Customer Reviews

Toshiba REGZA 46RF350U Super Narrow 46-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV

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

 

 

I've watched this Toshiba thin bezel for over a month now and can now feel qualified to post this review. I orginally had my eye on a SONY KDL-46XBR4 with it's attractive glass bezel, but the price stopped me. The better idea was to have no bezel and all picture. I compared this picture with the Sony, as well as, my last year's model Toshiba 42" plasma and this 46" LCD is great.

The picture is so sharp that individual hairs on the Celtic Women DVD through my OPPO's 1080p playback are easily recognizable. The hues shadow casted by blue backlighting from the Shane Castle walls is finally significantly noticable. Lisa's very very light blue top on her gown is clearly identifiable from her pure white lower half of her dress. This was never very distiguishable on any other television before. Plaid lines on coats with the tightest weaves can be seen on Lester Holt's NBC Today Show wardrobe. You can even attribute the out of focus side images on the screen to the actual focal length limitation of the studio cameras instead of your TV's reproductions when they do tight-ins with food on embroidered tablecloths. Now, even Jay Leno's makeup can't hide all his blemishes and you can even identify all the birthmarks on his guests during their close-ups on their interviews. You start to really notice these things when you get a great HDTV and don't get distracted by the picture frame bezel and screen reflections. Lastly, the sports coverage in HD is so clear, it's like looking through a pair binoculars from my season ticket holder's lower level seats at FedEx Field, without the noisy and obnoxious fans in the front seats standing up in front of me at the wrong times.

See the Toshiba Regza website to understand how they treat their picture to get such realism. At the latest commodity prices, you shouldn't be without this model of HDTV. It's much lighter than a plasma and was easy to wall mount, too.

The main strength of this TV is the thin-bezel design. This makes the TV's overall width a few inches less than most 46" LCD televisions, allowing you to get a 46" TV into a space where you might otherwise only be able to fit a 42" or smaller. The picture quality and sound are excellent as well. Unfortunately Toshiba does not publish the contrast ratio for this TV so I could not compare it to other models. The TV does produce excellent blacks and seems to have very good contrast so it is not a day-to-day issue with owning this TV.

I must admit up front that I have a special affinity for Toshiba. My first stereo/cd component system, widescreen TV and personal laptop, all were from Toshiba.

With that in mind I still looked at multiple sets from Sony Bravia XBR KDL-46XBR4 46" 1080p LCD HDTV, Samsung LNT4671F 46" 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV and the HP SL4778N 47" 1080p MediaSmart LCD HDTV. Putting cost aside for now, according to numerous forums all the sets have their pluses and minuses. The Sony produces a great picture and I love their remotes and the Samsung's look incredible as well. I never got an in-person look at the HP's, but I really like the Internet and multimedia features, however I can get most of these from my XBox and PS3. The 2 things that really solidified my decision to go with the Toshiba was the aesthetics, the thin bezel really looks like the picture is just hovering in mid-air. Also, my previous experience with other Toshiba electronics.

I've had the TV for over two weeks now and continue to play with all the settings. It has ample inputs, 3 HDMI, 2 components and the PC input(DB15), plus 2 or three composite and s-video connections. There is also the optical audio out to connect to your receiver. The one input missing that I would have liked and is on my 51HX93 is a 2nd coaxial input for connecting an antenna for over-the-air HD. You can connect an antenna or cable to the existing coaxial input but it is nice having a separate one just for the antenna. Also, there is no POP (a version of PIP) that is on my 51HX93 - they never claimed the set had it, I just hoped it was an undocumented feature. Granted I don't use the POP a great deal, but it is also nice to have and is the only down side I have found so far with the set. You need to step up to the LX series to get the POP. As far as the HDMI inputs, I also bought the Onkyo TX-SR705 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver (Black) the same day. The CEC link that HDMI allows works great between the Toshiba TV and the Onkyo. I can control my input selection from my TV for everything connected to the Onkyo. It shows up in a side or sub list of the HDMI port that the Onkyo is connected to.

I was surprised how great the picture looks straight out of the box. I just lowered the contrast and DynaLight some (get it out of torch mode) and didn't really need to adjust anything else for the picture to be enjoyable. There are however an abundance of settings and color controls you can make to get the picture just the way you prefer. Each input will retain different settings so you don't have to keep making adjustments every time you switch inputs. For some though the amount of adjustments and settings you can make may be overwhelming, but you don't have to use most of them in order to get a great picture. But play around with them enough and you should be able to get a perfect picture or pretty close.

I did consider waiting for this years (2008) new line-up of sets to come out instead of getting a 2007 model, but I am glad I didn't wait. The biggest concern or issue I was worried about was the 120hz functionality that is becoming standard in new LCD sets. However, I have not noticed any issues, no blurring or anything that the 120hz would help. I know there are mathematical reasons that the different frame rates effect the picture, but so far in real world use, I don't miss it. Hopefully I won't change my mind once NASCAR, MLB and college football get going again. So far watching the Australian Open and several fast paced action movies (on both a Toshiba HD-A35 1080p HD DVD Player and a Sony BDP-S300 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player), the set has performed beautifully.

I plan on buying the Toshiba REGZA 40RF350U Super Narrow 40" 1080p LCD HDTV model for my Mom's birthday to bring her into the digital and HD age and that's the best compliment I can think to give this TV. I have no regrets with this purchase and what's more adding the Onkyo either the TX-SR705 or the TX-SR605 or higher is a near perfect marriage of components. The CEC functionality is great - of course this may be the same for all HDMI CEC components, but the Onkyo manual mentions Toshiba and Panasonic TV's specifically.

The 46" comes with the stand attached and I set it up that way and don't plan on wall-mounting it so I can't speak to that, but the set is a bit thicker than others the same size, but that has no effect on me. The view from the front is what matters to me and the 46" screen and thin bezel make the perfect picture. Just for reference I have connected via HDMI a Xbox 360 Elite, PlayStation 3 and a DVD recorder, all to the Onkyo and then the Onkyo to the TV. My HD cable DVR is connected via component to the Onkyo which sends all video over the HDMI to the TV. All the images look great and I have also tried connecting them directly to the TV's HDMI but they looked just as good through the Onkyo.

Update: I've added/swapped an old cable box for a new one from Charter that has HDMI out. Of course the cable is not 1080p, but having one cable instead of several to get the video and audio is nice. Anyway the picture continues to look great. I still have no regrets or 2nd thoughts about this TV and plan on buying the 40" version this next week as a gift.

I am extremely pleased with this set. I just received it today and I can really tell the difference from my last LCD TV (which was 1080i). Currently, I have it setup with an HD DVR from Comcast through HDMI and looks great. I also have a Wii connected via component. I am looking forward to either investing in a PS3 or XBOX 360 + HD-DVD player to enjoy the true 1080p. I researched this set since shortly after it was released and the super thin bezel is definately an eye catcher. I would give this 3 thumbs up.

I purchased this TV in Nov'07. By April '08 some of the 'pixels' were all one color. An approved shop came, couldn't fix it at my house, and took it in to their shop.

Its been 17 days and I'm waiting on Toshiba to "approve" a new screen. After they approve it, it will take 7 to 10 days to ship it then another 2 or 3 days to install it and it has to 'run' for 3 days before it can be returned.

I've asked when a decision will be made by Toshiba regarding shipping the needed part - I cannot talk directly to the people who know that information. The guys on the phone are nice enough, but unwilling or unable to answer the question of when the techs will make a decision regarding how to proceed without an intermediary and a 2 or 3 day delay.

If they ship the part tomorrow (and I'm doubtful that's going to happen), To get warranty repair I will have been without my TV for (currently estimated 30 days.)ON EDIT: It's now been 30 days with the TV in the shop. The part needed has been approved but is apparently on back order and will be at least 30-45 more days before it's available to ship. The best case scenario for a warranty repair is ... TV out of my house for 2.5 MONTHS.

0N FURTHER EDIT: The end of the story. Toshiba agreed that the lag was too long to wait for replacement part so they decided to replace the TV I purchased with a newer model. It was shipped to my house. Unfortunately, the new TV straight out of the box would not power up. I refused delivery and Toshiba shipped out another replacement TV. This one is working. Total time to get warranty issue resolved - two months. May 17th to July 16th.

Buyer beware. My experience with reliability and customer service has not been good. I will not buy Toshiba again.

I previously bought the 40" Super Thin Regza and liked it so much I decided to get the 46" for the living room. One remote for two TV's... No learning curve... limited instruction manual reading... and previous experience with Toshiba quality. Plus this thing just looks ultra high-tech whether turned on or not. We couldn't be happier! It's priced right and we even got Saturday delivery. Beautiful crisp HD picture, great with an upconverting DVD player (now available for under $60 including the HDMI cable!), adequate with normal programming like every other 1080p.

I bought a "Thin Frame" Mitsubishi lt-46133 to replace a Sony 36" XBR CRT. Boy was I disappointed. The Mits was much brighter but the picture was very pixelated when watching sports, it took forever to change channels and turn on, I couldn't select inputs from my universal remote, and had problems with the digital audio output. I returned it and bought this set - the only other that would fit in the space I have. I'm much happier with the Toshiba. There is still some pixelation when watching sports in HD on cable - could be that the signal is compressed, or maybe that's just how LCDs are. My only other gripe with this set is the somewhat limited number of analog inputs that forced me to be creative to get everything connected.

We were very pleased with this television until a couple of months ago, when it began having vertical lines across the left, and then right, sides of the screens. I sent Toshiba an e-mail about it in March, when the TV was about 2.5 months out of warranty. We tried some troubleshooting and when that didn't help, they said to take it to get an estimate. The technician said the entire LCD screen had gone bad and would need to be replaced, at a cost of $3,078! (I paid $1983 for it.)

Toshiba told me to send them a letter requesting assistance. A few days later they told me, sorry, it's out of warranty, and they wouldn't do anything about it. I explained that since the ENTIRE LCD SCREEN had gone bad after just 14 months, it was clearly defective. And it's not like I was having to pay a couple of hundred dollars for a part - the entire TV was scrap. Nothing I said would change their mind.

I understand that it's out of warranty. What I don't understand is them acknowledging that there was something wrong with the LCD screen, that it should have lasted MUCH longer, etc., but not being willing to stand behind their products, do the right thing, and at least provide a partial refund or SOMETHING.

That was my third Toshiba television purchase, but it will be my last. They have lost a customer for life, and I hope if you're reading this, you will pay attention to this - they WILL NOT stand behind their products and do the right thing.

I purchased this set 14 months ago for a bit less than $2,000. The panel went bad a few weeks ago. Repair costs would have been in excess of $2,500. The best I could get from Toshiba was "We are sorry" (even though they wasted 30 minutes of my time spitting it out). It was tough to "write off" but I did so. They obviously do not need my business; I surely do not need any more of their products. Moral.....buyer beware.

Purchased this unit in April 2008 (thru local store, not Amazon) and was pleased. I also did the product registration at this time. However, less than 9 months later, the dreaded vertical white line problem surfaced. A Toshiba approved technician came out but reported he had to order the full replacement screen component, which took far too long (nearly 2 months between initial call & repair). Of course, replacement screen module didn't have a new one year warranty so I was left with 2 months on the initial warranty.

Everything was ok until about 9 months later again. Screen distortions (including the vertical white line), intermittent power problems and sound but no picture. Knowing my one year warranty was expired, I tried to get it to limp along. Some time afterwards, I started looking for a replacement & found that Toshiba had extended the warranty for certain screen issues; however, they (intentionally??) did not notify me although they had my model & contact info (including email). When I called questioning why I wasn't informed and that I would have been covered, they had no answer other than I'm out of warranty & nothing could be done. Frankly, they didn't care, either. I tried the repair company again, but were told Toshiba's are the most commonly repaired items, all that could be done is replace the screen component again (of course at my expense), and that it would be approx $1300. I declined.

The standard response seems to be purchase the extended warranty (including from the repair person). For $1700, I think I'm reasonable in expecting 3 years minimum of a functioning unit. They appear to cheapen the product components to save money & then push the extended warranties for a second hand in the till. From what I can tell, its the full industry's approach now.