Toshiba REGZA 42HL167 42" LCD TV

This is my first HD TV and I got an incredible deal on it through Tigerdirect.com. There are tons of hookup options. 3 HDMI ports, 2 component A/V in (1 with S-VIDEO), 2 Colorstream HD component in, 1 analog audio out, 1 analog audio in, 1 VGA, 1 antenna, 1 Digital Audio out. It also comes equipped with an ATSC tuner which allows one to receive HD channels without an external box.

===Setting up===
This TV has a lot of features, and therefore is a little complicated to operate. The manual makes setup pretty straightforward, but even so I can see why a lot of stores offer installation packages for these kinds of TVs. It comes with a stand but is also wall mountable. A wall mounting kit is sold separately and requires being handy with an electric drill, a level, a tape measure, and wall anchors.
The ports on the back are all clearly marked and color-coded, except for the antenna and HDMI ports. They are actually oriented vertically and it requires some dexterity in order to plug the HDMI cables in. This is done for a practical reason, so the HDMI plugs don't prevent the unit from being wall-mounted. The other receptacles are set in deeper so this is not a problem. The unit also swivels left and right with makes hookup a little bit easier.

===Digital and Analog Channels===
Picture quality varies depending on the channel. My main connection for television programming is the same coaxial cable used for my old analog TV. I live in a moderately-sized city and receive about half a dozen HD channels along with all the standard analog channels in my cable package. HD channels are what will be left when analog broadcasts are discontinued in February 2009. With this TV, no additional equipment is needed to receive digital broadcasts, as it is equipped with an analog and digital tuner. Check with your cable company, but you will probably not have to upgrade to digital cable service to get local HD programming.

===Picture Quality===
This TV is full HD, meaning it has a resolution of 1080 lines, progressive scan, or 1080p. This is the maximum quality currently offered by technology. What that means is that it can take full advantage of the new high definition movie formats Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. Other TVs advertised as HD at 720p or 1080i cannot do so. It will also take full advantage of the Playstation 3 gaming console's graphics abilities, which are also at 1080p.
Currently, most broadcast HD content is either 720p or 1080i, but compared to analog channels, the picture quality is amazing, even though it is not "full" HD. Being at 1080p makes this TV quite "future proof," meaning that it uses top-of-the-line picture technology and will not be obsolete for years to come, unlike lower resolution TVs.
This TV is ideal for hookup to a home PC. It has a port for a standard analog VGA hookup or one can use a newer PC's DVI port with a DVI to HDMI cable, and use one of the three HDMI ports on the TV. The latter option will result in the best picture. Computers equipped with media center features like Windows XP Media Center Edition or Windows Vista will look great on this TV. Personally, I have a Mac Mini connected via the HDMI port and it makes for an excellent monitor. Using the Front Row software and provided Apple Remote, I can easily flip through pictures, movies, and music. Digital photos look amazing, making this TV very useful for slide shows.
With LCD and Plasma displays, viewing from any angle other than straight-on would have caused the picture colors to appear distorted. Toshiba has solved this problem by giving this unit a 176-degree viewing angle. That means that a view of the screen from the side will look identical to a view from the front. I personally tested this out and it is true! I could see the picture just as well looking at the screen from an extreme angle compared to a direct view with no angle.

===Sound Quality===
There is a speaker bar just below the screen pointed downwards at an angle. Volume is at a comfortable level about half-way, and there are two options to hook up the audio to a more elaborate speaker system. The analog option is a standard RCA connection and will work with just about any speaker or bookshelf system on the market. The digital option requires an expensive optical cable and requires more of a mid-range to high-end speaker system in order to take advantage of it, but in return one gets superior sound quality.

===Ease of Use===
This TV includes a feature that will automatically program your channels. It will filter out channels that do not come in so when you press Channel up or down, it will cycle only through channels that have reception. Digital channels are in numerical order along with analog channels, the difference being that digital channels have two numbers associated with them. For example, channel 3 would be a standard analog channel 3 that one would receive via an antenna or cable hookup. Channel 3-1 would be an HD channel received from a digital antenna or cable hookup.
If one has multiple devices connected, switching to them is as simple as pressing the "Input" button on the remote and choosing the port you want to connect to. You can also rename these ports so that instead of switching to "HDMI 3" you can switch to "DVD Player."

===Downsides===
As with any feature-laden piece of technology, the learning curve can be steep for people who are not technically-oriented. The remote has many buttons that can confuse. That said, actual use it not much more complicated than a standard TV.