3-4 second delay before the channel actually changes. This makes channel surfing VERY slow. I have been going to TV guide online to find my channel line up.
I am happy with the picture in High Definition, HOWEVER, I have never owned a TV that operates with such unreliability and therefore I would not recommend that you buy it.

the main reason I bought this TV was the price. 1080 and 62" for about $2,200. As another reviewer stated, the bulb on my TV exploded about 1 month into use. The customer reps didn't give me much hassle about sending a new one out. I've been using the new bulb for about 6 months now with no problem.
I think the picture is great. I use a HD cable box and upconverting DVD player, both via HDMI cables. I have no problem with either yet.
2 reasons for not having 5 stars is the bulb popping, and the sound is subpar. I know it's expected to use a home reciever, but Toshiba still should have made the sound better then they did. You will have to buy a reciever with this TV. The lack of sound quality will annoy you after a month or two, like it did me.

My boyfriend and I invested in one of these televisions as an alternative to going to the movie theater, and the picture is even better than at the theater! Colors are extremely vibrant and the image from our HD-upconverting DVD player is extremely sharp and lifelike. I haven't had any of the problems with bulb life and fan noise that other folks have; apparently it was a problem limited to the first run of production. I can't comment on the sound or cable TV viewing, since we use neither of these features, but for sheer picture quality at such a large size I have yet to see a comparable set.

I love it. Cristal clear images with no problems. I have not noticed any fan noise until I am turning off the TV and it is cooling down.

We have had the Toshiba 62HM195 for about two years now, and we are on our third bulb. To Toshiba's credit, the first bulb was replaced at no cost to us, since the bulb which came with the television was defective. The next bulb lasted about a year and a half. A replacement bulb ran around $200... I can not imagine they will go down in price from this point on.

When it is working, the picture looks great. We have used it with High-Def cable programming, video game systems, HD-DVDs, and Blu-Ray discs, and it performs well.