I got rid of my piece-of-crap Sony 36XBR200 and got a Toshiba TW40H80 in its place. WOW!!! This tv is amazing, especially with anamorphic dvd's. With their similar prices, why on earth would anyone even consider the 36XBR200 when they could have the TW40H80?

i have owned this set for about 8 months now & have to say i am very happy with it. when i first got it, there was definitely a soft quality to it, but i did not have $250 to get an ISF tech to calibrate it, so i called my local toshiba service center & told them that the picture was off & could they please send someone out. the tech came out & converged the picture on all 5 settings (normal, theater wide 1,2, &3, and full). this thing has a 36 point convergence grid tucked away in the service menu. while he was there he also adjusted the crt's focus and corrected the gray scale. price - $0. this was all covered under my warranty. probably not as precise as an ISF tech, but much much better. i had a chance to compare this set directly with a high definition sony monitor & have to say that on tv sets 40 inches or smaller, HD makes a difference, but not a big difference. i think the area where HD is most dramatic & desirable is on very large screen projection tv's, or on overhead projectors. smaller screens simply cannot display the full HD signal. so, if you are looking for a tv 40 inches or smaller, look no further, and don't bother with HD. this tv is incredibly good, especially for the price (got mine for $1900) anamorphic dvd's are detailed & filmlike. you can actually sit quite close before line structure becomes obvious/annoying (i sit about 5 feet away & am rarely aware of line structure.) on thing i highly recommend is putting some kind of damping material on the back of the tv because it will vibrate & make noise in the presence of strong bass. i noticed this while listining to patricia barber's modern cool cd & the acoustic bass went off on a solo. the tv was resonating like crazy. so i went to a car audio place & got some of those damping sheets they use to seal sounds out of a car & put it on the back of the tv. no more vibrations, plus it was cheap - like $20. i reccomend anyone with a large monitor to try this out. anyway, the tw40h80 gets 5 stars because it is the best image i have seen short of a properly set up runco projector.

I've been looking for a new tv every since I got myself at Toshiba DVD (SD-3109/ five stars). I looked at the Sony Vega direct view tv's but I wanted to something that could display widescreen dvd's full screen. That's when I discovered the Toshiba TW40H80. It has an excellent, vibrant picture quality that makes watching widescreen DVD's a truly beautiful experience. The set is slender so it's perfect for people in tight places or who want another tv for the bedroom. If you've got space to spare, you might want to look at the Toshiba's bigger widescreen tv's. They have a new 61" and 53" coming out in August.
I've spent sometime watching it at a local dealer but I still haven't bought one yet. Why? Just when I was ready to buy one, the dealer told me that Toshiba was releasing an updated model in August with more HDTV capabilities (TZ40H81 or something like that). He told me that I should wait because he was certain that I could get the new model for the same price as TW40H80 ($1999 US). Also, I have since learned that Sony is introducting a new Vega (36XBR250) that allows you to switch between 4:3 and 16:9 modes. Thus i decided to wait until the new models come out before finalizing my decision. But make no mistake, the TW40H80 is a wonderful buy. If it wasn't for new models, I would have one at home right now.

If you want one, I've seen the tv on sale at www.netmarket.com and www.onecall.com. I've decided to go with Uncle's Stereo (www.unclestereo.com) because the cost of shipping the set would be the same at paying NY sales tax. Thus there was no advantage to purchasing it online

Great Picture for the price.

Impossible to place a decent center speaker on top of TV.

I have installed this Toshiba TV before and it is usually a charm. I do agree that there can be occasional quality control issues for Toshiba products, but those issues can occur with other brands. I agree that the dealer should take an active role to ensure product quality.

My biggest complain for this Toshiba is placing the center speaker. Using the TV speaker for center channel is out of the question, but this set makes it very difficult to place a decent center speaker in line with the screen. We can do custom installation of the set with built-in cabinets, but for the more casual installation, the narrow width of the TV top is not practical. I hope Toshiba will come up with a customized top platform (9" min.) for this TV, so that we can place a nice Energy speaker on top of it.

www.surroundidea.com

I been very happy with this tv. It's really excel's at showing DVD's. I have mine hooked up to a Toshiba 2108 with component connections. After watching movies on this wide screen I can't hardly watch a 4:3 screen!

Large screen, small chasis. Excellant image when coupled with a progressive scan DVD.

Minor geometry problems. Toshiba techs are idiots.

Ok, i can moan about my customer horror story about getting a replacement set. My first set would pincushion an inch on the left.

I finally got a new one, and i'm amazed how good rear projections can get. I originally was going to by a XBR Wega, never even considered an RP. But, the tosh is a much smaller chasis (i think 150lbs vs 270lbs for the 36" Wega). A larger screen, the 40" 16x9 is significantly larger than the 36" Wega when watching letterboxed dvd's as you use more real estate.

Detail and color's are fantastic. Get a progressive scan dvd player though. Be warned, non anamorphic DVD's will now look like crap compared to anamorphic ones.

Similar Products Used:

Sony XBR Vega and old non vegas

Can resolve entire 525 lines of res.

amazing job with dvd...extremely poor job with all other formats ( have not use with hdtv source, yet!)

JUST LET ME SAY FIRST OF THAT THIS TV IS AN AMAZING TV FOR DVD SOURCES I GOT IT JUST FOR DVD AND FOR HDTV ( WHEN IT IS AVAILABLE IN CANADA) THE REASON I RATE IT 5 OUT OF 5 IS BECAUSE OF HOW IT HANDLES DVD THE INTERNAL LINE DOUBLER IS AMAZING FOR DVD. for the money this tv is pretty good when it comes to a dvd source. it can resolve all 525 lines of resolution. however if you are using a dvd player without progressive scan there will be some slight ntsc distortion ( it will be hardly noticable). if you choose to buy this tv atleast have a toshiba tech come over and have it converged and fix the grey scale 1 month after you buy. also ask him to check all the video inputs to make sure they are in proper order. MY TV HAD 1 FAULTY COMPONENT VIDEO INPUT WHICH CAUSED THE BLACK LEVEL TO CHANGE FROM ONE IMAGE TO THE NEXT. watching regular video I.E dss or cable tv is far from tolerable there is too much distortion caused by the tv's line doubler ( progressive scan ) you might want to watch tv on another tv in your house. anyways i you watch alot of dvds and have a tight budget get this tv you will be happy as long as you dont watch cable dss or vcr images on it...

Don't know.... I don't get a picture.

No picture..... poor customer service.

I, by no means, am an expert on RPTVs. This review is an echo of the previous review which I have just read. I would just like to say that buyer beware should not only be directed at internet purchasing.

I, very recently, purchased the Toshiba 40H80 from the Audiocenter in Montreal. I have dealt with them before, however I had never made a purchase. Largely based on reviews from this site and from the amazing picture in the showroom I purchased the television. I had it professionally installed and when the entire installation was complete there was no picture to be seen. There was sound but absolutely no picture.

I was obviously very disappointed. However I thought that since I never used it that it would be a no brainer.... new tv. No dice. The store won't replace the defective tv. Furthermore, Toshiba only sends servicemen between 9am-5pm. I would have to make myself available.

Toshiba produce a defective tv and expect me to take time off work to chaperone the less than qualified person they have servicing it. As it stands, after one trip the tv still isn't fixed and I have no idea what the Audiocenter or Toshiba are going to do for me.

I guess, in this time and age, spending over $7000 on electronics at a store doesn't guarantee service. They may say that they're working for me but I still don't have a tv..... anyone know the score of the NCAA games tonight? I missed them, no tv....

Similar Products Used:

Sony Trinitron

In addition to below, amazing colors!

Can't think of one anymore

As a follow up to the review below, i got my TV ISF calibrated over the weekend. While it may be easy to judge a TV's sharpness, its harder to appreciate good color till you really see a properly setup tv. I had always in the past had to diddle around with my color and brightness settings, some discs looked to dark and lost detail, others were to red. Gone in 60 seconds was just washed out a bit.

But Kevin Miller came buy with a philips color analyzier and corrected all that. My TV is now a near 6500K color temp from 0 IRE's (black) to 100 IRE's (Peak white). Before, it was nowhere near close, at 13,000K at 100IRE down to 7000K at 0IRE. Gray level is also set perfectly. Now, the colors are fabulous. Skin tones look natural, dark blue looks dark blue and not purple. Colors maintain deep saturation across the spectrum. Check out queen elizabeth's dress in Shakespear in love. The blue and greens are so rich. Dark scenes show their full detail while still showing black correctly and not turning into grey. He also went into the service mode and did a full XX point convergence instead of the front panel 9point job.

My TV has gone from great to amazingly awesome. Its better than some theaters i've been too. Mr Miller said the toshiba 40" and 56" are the best rear projections out there. They have the best color decoders. He doesn't sell TVs so there are less reasons for bias.

You can't appreciate the potential of this TV until you get it calibrated. Unfortunately, color and gray scale calibration is something no manufacturer can set at the factory and you can't fully do with Avia or VE. This is true for every TV out there.

FYI, calibration took 3.5 hours and $400.

Similar Products Used:

Sony Wega's

Awesome picture from 480p source, stable sound a great feature, makes a good centre speaker

"Rainbow" effect, scrolling through input sources

I too looked at the XBR400 first, but had heard awful things about the DRC chip Sony uses. I fell in love with the 40H80, it was a perfect size for my apartment. I just upgraded to digital cable the other day, and I'm satisfied with the picture. I mean, it IS just cable afterall, most of it is crap. Toy Story 2 from my Toshiba 6200 DVD player is enough to blow anyone's mind.
Has anyone noticed a "rainbow" effect when they glance quickly at, and away, from the TV? i.e. you'll see white lines, but then it seems like you see colors in your peripheral vision as you look away. Is this a convergence error? I manually calibrated it as best I could, but have not had an ISF guy over yet (I want to let the TV burn for a while yet)...
Oh yeah, and I hate the way you have to hit INPUT multiple times to get to the source you want.