Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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167 of 167 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
High quality display with great picture, remote and menus need some work, May 23, 2008
Just got one of these for the bedroom and mounted it via the "LCD Articulating Wall Mount for Screens Up To 22 In with vesa 75/100MM" that was recommended. The tv came well packaged and in the original toshiba box, and while the box was pretty beat up and about to fall open there was no damage to the display.
The tv is reasonably sleek looking with its all gloss black enclosure, and has a reasonably small profile, especially for an integrated dvd unit. It's also surprisingly light and I was able to wall mount it by myself, although I don't recommend it as you have to procariously hold the tv in one hand while you align it with the wall mount so that you can get the first screw in.
The resolution looks very sharp when viewing HD channels, contrast is great, good viewing angle, dark dark blacks, vivid and seemingly acurate colors. I'm very happy with the quality of the picture. The sound is decent for a bedroom tv, but probably not adequate for something like a family room, in which case you should be looking at a larger tv anyway.
The integrated dvd player works great, and is even able to play divx encoded video files off a burned data dvd. The dvd player seems to somehow detect if you have a widescreen format dvd, in which case it will display it in Full picture size (16:9), otherwise for full screen format it shows it in Normal (4:3). I'd actually just prefer it to remember what picture size I last selected and stick with that, instead of trying to detect it on its own. Of course you can always change the picture size once the movie is started. The remote also has a dvd eject button, which is a nice touch that I find useful; many others don't include this.
Setup is easy and automatically runs the first time you turn it on. I didn't want to spend the extra cash on another Comcast set top box, so I simply hooked up the cable and let the tv automatically search for channels. I was suprised that it was actually able to tune into most of the major network digital HD channels. Comcast (San Jose, CA) must also be broadcasting these via cable. It also picked up a bunch of music and radio on the higher end channels. It was able to automatically label most of the local channels (e.g. 2-13) with the proper call letters (e.g. KTVU), but none above that.
In our bedroom we are about 10 ft. away from it, and this size is almost a little on the small side for that distance. I'd probably like something more like a 32" if money wasn't a factor, but this unit was in our budget.
Now for the negatives: The remote is quite large and has a lot of buttons, many that have dual funtions depending on tv/dvd mode, which is a bit confusing. I found myself searching for stuff in the beginning, but am now used to where the usual buttons are. The buttons glow in the dark which is nice, but some that are not labeled on top of the button, but rather next to it, such as "PIC SIZE" are not readable in the dark.
The menu system is not very intuitive and looks like it was somewhat hastily put together. This is a brand new model, so maybe they haven't spent too much time on the software. One good example is the process for labeling a channel, such as HGTV or SCFI. You have to pain-stakingly use the left/right arrow on the remote to scroll through each character, starting with the numbers first (which are least likely to be in a channel label by the way). You can't even hold the button down and let it scroll automatically, you have to push it once each time. Needless to say, trying to label a bunch of channels is a major pain. There are a few other glaring shortcommings you'll come across in the menus that suggests to me they didn't spend enough time perfecting the software, but luckily you won't spend much time in there outside of setting it up.
It responds somewhat slowly to certain remote operations, such as when you are selecting characters to label a channel, or more importantly while changing channels, which makes the tv feel a bit sluggish. If you're using a satellite or cable set top box, then this won't be as much of an issue as you won't be changing channels directly on the tv.
Bottom line: It's an excellent value and has great features for a small dvd-integrated lcd. It's the least expensive lcd hdtv with an integrated dvd player in this size that I could find, and in my experience toshiba products tend to be of good quality and this is no exception.
I'd give it 5 stars based solely on the quality of the exterior, appearance, display and sound. But the large and complicated remote, clunky menu system and sluggish response are negatives; however probably not a factor if you are using a satellite or cable set top box.
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40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Perfect HDTV for a Study/Home Office, September 26, 2008
This HDTV is an ideal size for my Study/Home Office (similar to a small bedroom). The video quality is excellent with only basic cable (no set-top box) "out of the wall". It displays HD and digital signals from high to low: 1080i; 720p; 480i depending on what level a given station is broadcasting. You can see the slight differences in quality, but all are sharp and clear. The Analog signals also look better than on an "old-fashioned" TV, just not as sharp as the lowest quality DTV signal. DVD's play very easily and the video quality is super.
One minor gripe (as others have mentioned), the audio quality is only adequate (at least compared to the home theater quality many of us are now used to). I've found the volume range to be more than satisfactory for a small to mid-size room; I keep it right at the middle volume level for most all programs. Considering the size and price range of this DTV, I think this level of audio performance is probably reasonable. However, by adding a modest 2.1 "computer" speaker system (plugged into the headphone output), I now have a thoroughly enjoyable audio experience to enhance the set's excellent video. Problem solved by a minimal $25 add-on.
And what a delightful shopping experience from Amazon--I found exactly what I was looking for; the price was the best anywhere; NO shipping or tax charges; and it arrived 1 day early in PERFECT condition!
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32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great picture, nice size, slow channel-change, June 22, 2008
There are very few small HDTV/DVD combo units out there. This seemed the most reasonable. I use this as a TV for the porch or the extra bedroom. The only fault I have with this is that each channel change takes 3-5 seconds. I have an LG that is about 2 seconds for channel change - liveable. I contacted Toshiba and it seems it's not a big deal to them. If you don't flip alot between channels it shouldn't be a problem (I do, on every commercial, and that is cumbersome). So, I wouldn't recommend this for the primary set in the house, but as an extra, it's fine.
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