Toshiba 40H80 40 in. TV
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- Aspect Ratio: 16:9 14:9
- Weight: 134 lb.
- Screen Size: 40 inch
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Quite simply the best for the price
Pros
Outstanding picture quality, excellent upgradeability, flexible array of inputs
Cons
Cabinet quality, speaker sound, "personality quirks"
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
Toshiba has assembled a pretty darned good package for the price, and, even given the drawbacks I have pointed out above, I recommend it highly.
I just took delivery of my Toshiba 40h80 from OneCall.com about two weeks ago (I recommend them highly for good service and competitive prices; also both the TV & box arrived unscathed ? something some other online merchants are having a tough time with). To date, the price I paid is the lowest I have yet seen, delivered, for a brand new set in California.
Out of the box and into the living room, the first thing that came to mind was how well it fit into the house ? the cabinet is commendably small ? the screen bezel is by far the broadest point and the cabined disappears quickly behind it. I raised the set 2? to bring it to perfect viewing height for my house.
It is worth noting that the build quality on the cabinet appears to be just stout enough to allow the occasional movement of the TV without breakage. During the initial installation of the TV, my housemate and I toted it 8 feet, accompanied by several ominous creaks and groans that were highly disconcerting. I would not recommend this TV to a household with small hands that like to touch things ? this TV will probably not stand up to the rigors of their attention. The cabinet is obviously not where the development money was spent.
But the picture is REALLY good. It was reasonably good on first plug in ? but after a week of running for 8 hours (on/off cycles alternating hourly) I ran the 9-point convergence and the picture was noticeably improved. I will bring in ISF in a few months to do a real adjustment, and I am excited to see the picture at that point.
I am using a Progressive Scan Pioneer DVD player (the cheapie DV-434) and I find that when playing in Progressive Scan mode the high contrast areas of the screen have a tendency to jump about. This, according to various online resources devoted to HDTV, is called Scan Velocity Modulation and is considered a ?feature? by many HDTV manufacturers as it purportedly accentuates the contrast.
I followed one websites detailed instructions on how to deactivate said ?feature? and the Progressive Scan picture has improved markedly.
With the SVM disconnected, the blacks are truly black, they are full of detail (watch the last chapter of Disney?s Fantasia to prove this),the whites are white and the details are very crisp.
After of living with the Toshiba for over a week, I can honestly say the picture is one of the nicest I have seen on any sub-$10,000 HDTV. The colors are true, the picture vibrant, and the cabinet is unobtrusive in my small home ? it?s the perfect started HDTV.
The major weakness of the TV, other than the cabinet build, is something I have heard other folks complain about as well ? that it the TV shuts itself off periodically, resets to a default mode, changes settings, or otherwise misbehaves in some fashion. Mine seems to like to reset all of its picture settings and switch between picture modes. It is not a frequent occurrence, but it does happen, and I feel this is a definite point to be aware of. It is not, however, something that I feel distracts from the overall goodness of the set.
A recent major Home Theatre magazine placed this TV (last years model 40h81) on their AA list of components, the only sub-$5,000 HDTV to make the cut, which I think speaks well about the TV as a whole.
Out of the box and into the living room, the first thing that came to mind was how well it fit into the house ? the cabinet is commendably small ? the screen bezel is by far the broadest point and the cabined disappears quickly behind it. I raised the set 2? to bring it to perfect viewing height for my house.
It is worth noting that the build quality on the cabinet appears to be just stout enough to allow the occasional movement of the TV without breakage. During the initial installation of the TV, my housemate and I toted it 8 feet, accompanied by several ominous creaks and groans that were highly disconcerting. I would not recommend this TV to a household with small hands that like to touch things ? this TV will probably not stand up to the rigors of their attention. The cabinet is obviously not where the development money was spent.
But the picture is REALLY good. It was reasonably good on first plug in ? but after a week of running for 8 hours (on/off cycles alternating hourly) I ran the 9-point convergence and the picture was noticeably improved. I will bring in ISF in a few months to do a real adjustment, and I am excited to see the picture at that point.
I am using a Progressive Scan Pioneer DVD player (the cheapie DV-434) and I find that when playing in Progressive Scan mode the high contrast areas of the screen have a tendency to jump about. This, according to various online resources devoted to HDTV, is called Scan Velocity Modulation and is considered a ?feature? by many HDTV manufacturers as it purportedly accentuates the contrast.
I followed one websites detailed instructions on how to deactivate said ?feature? and the Progressive Scan picture has improved markedly.
With the SVM disconnected, the blacks are truly black, they are full of detail (watch the last chapter of Disney?s Fantasia to prove this),the whites are white and the details are very crisp.
After of living with the Toshiba for over a week, I can honestly say the picture is one of the nicest I have seen on any sub-$10,000 HDTV. The colors are true, the picture vibrant, and the cabinet is unobtrusive in my small home ? it?s the perfect started HDTV.
The major weakness of the TV, other than the cabinet build, is something I have heard other folks complain about as well ? that it the TV shuts itself off periodically, resets to a default mode, changes settings, or otherwise misbehaves in some fashion. Mine seems to like to reset all of its picture settings and switch between picture modes. It is not a frequent occurrence, but it does happen, and I feel this is a definite point to be aware of. It is not, however, something that I feel distracts from the overall goodness of the set.
A recent major Home Theatre magazine placed this TV (last years model 40h81) on their AA list of components, the only sub-$5,000 HDTV to make the cut, which I think speaks well about the TV as a whole.
