 "Owned for 6 months BROKE 4 x's already" | |
| - Reviewed By An Amazon User from Jersey Shore, USA |
Toshiba 32AV502R 32-Inch 720p LCD HDTV
We have had this TV repaired 3 times. Contacted Toshiba customer support who had us contact a local TV shop. They returned TV 2 weeks later, installed and it immediately did not function although they said they had it working in the shop. They took it back and did not bring it back for another month. After it's return it had a different issue. First issue was black screen, unresponsive buttons, steady on green light. 2nd issue was the TV wouldn't remain on for longer than 1 hour initially, then wouldn't stay on for more then 1 minute. After a long cool down the same pattern would repeat. The green light was responsive. Toshiba customer support is understandable but they lie and don't escalate your issue to upper level. They also stated warranty is for repair only - not replacement. The TV shop informed us they have so many of these TVs in for the same issue. This is truly a lemon model! We didn't want to send our TV back to the repair shop and be without once again but were told that was the contract agreement they have with the repair shop. The TV shop brought our TV back stating that all parts have been replaced and if it breaks again it has to be returned to Toshiba...which just happened. The TV us having the same issue as it did initially. I will not buy another Toshiba product. |
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 "Great value for the price!" | |
| - Reviewed By An Amazon User from W.Va |
| I purchased this for secondary television in a "sitting room/retreat" we couldn't be happier, it was exactly the right choice. I made the decision based on a higher end Toshiba model that we have as our main Television, we are happy with that one so this was an easy choice. It has good picture quality, sound is good, it is very stylish, much more so than other lower priced televisions that I considered. We have used this as a monitor for a dvd player and also connected it to a laptop. I highly recommend, this especially for a secondary television, I would purchase another one with no hesitation. |
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 "Very Happy" | |
| - Reviewed By An Amazon User from Seattle, WA |
Pros:
-Great picture
-Great viewing angle (practically 180)
-True Wide screen (no more stupid bars!)
-Clear QAM channels work great (nix your set-top box!)
-Lots of input options
-Toshiba Customer service reputation
-Good documentation
-Light weight (30 pounds)
-Decent sound (you will still want good speakers though)
-Very Nice looking
-Good for Internet TV & HTPC use
-Remote glows in the dark
-Allows 1920x1080 computer resolution if you want with HDMI cable
-Screen is virtually glare-free
-Nice Picture setting presets & customizable too.
-Nice buttons on remote for PC use ("PIC Size" button is key for 16:9!)
-Can hook multiple PC's to it and flip monitor inputs instantly (no kvm switch needed! 5 PC's could be connected.)
-Same computer can be input multiple times for different desktops (haven't tried this yet though.)
Cons:
-Doesn't automatically turn off with PC (keep remote near by)
-No difference in 720p & 1080p (see below)
-PC Text looks better in 1360x768 (768p) than in 1920x1080 (1080p)
-Too big for some low quality Internet Video
-Shows finger prints
-Connecting PC with S-video was almost unusable. Looks terrible.
-Half inch border all the way around in default 1080p or 765p mode. Use 768p with a PC if you can.
-Remote buttons are a little stiff and small. Hard to navigate if you have long nails.
-Only 1 custom preset available for picture settings.
-No DVI connection
Generally I think this is a fantastic TV and monitor. I use it as my primary HTPC monitor with Windows 7 media center and a simple indoor TV antennae. I really enjoyed recording the Olympics in HD and playing back stop-motion ice skating. My roommate has the same TV and is using Comcast clear QAM with no set-top box and no computer. He gets all the digital tv channels.
I surf the Internet and watch a lot of Internet TV and it works great for this too. (Hint: turn down the backlight level for better text reading with less eye strain. Use the "Sports" mode for Internet TV which tends to be very dark.)
All the various inputs allow many advantages over a regular monitor (see pros above.) I can read text clearly from up to 15 feet away. (Great for lounging in bed or on the couch.) The only disadvantage of using the HDTV this way is the limited variety of resolutions.
I saw no difference in quality with HDMI or VGA cable as some other people said. I am not sure what the story is with the S-video PC input. It looked really terrible when I hooked up my laptop. However it looks great with a VGA cable. I will report back if other devices such as DVD players have this problem.
Watching Internet video is good but sometimes not great on a 32 inch. You really wouldn't want a screen any bigger than this because Websites save space by converting the videos to very low quality. I have opened some Youtube videos that I actually could not see. My 14" laptop handled them better.
As you can see from the list above my Cons are no biggy: I find I need to switch the picture modes a lot when going from Recorded TV to text reading to Internet TV, so I wish there were more customized presets allowed in order to tweak them.
The only big thing I regret is I could have saved $100 by getting a 720p Samsung. Some reviews said I might need 1080p if I were using this TV as a monitor. It actually looks worse in 1920x1080 and the the text is harder to read (even zoomed.) In TV mode you will not see a difference with 1080p unless you use a Blue Ray DVD player and sit 2 or 3 feet away on a 32" screen. However I am still very happy with this and feel I got a top of the line product for a steal.
I hope I've provided some good information that is hard to find for people looking for large monitors.
*Note: to get Clear QAM channels in Windows Media Center without a cable card or set-top box you need a TV card known to receive them. For example: Avertv MTVHDDUWB HD Duet (White Box) & Here: Hauppauge 1229 WinTV-HVR-2250 White Box for System Builders Dual Hybrid PCI-E TV Tuner Board |
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| "Fantastic." | |
| - Reviewed By An Amazon User |
This is my first HDTV that I have bought, simply put, gorgeous!! The picture on this tv is super crisp. The blacks are incredible, my only complaint which is minor is the sound, the sound is great but there is a bit of vibration when it's set too loud. I have noticed no ghosting at all! which is surprising for a 60hz LCD. Perfect for any type of gaming, Forza 3, MW2, Mass effect 2.
All in all for the price, this baby is great! |
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 "TV is ok but image quality not great - traces" | |
| - Reviewed By An Amazon User from ohio United States |
I've had this tv for about a month now. Overall, it's an ok tv.
My biggest issue with the image quality. I've fiddled with the preferences a bit but still can't fix the problem. The overall colors are alright, black levels are good. BUT - there is a noticeable and irritating "trace" effect with the color red. Especially if a person has really red lips, as their head moves, there's a trace of red that follows. Same affect with quick body movement. I have over the air tv (which I understand, is part of the problem) - so even programs that are broadcast in HD still have traces. And I still have this problem with DVDs and video games, even when I use higher end connections (like the hdmi).
Is there a certain setting I should have? Or this a problem with the tv? If it is, I am very disappointed in the quality of this tv. |
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| "Parts missing" | |
| - Reviewed By An Amazon User from Shreveport, LA |
| When I bought the item, parts were missing. I called the company and they honored my purchased and sent the items that were missing. Great customer service!! |
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