TV Reviews

The picture is great, the sound is great BUT the very first VHS tape I played shut down the entire system. It is now going to the shop AND I get to PAY to have it picked up and delivered ! Toshiba is adamant that this 80+ pound is a portable for me. Customer service knows to say I'm sorry, but are unwilling and unable to change the no-pay-for-pickup warranty terms. I'll update this review post the repair. So far, it's nice but too expensive if it keeps breaking. Buy with caution.

I find the 24" size ideal for the bedroom. It does play DVD-R discs as stated in the specifications, but not all media play equally well. Titles burned using the 1x Verbatim media I purchased at Sam's Club play fine so far; however, the HQT 1X-4X DVD-R media I purchased from CDR/DVDR Media(http://store.yahoo.com/cdrdvdrmedia/index.html) hangs and glitches occasionally during playback. I believe the reflectivity of that media is near the lower threshhold of what the unit can read. The Verbatim discs probably have a higher reflectivity index which makes them easier to read. I'll just shop around until I find some 4x media that provides decent reflectivity and isn't too expensive.

Picture quality is quite good; more than adequate for use in my bedroom. My biggest complaint by far is with the remote control. The basic playback controls in the center split all the other buttons into an upper and a lower bank, with row after row of evenly sized and spaced buttons with confusing, unclear labels. The only functions you'll be able to operate by feel are Power, Play, Stop, Rewind and Forward Scan, and Pause. To skip chapters, navigate DVD menus, or even change channels or adjust volume, you'll have to look at the remote. Really one of the worst-designed remotes I've ever used; very frustrating. A couple of other minor complaints include the logic of the unit. For example, you can eject a videotape and the unit remains off, but try to insert a videotape or even eject a DVD and the TV turns itself on. Still, the picture is quite good, the sound is adequate, and even tapes recorded in my S-VHS deck are watchable (if a touch soft and oversaturated). A better remote, smarter logic, and higher quality sound would earn this unit a five-star rating.

We have been looking and evaluating TV/DVD/VCR sets for over a year.
I waited until the price went down as when it first came out it was $599.
I am glad we have it. It does have the very best picture and is also the best looking. This is my first Toshiba.
It is so nice to plug it in and go.
Notice: as with most of the combos, you cannot watch another channel when recording another. You have to watch what is recording or turn it off as it will record when the TV is off.
It will also copy DVD's to tape if the DVD is NOT copy protected.

Strengths:
Powerful 3D Graphics Video Card at a reasonable price. I tried two nVidia GeForce cards prior to this one had had to return both of them. This card does excellent work at Video and 3D graphic.

Weaknesses:
Installation manual is weak - I had to contact ATI direct for installation support - however - the support was excellent. They just need to write a new manual for this board.

Summary:
For the price, this card can't be beat. It has the speed, memory and bandwidth throughput for graphic intensive applications and games. There is not an nVidia card at a similar price that is on a similar playing field. I tried two different nVidia cards prior to this one on a new Sony VAIO Desktop. I tried the nVidia 5200 MX 440 and a nVidia 5600 FX - neither one did a good job with video or 3D graphics. The ATI VisionTek Radeon 9600 Pro is well worth the price!

Don't mind the guy who always complain week customer support, buddy what kind of support you want how to plug this card???? hahaha
This card performs as it was advertised, Visiontek makes Rock solid cards I own them my self since Geforce I, never has any problems.
Better value than original 9600pro ATI (cheaper)

Powerful 3D Graphics Video Card at a reasonable price. I tried two nVidia GeForce cards prior to this one had had to return both of them. This card does excellent work at Video and 3D graphic.
For the price, this card can't be beat. It has the speed, memory and bandwidth throughput for graphic intensive applications and games. There is not an nVidia card at a similar price that is on a similar playing field. I tried two different nVidia cards prior to this one on a new Sony VAIO Desktop. I tried the nVidia 5200 MX 440 and a nVidia 5600 FX - neither one did a good job with video or 3D graphics. The ATI(VisionTek) Radeon 9600 Pro is well worth the price!

I have had this tv for about a year now,and can report no problems with it as of yet. I do have to say that I believe the whole widescreen phenomenon to be way ahead of it's time. Cable,satellite,and even hdtv are still broadcast in 4:3 aspect format. To make a square picture fit into a rectangular frame you simply must distort the picture. There is no choice. You can watch the image on 4:3 with this tv,but there are gray bars on the sides. I got used to them,and so can you. Not a big deal. For DVD's you can not do better than this tv. Hooked up to a home theater system,the experience is as good as going to the movies. Fabulous. Make sure you have a progressive scan dvd player,as this tv is progressive scan and the image will be better. I have had one problem however. My cable system broadcasts all of it's movie channels in digital cable. The progressive scan on this tv is not compatible with a digital cable system. You can watch the movies in 4:3,which this tv does let you do. But stretch the screen and you see ghosts,which is a horrible multiple image effect that is unwatchable. If you have digital cable,I would recommend a non hdtv set with no progressive scan. HDTV is a long way away,and there is no reason to pay so much for it now. Otherwise,I do recommend this tv highly. It is my opinion that by the time widescreen and HDTV becomes the norm,which I believe it will,there will be much better tv's available. I won't really want this one anymore. Will you? Probably not. So why buy something now just for the future? I do not recommend hdtv's or widescreen right now. 4:3 projections seem to be disappearing quickly however. If I had it to do over,I would have bought a regular 4:3 projection without all the fancy digital features. I think my cable picture would be better,and I would have paid less. Something to think about.

I've owned the 56H80 for about 6 months. I am now addicted to wide screen :)

Pros: - SUPERB picture with DVD's and HDTV signals, absolutely stunning. - Lack of scan lines is wonderful - Good connection pack on the back - Easy User controls - Good multi control remote (controls DVD, stereo, VCR, DirecTV etc.) - Once adjusted it has excellent color and clarity on DVD or HDTV.

Cons: - several times the TV has made a loud POP, the picture disappeared and sound too. It does come back on immediately but needed to be readjusted again. - DirecTV signal looks HORRIBLE on this TV, you can see crawling around every sharp contrasted edge (even with SVM disconnected). My understanding after reading many other reviewers is this is common with HDTV's not just Toshiba. Consistent consensus is this is due to the signal compression from the DTV source or cable company source. I will, however, be trying Dish Network and different cables soon. - switching Inputs via remote is done by repeatedly pressing the INPUT button till you cycle to the input you want to watch (VCR, DVD, Satellite, etc)- this is minor but annoying, would rather have one touch selection. - TV speakers are terrible for voices. With just the TV speakers I am always straining to hear conversations - highly recommend a center channel speaker at the least.

Would I buy this HDTV again? No..and Yes. As I watch mostly DVD's and not TV I LOVE the picture and when paired with a good surround Sound system it's movie heaven. For the price - I don't think you can get a clearer richer picture in this size. HOWEVER.. Though infrequent, the occasional POP and loss of picture is disturbing. The quality of the DirecTV picture is very bothersome to me but, I am a perfectionist.

This is a brief update to my previous review of the Toshiba 56H80 HDTV.

In my previous review I mentioned that the TV broke after 1 week, and 3 months later, the service folks still hadn't been able to obtain the needed repair parts from Toshiba.

At 4 months the repaired TV was returned to me in perfect working condition. At 5 months it continues to work perfectly.

I continue to recommend this TV over its competitors because of the exceptional picture quality. If you do a side-by-side comparison of HDTVs, one thing to look for is noise in solid-color backgrounds. On Sony WEGAs, I see millions of tiny dots randomly moving around like insects. The Toshiba 56H80 has circuitry that eliminates this visual defect. (The video noise suppression can be disabled for ultimate sharpness from noise-free digital sources.)

When I was out looking for small TV/VCR combo units, I stumbled upon this.

Here are my impressions of this machine:
* light and portable enough to position on a kitchen counter or ironing board (so you can eat while you watch tv or a video)
* easy to move around for cleaning or to move from room to room
* mono (one speaker in the front, combo units like this usually are)
* speaker volume doesn't increase much from 30 onwards (goes up to 50)
* requires cable (doesn't come with antenna)

* short power cord (about 3 feet)
* neat glow in the dark remote control buttons (but not really useful) and it comes with 2 AA batteries
* channel and volume control buttons are small and right below the power button (easy to confuse these)
* vcr works great (you have the usual forward, rewind, pause, stop, play, timer, counter reset, zero return, 30-second skip search features, no slow motion play though)
* has input ports (so you can hook up a gaming system) but no output port (so you won't be able to hook up another vcr and record to it)

I would really recommend this for people who want a decent, reliable and portable TV in small areas like the kitchen, bathroom or even a dorm room.

This is a really good television for a small room or a first television for anyone. This is my first tv, and I love it. I can watch movies, record movies and it has a nice, clear picture. There is also really nice sound and a good remote. Though the screen is fairly small, the price is very good for the quality the buyer is recieving. In two years, I have not had one problem with this tv! This is a great buy for an excellent television.

This is one of the better combination TV-VCRs I have seen lately. Panasonic and Sony also both make good 13inch TVs. Unfortunately, Toshiba's combination TV-VCRs continue to get overlooked. Notwithstanding, this is an excellent set and performs equally well. The picture is crisp and sharp. The built-in Digital tracking 4 head VCR makes VHS tapes look very good. You get front A/V (RCA type) inputs with a TV/game switch. It also has time-shift recording capability and a built-in head cleaner. The front panel features a useful headphone jack. The 'Black' cabinet design has a good retro look.

I saw this model in a store and was truly impressed with the picture quality, less so with the sound, but it seemed an excellent value.
Out of the box, though, there was a large and obvious cosmetic flaw on the frame that leads me wonder about quality control (the top front corner of the frame had excess material, or may even have been crudely patched and sanded before painting; below that was either a large scratch or thin crack).
Over-the-air performance (I don't have cable or dish) was ruined by excessive interference patterns on most channels, far more severe than the older GE which it was to replace, and vcr viewing also was problematic.
This unit was probably a lemon, but based on the very obvious cosmetic flaws alone, it should never have been shipped from the factory.

While the rest of the television industry is focusing on High Definition and digital recivers Daewoo has offered an affordable alternative to those that don't plan on paying for the high definition signals and became skeptics when the television stations missed their goal to go completly digital (some time around 1999?). This model offers three component A/V inputs which is great for me since I had three RF adapters for my gaming systems ruining my television signal on my previous television. The sound isn't spectacular but you probably shouldn't plan on setting up a home theater with this 20" television.

The price was the deciding factor in my choice of the Daewoo DT20U4SC flat screen tv. I am very impressed with the picture clarity, and the stereo sound is pretty good. I was looking at a Sony model that was almost a twin to this one, I couldn't see any difference in quality, but it was almost $100 more. Fine product, great price. Would I recommend this product? Sure.

This tv is a nice feature for your kitchen or where ever else you need a small tv. You could even bring it on a trip/vacation with you if you wanted because it only weighs about 20 lbs.

Having two young children and family out of state-travelling by vehicle is a must for my family. We received this item and a gift and could not be more thrilled! It is easy to set up and operate. With the headphone jack you can allow your children to play their video games and not hear a thing! I could not be more pleased. YOU HAVE TO GET ONE!

This is greate item and nice palying for children.

On the showroom floor the JVC AV32F802 32" TV looked better than other brands that surrounded it. So I bought it. And three days later I returned it. Not to say its not an impressive unit. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder. After watching a Philips (Magnavox / Slyvania) television for the last 17 years, the JVC was a shock to my eyes. The reds were redder, the greens were greener and the whites look like they just come out of a Maytag front loading washer that was filled with bleach. In other words...everything was TOO colorful. The colors were surreal to me. I know...the colors can be adjusted, but no matter how often I did that, the faces still had that pinkish-red cast that I was never able to shake. Getting a decent picture on one channel (cable) changed when switched to another channel. For once, wife was in agreement with me on this one, and the JVC was returned. Much depends on the brand (color) that you have been used to veiwing for many years. If you are used to harsh bright colors, than you will like the JVC unit, but as for me....I went back to the softer more realistic tone of the Philips. I bought a Philips 32" (non flat screen) model 32PS60B for ($$$)., and enjoy it so much better. But like I said...Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So be careful what you buy...Remember...you have to put up with that picture for the next 7 to 10 years. And make sure you check out the return policy from the source where you purchased it.

I was looking for a tv that was reasonably priced and with great picture. And I can tell you I was not dissapointed. Compared to my old TV, this one touches the sky.

I can see clearly at any angle, DVD movies show crisp and clear, and the color brilliance can be adjusted. Lots of adjustment can be made, or in my case, hardly any - I love looking at this TV.

After seeing the price, features and the review - this looked like a great deal. I walked into circuit city to watch this TV. It has a very poor display. I decided to pass on this TV.

I bought this set after extensively researching and comparing it to non-1080i Sony, Hitachi, and Panasonic 36" tvs, regular and flat screen. I am completely satisfied with the picture, sound, and features. The skin tones and blacks are outstanding, and the sound convincing. In the stores watching the high-definition sample programming, I slightly preferred the flat screens, but felt that they just weren't worth the considerable extra cost. Now that I have this tv at home, I find that I do not miss whatever it was that I thought I saw in the flat screens. The Sony name was not worth the extra cost, and this set offered slightly better features than the Hitachi and Panasonic. I thought hard about an hdtv but decided to wait until all format and broadcast issues were resolved and the price dropped below four figures.

I really love this TV. I caught it on sale about a year ago, and I have been very satisfied with it's performance. The picture is clear, crisp, and defined. Everything I expect and have come to rely on with JVC televisions. I have had three other JVC's and they never failed. They just got upgraded.

VCR/DVD pictures are wonderful, and the BBE and Hyper Surround Sound are both really great to use when you don't have a home theater setup. The boys also prefer to use this to play their games on. That 36 inch screen really makes the games cool enough for even adults to enjoy. I recently added Digital cable, and the picture is even better than before.

The only con I have is that there are certain functions that can only be accessed by the remote. If you lose the remote (a common thing around here!) you lose the ability to switch the BBE or Hyper surround off.

I will eventually go to a HDTV format but I am going to wait until it gets a little more intergrated in broadcasting.
In the meantime, This is the perfect compliment to my home theater.

After reading all the reviews about this tv I decided to go ahead and purchase one. The first one was very much out of alignment. The company I bought it from (800.com) exchanged it for another one. This one is alot better but it is still not the quality I expected and the picture alignment is still off. Top write corner drops off, the top center has a dip in it, centering is off, etc. I've decided to go ahead and spend the money and try a sony. I'll let you readers know.

I wish I could write a review for this TV. I ordered it a month ago and the shipping company, Nationstreet, still hasn't delivered it! Save yourself some time and pick it up in a retail store! (I hear the TV is great!)

I must admit, I really don't watch a lot of TV, but I am a psycho when it comes to home video and DVD. I needed something fairly cheap, but with good enough quality I wouldn't have to go back to little TVs. I think I have found the right model for me. It has wonderful color, sound, and picture, and works perfectly. It is great with my DVD player, and I think that is the high point of this purchase. With all of the other TVs I have watched movies on, there seems to be a slight blur to the people, no matter if it is a DVD or not. With this, the picture is always crisp, and I usually don't have to fix any of the options. This is so great and is one of my personal smartest buying choices of the year. The video inputs are also great, helping in the picture quality. Absolutely wonderful.

Received the TV and enjoyed it for 2 months and then it broke! I am in the process now of trying to get it repaired and this is turning into a difficult ordeal. I would not recommened Toshiba to anyone.

I compared this TV with 35" SONY Trinitron and other major brands. I bought this because this has Component Video Input. For SONY I have to get a Wega to have this I am not thrilled with the picture but it is ok. The remote is the most annoying one. You can only control a TV,VCR and Cable. You cannot control Satellite or any other electronics. I ended up buying a "6 all in one" remote which works well with all my systems. The side switch in he remote to select TV/VCR/Cable is another annoying thing. Otherwise the remote is ok (If you have only a TV|VCR|Cable). This TV has Component Video Input however the S video signal looks much clearer to me than the Component Video Input with my DVD. The tube is a large curvy one comparing to Sony Trinitron. No auto sound control. It has 2 RF,3Composite ,1Svideo,1Component Input and 1 output. This is very rarely found in other similar system. Comparing to SONY Wega price wise this is not a bad TV.

I have had my Toshiba CZ36V61 for a few trouble free years. A friend has the same TV and he loves his as well. The only thing I wish it had was a clock. Although I didn't buy a clock I bought a TV and that is what I got, a great TV.