I researched the 46hm84 for several months and only found one problem
with the unit---the lamp is not very reliable. I contacted Toshiba and was
assured that the lamp issue had been resolved so, I purchased the television.
Six months later, I purchased a 52 inch model. Three months later the lamp
exploded on the 52 inch TV and Toshiba replaced the lamp at no charge.
However, after owning the 46 inch TV, the lamp exploded and I had to replace
the lamp because the unit was beyond the warranty period. Cost--$199.00 plus
shipping. Since that time the lamp has failed again and Toshiba will not do
anything about the problem since the lamps are only covered for 180 days.
I'm writing to discourage those of you that are looking to purchase any Toshiba
rear projection television. It is obvious the the lamp issue has not been resolved
and Toshiba will not back up the expensive product that they are selling.

Picture quality with HDTV and 480p is great. Ease of use. Colors are natural. Good shadow detail. Nice price. Picture adjustments for each input.

A confusing owners manual and some non-descriptive on-screen menu acronyms can make some of the TVs more advanced features sound more advanced than they actually are. So-so picture presets.

I've been in the process of assembling a home theater system for my parents and after months and months of researching several brands and models of rear projection DLP and LCD microdisplay televisions, I gave up. I simply told my folks who have absolutely NO idea about HDTV to just go out to the stores and look for a set they liked. As a member of several A/V forums, and a regular reader of A/V magazines, and review sites such as this one, I was getting hundreds of mixed messages about every single set I researched. Even if I was impressed by a television in the store, I would read about it later only to find out it had some major quality control issues, or significantly unforgivable design flaws. Basically, I had thrown in the towel. I was at my wits end with TV shopping. So, my folks went with the Toshiba 46HM84. Out of the box, all of the TV's contrast and brightness settings are set to maximum (100). I highly recommend using video test patterns such as THX Optimode, or AVIA Guide to Home Theater DVD to calibrate the TV. After calibration, colors looked very natural, with excellent performance for dark scenes and shadow detail. Progressive Scan DVDs look very filmlike, and from a viewing distance of about 9 feet away, the picture size is sufficiently enveloping. I found myself watching all of The Incredibles, even though I only wanted to watch a couple of scenes to test it out. The TV's remote is fairly intuitive with large buttons that are backlit. You can adjust and save picture settings for each input. There are several 4:3 and 16:9 modes to select from and they work impressively well. In spite of its many features, the TV is easy to use. (If my parents can operate this set, then anyone should be able to!) Channel surfing is a breeze and there is no lag going from channel to channel. The TV warms up to full brightness much more quickly than other similar sets. It's cooling fan is audible during soft scenes, but I found that it was no louder than the sound of a movie projector in the theater. I am very surprised that my parents were able to make such an excellent choice in television. Even after countless hours of die-hard research on TVs, I couldn't seem to find the right TV for my folks. Well after being allowed to play around with the Toshiba 46HM84 for a few days, I want one for myself...but perhaps a few inches larger...

Similar Products Used:

Mitsubishi, JVC, Samsung, Sony, LG, Panasonic, Toshiba.