Good Picture

Limited Vertcal viewing Angle

I noticed some people rated this set based on poor internet purchase service and/or shipping damage as well as unrelated ratings. I have seen this set in the the store on more than one occasion (Tweeter) and it has an excellect picture as well as features. I looked at it compared to other RPHD sets as well as tube HD sets by Sony, Panasonic, Mitsubishi and Toshiba. While the picture doesn't match up to a tube HD set(that costs twics as much) it certainly has as good or bettter picture than other RP sets I have seen.

I was able to send it back

I'm so glad you asked.....

This is a followup to an earlier posting about my misadventures buying the Toshiba 40H80.

Before I begin, however, I feel I should respond to Joe from New Hampshire who raises what I think is a fair question: Why should I be putting in unsatisfactory ratings when the picture quality of the set may be good if not excellent? In fact one of the things that attracted me to this set was the picture quality in the store. But my experience, I think, shows that if quality control is poor, service is bad to non-existent and the dealer is "integrity challenged" , the importance of picture quality dims considerably.

In fact, one of the e-mails I received in response to my last posting was from a person in Texas with a Toshiba that the authorized service representative has repeatedly been unable to fix. If you are measuring things like "quality" and "value", Toshiba should be held accountable for such lapses.

In my case Serv-A-Tronics finally came to the house and, to their credit, quickly diagnosed the problem: the mirror in the set was broken. After several calls to OneCall, it appeared my problems were solved. Toshiba was going to pick up the damaged set and deliver a new one.

And good as their word, a week later a truck rolled up with a new set. I helped the driver trundle out the bad set, we lugged in the new set and before signing anything I opened the box, plugged in the power, attached the cable, flipped the on switch and........nothing. No picture, no sound. Nada.

I called OneCall and they assured me there was no problem. The set, which had been in a cold truck lo these many days needed to warm up. In fact, the guy at OneCall regaled me with a story about his set which had not worked when it first arrived. But after he had let it sit unplugged for 24 hours, it powered up in glorious color, an inspiration to us all.

(The service technician, who later came out to look at my set, said the OneCall story was to put it nicely "factually challenged.")

So I accepted the set, unplugged it, turned up the thermostat and waited. No joy.

Knowing the drill, I next called the authorized service representative to look at the set. However, Serv-A-Tronics flatly refused to come out again because they said Toshiba would not pay for the call. With the technician on one line, I called Toshiba on another line , conferenced the two together and got corporate to assure the technician that, yes, indeed they would pay. (Having the customer negotiate agreements between different divisions of Toshiba is apparently one of the more novel features of what the company calls customer service.)

The technician who finally came out diagnosed the problem as a bad power supply and wanted to haul the set back to the shop for repairs. I declined because I thought that $2,000 entitled me to a set delivered in working order, not a work in progress.

This apparently violated service technician etiquette because he then berated me for accepting a set that was not in working order. Later Serv-A-Tronics told me they would never come to my house again because I would not let them repair the set. It was around then that I asked myself, "Why am I doing business with these bozos."

I called OneCall and said I want my money back and they could have their broken TV. I was quickly switched to a supervisor who hinted he would give me a price break for my troubles, told me how OneCall had enormous clout with Toshiba and said his mission was to make me a "happy camper." He just needed a little time to put together a plan.

LIke Charley Brown taking yet another run at the football, I agreed to wait a day. He promised me he would call me by noon. Noon came. Noon went. No call. In fact, I never heard from him again.

Another call to OneCall. This time they said it was in Toshiba's hands and they would call me. After about a week of waiting, I called OneCall who gave me the number of someone at Toshiba who told me she was waiting for an e-mail from corporate. When that arrived, she would haul the set away.

More time passed. I called Visa to dispute the charge on my bill. I called my lawyer about what legal steps I had to take if I need to file a suit. I called OneCall and they said Toshiba would be by to pick up my set and once that happened they would refund me my money.

Approximately a month and a half after I originally called OneCall to buy a TV, a truck showed up and dragged off the box that had been sitting in my hallway , an ignominious end to my HDTV misadventure.

A couple of thoughts. Someone might argue that I got a couple of bad TVs, in the end the e-tailer and Toshiba did the right thing and took them back, end of story. But if you are reading this and you are from Toshiba or one of their retailers, I think there are some lessons to be learned.

1. Be Honest With Your Customer - It makes a customer very nervous when they give a lot of money to someone who they only know over the phone and then are told a series of whoppers. Sure I got my money back but I will never do business with OneCall again because so much of what they told me was just not true.

2. Take Ownership of the Problem - When I would call OneCall I would talk to "Jason". One day Jason said I didn't need to ask for him, anyone in the office would do. That told me that no one at OneCall "owned" the problem.

3. Stand Behind What you Sell - There should never have been a discussion about getting the TV set repaired. The customer expects and deserves a product to arrive in working order. When that doesn't happen, the first thing out of the salesman's mouth should be an apology and the second should be "We will replace it."

4. Service Means What It Says - I shouldn't have to negotiate with service technicians or go through a list of repairmen until I find one who knows something about the product he is supposed to repair.

5. Be Proactive - At every step I was the one calling OneCall and Toshiba, asking questions and demanding answers. What a difference it would have made if someone called me and said they were going to correct the problem, it would be done in the following manner and here is how long it would take.

6. Be Prompt - The whole sorry experience dragged on for well over a month. Even allowing for shipping, this took far longer to resolve than anyone would resonably expect. The longer I waited, the angrier I became.

In honor of the foregoing, I award Toshiba another set of one stars.

A postscript....When I knew Toshiba was going to take back their TV, I went to a local store and ordered a Mitsubishi 46 inch HDTV set. It arrived on the day I requested. The driver and his helper set it up. It worked out of the box. I found that the geometry was off and when I called the repairman he was not only knowledgeable about the set but was ISF certified. He was also courteous and immediately arranged to come out at Mitsubihi's expense to service the set.

The set cost me $300 more than I would have paid had I bought the same set on the Internet. I figure I got a very good deal.

Anamorphic DVD Image Quality, 16:9 Aspect Ratio, Size of CRT Lenses, Component Color Stream Inputs.

May take getting used to watching 4:3 material on. No progressive scan capabilities.

This set became the jewel of my home theater from the day I received delivery of it. Watching an anamorphic DVD through component inputs is quite a step up from anything else.

The build quality of this set is exceptional and so is its' design. A swivel base is included. The remote is well designed and easy to use.

I've had my set ISF calibrated and can't say enough about the picture quality. Colors and detail are a sight to behold.

Any DVD enthusiast owes themselves this TV. Highly recommended.

Similar Products Used:

Toshiba TP50F50

None

Caveat Emptor

Based on the reviews on this site as well as a good deal of other research, I decided to buy the 40H80.

Using DealTime on this site, I found the best price at OneCall.com and last Tuesday the TV arrived. The outside of the box was in perfect condition but when I opened it up and turned the set on, there was a large red blob in the lower right portion of the screen that faded off to yellow. In the upper right portion the screen had a bluish-green cast that made people look like they were cyanotic.

I called Toshiba and the customer service rep said to unplug the TV for 10 minutes and then plug it back in. That accomplished absolutely nothing. I then called OneCall and said the TV was defective and I wanted to return it.

The rep said, sorry, but we don't take returns on TV sets. But Toshiba has a warranty program and will fix it. So I called Toshiba again and got a list of authorized service representatives in my area. The first number did not answer. The second number was Universal TV. When I gave the person the model number, she said they had no record of such a TV. Next opn my list was Liberty TV. They sent out a serviceman the next day who looked at the TV, said he had never seen one before, had no documentation on it and would have to take it back to the shop. He took off the back of the TV and I saw a small black cover that had obviously fallen off. The repairman had no idea of where it went because as he ahd already stated, he had never worked on the 40H80. He also suggested that my bookshelf speakers might be interfering with the picture. We moved the speakers. No joy.

Actually I thought the speaker idea was really lame because I had the problem before I ever turned on my stereo system. In any case, I was not overwhelmed by the Toshiba authorized service representative so I called OneCall again and they said what I had been thinking...better find someone else to service the TV.

I next called ServerTronics, another Toshiba authorized service representative, and made an appointment for them to see the TV on Friday. The receptionist was very straight foward: the TV would probably have to go in the shop and that it would take 7 to 10 days to repair. This clearly was not going in the right direction.

Thursday night I get a phone call on my answering machine. Servertronics would have to reschedule. On Friday morning I called them, reminded them we had made an appointment, I had arranged to take time off from work and they should live up to their commitment. No dice. The soonest they could come was Monday.

I then called back OneCall and said I wanted a new TV that worked instead of a TV that had been broken and repaired. They pointed out their policy (which was on their web site under Policy on returns) and, in any case, that they could not do anything on my behalf until an authorized service representative looked at the set and diagnosed the problem. I noted that a rep had looked at the set and it was not my fault if he didn't know what he was doing. Yes, well, that may be so but it doesn't count until someone can diagnose the problem.

Another call to Toshiba. They said that I should take up any product return with the e-tailer. He then added that Toshiba doesn't accept exchanges. Aha! Of course the dealer is not going to take a TV back if they can't get their money back from the manufacturer.

So here I sit with a broken TV that I can't return and may or may not be able to get fixed.

A couple of observations. A customer has a right to expect that the product that is delivered is in working order. I will allow that some delicate electronics may need adjustment on delivery. But that is clearly not the case here. I also believe that any dealer and company should stand behind its product. When I buy from LL Bean, I know they will gladly replace or refund anything that is defective. It is called integrity.

Having said that, I would never buy anything from OneCall ever again. All of the crap that is used by DealTime and OneCall (The better business on line logo, etc.) is just that...crap. Any company that has a policy that it will not accept returns on broken or defective products has no right to drap itself in the mantle of integrity or to be recommended by others.

As for Toshiba, my experience suggests they have a serious problem. It is not just that the service was bad...it was non-existent. I am frankly amazed. I have a number of Toshiba products and they are terrific. And I suppose if they never break, all will be well. But if Toshiba is not going to stand behind what they sell, I will not be buying.

Finally, I have to blame myself. I should have read the return policy of OneCall. If I had before I gave them my money, I would not have made the purchase no matter how attractive the price. But that said, you should not have to take your lawyer along when shopping on the internet.

Quality Control

Could have more imputs, Owners Manual could be a little more intellible

Purchased this unit in June 2001 and watched it in my surround system for about 2 weeks before it was calibrated by Mr. Robert Bush, Certified Techician. During the initial 2 weeks of use the picture varied from very good to just average depending on the quality of the DVD used to drive the screen; even at its best the picture had a slightly out of focus look to it. Subsequent to Mr. Bush working his 3.5 hours of magic the picture is crystal clear, colors are bright and well focused, skin tones look real (no green or red tints of any kind), depth of field increased greatly. The only thing that remained was the variances between DVD's themselves. I had been told by a friend that the Toshiba would calibrate extemely well and not let my opinion be confused by what I saw in the store.....he was absolutely correct....how sweet it is!! DVD's that have showen well...so far...U-571, Gladiator (the Director filmed in a dark tone), The 13th Warrior (Extremely nice transfer), Jurassic Park, The Iron Giant (This DVD and Ben & Jerry's Chocolate are very good grandkid bribery tools...they remain in one spot for 2 hours).

Similar Products Used:

Mitsubishi, Sony,

it was fantastic while it worked!

customer support

In Feb. 2000 I bought a Toshiba TW40X81, and was extremely happy about it for about 9 months. In late October TW1 suddenly became totally screwed, 64pt convergence screen looked much like a 3D surface graph of mountainous terrain. It was not until April that Toshiba found a service technician in my area to work on the set - after months of arguing that regardless of my location, they must honor my in-home warranty.

The technician came to my house twice but was unable to fix the set, after replacing EEPROMS. It went into his shop in late May where a new convergence board was replaced (which I initially told the tech was likely the problem based on information I gathered here and other sites), and I received the set back on August 9 due to incessant delays from Toshiba's parts department. When I finally received the set I found TW1 to be fine, but in all modes focus was quite blurred in the middle of the screen, and in HD mode I had to do 64pt convergence every time I turned on the set - both red and blue would drift off center in many areas of the screen by as much as .25 in.

Again the technician came to my house, was unable to fix, and picked up the set. This was on September 26. I have still not gotten my set back.

I have called Toshiba customer service at least once a month since May, and have talked with so many representatives I am beginning to connect to people who know me. I have been told, at several times, different stories; that the technical support department was trying to determine the parts needed, that the Toshiba home office was now determining what set to replace mine with, etc. In each of these calls my frustration grew, and each time the representative assured me that Toshiba customer support would get back with me within the week to give me an updated status.

I have yet to receive one call from Toshiba customer support despite repeated promises. No correspondence whatsoever has been initiated to me by Toshiba.

I received an email on New Year's Eve from the service center (great guy by the way, and none of my dissatisfaction lies with the way he has treated me or the situation) stating that Toshiba tech finally got in touch with him after not hearing from them for more than two months, stating that they wanted to replace the entire convergence PCB, but the part was backordered until sometime in February.

I have been extremely, agonizingly patient, but this set me through the roof. I called customer service once again, once again talked with a supervisor who agreed that I had been without a set entirely too long. When he looked into my case he told me that the current status was that Toshiba was once again determining the parts needed, but due to the fact that I have not had a set that has worked in 14 months his assurance was that he would escalate the matter and have news for me of a replacement. He was even then adding his notes and recommending that my set be replaced immediately.

I got an email yesterday from the service center, and lo and behold the new parts have arrived well ahead of schedule (this despite all he tried to do to get the part as quickly as possible).

The final chapter to this saga has yet to be written.

I would not buy another Toshiba product, not at any price. If they replace my set I will likely sell it in the carton and look for something else. Having paid $2350 for a product that had so many defects, an incredibly slow technical support response and delivery time to service centers, and a customer support center that is reminiscent of the false casino in The Sting is absolutely unacceptable.

Consider yourselves informed.

Happy New Year to all.

I set this TV up myself and i'm still amazed at the rich colors that i get from SOME satellite broadcast channels...

No complaints....

I just want to say i can only imagine how this TV will preform once the nation go's full HDTV broadcast....Every channel WILL preform and look better than any DVD cd or player thats now out on the market.....Progressive scan will also take a back seat....... Once HDTV has gone full blast in the western hemisphere this TV will really step up to the plate and show all of us what it really can do ....!!!!! It's in my opinion that one day DVD's will kick out the 1080 lines of resolution and this Toshiba will absorb evey bit of the HDTV signal into it's 1280 lines of resolution .... LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL BABY..!!!!

Similar Products Used:

SONY 7700 DVD PLAYER.....Yamaha's DSP-A1 intergrated amp .....I'm a happy camper .....

Widescreen, Awesome Picture, Looks Great.

Sits too low. See Below.

This TV is awesome. The only complaint I have is that is sits too low to the ground. Toshiba has a stand that is made for the tv but they have discontinued both the tv and stands. The stand looks like it is a part of the tv. Good luck finding the stand. I called 20 retailers and only one had them in stock and they had about 20 of them. It was only $140 but the shipping was $80, ouch. I still love the tv and when I hooked up the RCA DTC 100 HDTV dish (Dish=$150, Receiver=$280 Open Box, and a adapter that allows the 15 pin hookup to become a component video output that costs $130) the picture quality is superb. I ordered the video essentials DVD ($14 used)so I could properly calibrate my picture thanks to the previous postings/warnings. I am a happy home theater junkie. All the different widescreens are tricky but you get used to them and learn to love them.

Similar Products Used:

Sharp, Magnovox, JVC

Has anyone purchased this set? I just got the Toshiba SD-3109 DVD player (which is totally awesome) and I need a set that can display widescreen (16:9) and is not too expensive ($2k range is good). I was originally thinking about buying the Sony 36" Wega (KV-36FV1) but it doesn't do 16:9.

This TV is unbelievable. The only way to get a better picture when playing an anamorphic DVD is to go HD. It looks great (in terms of its physical design), performs flawlessly and should be a set to take me into the HD era. I can't say enough about it. I can't believe how great it looks on all material. Got it from www.onecall.com. If you're looking for a widescreen set, you owe it to yourself to see this set.
PS

The review before this one is not really a review so the "One star" rating should be removed. Thanks.