Customer Reviews:
 Happy with my Toshiba - but delivery was 'stressfull' November 27, 2007
Mr Minstrel (London, UK)
112 out of 113 found this review helpful
I found it quite hard to find reviews for this TV so now I've bought one here's mine.
I spent a good few hours on Tottenham Court Road looking at 46" LCDs.
I was pretty certain I was going to get the Sharp XL2 as I had been impressed by the XL1 but heard about all the problems people were having with that one - I'd assume they'd have it sorted for the XL2.
There were 2 Toshibas (46XF355DB and the 47Z3030D) and the Sharp.
The XL2 was playing the Sharp High-Def-Demo which did look very nice (but of course it would) and the Toshibas were playing Freeview.
I got the guy to switch the Sharp to the same Freeview channel and immediately noticed it looked washed out. Turned the backlight down as it was maxed out and tinkered with various other settings but the washed out look remained. No sale!
Between the Toshibas you really had to look hard to see differences in the picture. Blacks were a bit blacker on the 'Z' but shadow detail was gone. I'm aware that the 'Z' has a few extra features including 100Hz and the "5:5 pull down" but I'm not convinced these technologies will add much. I decided the aesthetics and reduced 'footprint' (as it's the same overall size as most 42" screens) of the XF trumped the extra features on 'Z'. I walked to another store and got them to play an HDDVD on the 40XF355DB. King Kong looked fine but it's not an ideal film to check the picture as it's mostly CGI to start with. Good enough though.
I've had it for a good few days now and have been very impressed. Standard Def image is brilliant. I've upgraded from a 28" Sony tube so expected to see a pixels everywhere as I only sit about 8 feet from the screen. No problems there. I spent a good part of the weekend watching DVDs with my Denon1940 upscaling to 1080p. Frankly I don't see any immediate need to get a HiDef source - it's a stonking picture.
I have noticed the auto backlight control working a couple of times but I have not bothered to turn it off - it seems to be doing a good job and I've only noticed it only a couple of times in 15-20hrs of viewing. Apparently the new Sonys have this problem but you don't have the option to turn it off.
Pros:
Very slick design - the best I've seen on any TV. It even has a cool blue LED under the screen - that can be turned off.
Picture - Just stick it in 'Movie' mode and tweak if required for Freeview.
Remote Control looks/feels very nice.
I've plugged it up to my PC and it has a nice split screen feature so you can watch telly while working/surfing.
The speakers seem fine although if I want to hear something properly I put it through my hi-fi.
Cons:
While watching Dragon's Den last night there was a ghost effect when they panned across the dragon's faces - white faces/ black background/ pan shot - I doubt many LCDs would past that test and that was the first and only time I noticed it.
There's a delay when switching channels on Freeview.
The digital sound output socket (optical) only works when watching Freeview - I'd hoped to use that for HDMI sourced stuff too but maybe that's typical.
Other Screens I looked at:
Sony W3000 - HiDef Sport looked brilliant but the frame is too chunky
JVC LCD - Great picture and price - I hadn't heard enough about these but worth considering. I guess they don't hand them out to the review sites.
Samsung F86 and M87 - Like watching a video game all the time. Colours hideously lurid. Maybe it's possible to tune the picture but having had my eye on the various Samsung incarnations for the last 2 years I've never seen one that looks right.
Conclusion: That'll do nicely for 4-7 years. Backlight permitting :o)
PS: Regarding Amazon 'White Glove' delivery....
Nothing of the sort. The fact that my LCD was undamaged was pure luck given the treatment the delivery guy gave it on the way up the stairs. I had to ask him to unpack the item as per 'White Glove' T&Cs. He then refused to place the TV on the stand that I had cleared so I had to drag a power cord over to the middle of the floor to check it actually worked given the 'sack of spuds' treatment it had received coming up the stairs. Also 'arrange a convenient delivery time'. Errr..... No.
Your item WILL be delivered on Friday between 8 and 12. I requested a Saturday delivery but was given such a run-around of BS I feared my purchase might rot in a delivery depot -like at the end of "Raiders of the Lost Ark"! I decided to go home for it on the Friday when the delivery guy phoned to say he would be there in 30-40 mins - they arrived 75mins later. Fairly typical of deliveries I conceed but 'White Glove'? Pull the other one. They've just dropped the price £80 - but don't pay an Amazon premium on the basis of it being a quality online with a sound reputation etc. etc. Not if you have stairs anyway.
 Brilliant TV - Needs some fiddling with July 16, 2008
Sparthorn (UK)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
I have just got myself one of these from another supplier. I love it, however there are a few minor point of annoyance, such as if you mount it onto a stand or wall brackets, the brackets can get in the way of using the scart sockets and the composite video outputs. This is a headache as not everyone will use the stand supplied. The HDMI slots however are easy to get to, so perhaps more emphasis has been given to digital inputs rather than analogue.
The other problem I have is that the out of the box settings on the set do not do justice to an analogue signal. Although I have a media centre PC with hdmi out and blu ray, my old sky+ box now has to be plugged in via compostie due to current lack of a thin scart lead. This has meant that the "out of the box" settings are not quite right.
However, having looked on a search emgine, I found forums that give a variety of setting types to allow for differing tastes and now the picture is great with analogue inputs.
The clarity of HD is fantastic also and the TV looks great with almost no real frame around the screen. This piece of Kit was well worth the money and has recieved a lot of great online reviews.
I would recommend this set but would suggest you arm yourself with some web info on picture and colour settings to help get the best out of this set.
Stunning TV September 11, 2008
Thomas Edison (Scotland)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I read Minstrel's review and it swayed me from buying the much more expensive Z series model. I was not disappointed in any way with my choice when it arrived.
The picture and connectivity are what I expected. I may have been lucky. I lifted the TV out of the box with the base already factory fitted, plugged in the aerial and connected it to the power.It immediately tuned in all of the digital channels.I then tuned in the analogue ones and the only adjustment needed was the order of the analogue channels. This is the easiest TV I have ever set up and the picture quality is superb.
The TV has loops at the back of the stand and it is recommended that these are used to secure it to a wall,although I could not see it being moved very easily without it attached. There is no wall tie supplied.
It it also Vesa mountable.
The only items you get with the TV are a cleaning cloth,remote control,batteries and a clip to attach a cord to.
As I went to submit this review I noticed that there had been a considerable price increase and the difference between it and the Z series has closed considerably. I thought that it was great value for money when I bought it,now the Z series looks a better option for anybody wanting to spend that amount.
To me the appearance of the TV is stunning and at present I do not know any other manufacturer who makes anything like it.
Stunning performer August 3, 2008
Kevin Eastwood (uk-leeds-west-yorks)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Give this tv a good feed and the results are stunning, great value for money, I have had many of the latest tv's in and out of my flat over the past few months but this one is staying, the blacks, contrast and colour performance are better than many of the latest offerings from other makes costing much more, the best performance I have had from this tv is from downloaded movies streamed accros from the pc, no 100hz on this tv but to be honest I cant tell the difference with it or without, cool looking and a swivel stand, by far one of the best performing freeview tuners, the size of this tv is the same as a 42" if you want good performace and great value for money, then go for this one, you wont be dissapointed.
 Panel Fault March 10, 2009
Geoffrey Warrington
The product itself is absolutely awesome. The only problem is that the XF AND ZF develop a panel fault after some time. Lines of dropped pixels appear on the panel and they worsen. They do, however, disappear as the TV warms up. I thought I'd try and get my ZF repaired, only to find out that "Toshiba" no longer produce any spare parts, nor any new ones. Be careful, if you don't mind having to wait 20mins for the lines to disappear then this is the TV for you. picture is amazing and the regza link makes adding my blu ray player a real ease! If this didn't have the panel fault it would be the best TV known to man!
I think Jabil make most TVs within Europe - given the current downturn I am sure you may be able to get a swap out if you know the right people!
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