fantastic picture and decent sound for a TV

sometimes clumsy remote, slow channel tuner

After reading some earlier posts that gave this set 1 star, I feel that: a) those reviewers must have received 'bad' sets or b) they're on illegal drugs. I am extremely happy with the picture on this TV. I've closely examined it for geometry problems as well, but have yet to find any bowing or bending of any lines in the corners or at the edges of the screen.
Cable TV is improved over a regular TV, but don't see what this set can really do til you get a progressive scan DVD. One word for the combo -- INCREDIBLE!!! Have yet to see how DSS or digital cable looks, but if regular cable looks good I can't wait to try.
Menu allows to adjust for many different settings to fine-tune the display and sound. Find menu setup to be OK and easy to use. Sound from TV is definitely good enough to hold you over til you get a nice high-quality HTS. Sub gives pretty good bass for a TV. HTS is next on my list, but like I said, I'm in less of a rush since the set delivers good sound.
Weaknesses: Top-heavy/clumsy remote (but it is backlit and very user friendly to compensate for the negative). Slow TV tuner (but favorite channel settings allow for much quicker changing again to compensate for slight negative).

Overall, EXCEPTIONALLY pleased with this purchase. Have used it for about 1-1/2 months now before writing review so that I could get a full understanding of its value. For between $1500-2000, the CN36X81 should be at the top of anyone's 'want' list!!!!!

Perfect and beautiful picture. The best I've seen. Works well as a center speaker for dvd's.

Took three deliveries to get it right.

Boy are we glad we baught this TV, and also very glad to have boughten it locally. (Good Guys, $1800 & tax, w/sale) Initially, we didn't expect to get an HDTV, but we wanted the best picture we could afford and this tv was clearly the best. Since we knew what it was capable of we didn't waste our time with the picture imperfections of the first two sets.

The first TV's picture was beautiful except for one major flaw; it had a 3 inch band of wavy lines continually rising across the screen. The second TV wouldn't even produce a a picture the few times we tried. When it started working the picture was magnified and bent in the corners.

The third TV is as perfect as can be. No distortions of any kind. Gorgeous colors, great detail, good reception with a TV top antenna and awsome DVD picture.

It does take some tweaking with the picture's "memory" setting to get the awsome picture this TV is capable of. But once I got it, it works for TV, video, and DVD. Only when the reception or the quality of the recording is off, is an altered setting sometimes better.

I wish the remote had full "learning remote" capabilities, but otherwise it works well and you get used to the odd shape.

In the end it is a five star TV unless you buy it mail order or without a 30 day satisfaction guarantee.

picture, price, connections, options, sound system

slow remote, VCR picture, sound system

I literally spent 2 months agonizing over the WEGA XBR vs. CN36X81 decision, finally bit the bullet bought the Toshiba, and haven't looked back since. I'm upgrading from a 20 inch Toshiba I bought in 1994, so it was time for a change. the 6 years of flawless serivce out of that TV already spoke for the quality of Toshiba Tvs...In this review I will try and address the concerns I was worried about before buying.
Strengths first...the picture: This is the flattest non-flat screen TV i've ever seen, and looks terriffic. I watch lotsa analog cable and lotsa DVDs, the high and low ends of the video spectrum, and both look amazing. a few cable channels are less than ideal, but all in all still the best analog cable picture i've ever seen on a TV, blows away the WEGAs. This was a major concern of mine, i knew DVDs would be great, but not low-end signals, and the TV has performed flawlessly. As far as DVDs, they are perfect. I have a 3 year old early model sony, and it looks gorgeous. I shudder to think what one of the new Toshiba progressive scan players look like. Price: 1699 at Deal Mountain, a store in Miami, 2000 locally (Altlanta) plus shipping. best TV under 2K in the world I can think of. Connections: 3 video, 2 HD, 3 coaxial, can't ask for any more. Options: This sets the TV apart from the WEGAs. the programming your favorite channel function is great, a real convenience. the learning remote is nice too, i'm controlling a toshiba TV, RCA VCR, and sony DVD player off one remote, not bad. the remote is also backlit which is very nice. Toshiba's auto-caption-on-mute function is brilliant, god bless them for thinking of this. Sound system: excellent, the virtual surround is excellent, as is the subwoofer. I broke it in watching the matrix, and 1/2 the people in the room with 5.1 surround systems thought mine sounded as good. the built in sound system can definitely tide you over until the reciever/speakers of your dreams cone into your possession. One thing I read that I was concerned about was having to change settings between TV/VCR/DVD, etc... and this generally isn't true. I watch DVDs and cable on the same setting, and the only time i've ever had to adjust the Tv since I got it is when watching a VCR tape (see below)

Weaknesses: Yeah the remote is slow, this is something you find with ALL Toshiba TVs. Deal with it, we're not talking an eternity, less than a second usually, and besides, the pre-programing your favorites function easily makes up for that lost surfing time. One frustrating thing is slow switching between video source, but this is a minor inconvenience. VCR picture: not great, i'll be honest. I am on a pretty old VCR and watched Phantom Menace, which is about as high quality a VCR tape as you can get, and it was a bit grainy, and the color settings were way off. I'm sure with a newer, better VCR this would alleviate much of the problem, but VCR is the weakest I've seen the TV perform. But realistically, I'm using the VCR once a week (for recording the simpsons) so i can deal with the minor inconvenience. Sound system: Gets fuzzy around level 80 (out of 100). mind you, this is VERY loud, it was only this high to test it, and I've never gone above about level 50 in normal watching. Some other reviewers have complained about the weight, well, any 36 inch TV on the market is going to between 150-225 pounds, so weighing in at 178 (204 in carton) this TV is in the middle of the range. Yeah, its heavy, but 2 people can lift it and believe me, after buying this Tv your friends are going to be begging for you to let them help you set it up.

I really don't know what else to say except don't let any negative things you're might have read scare you off, this TV is great. please, don't get caught up in the 'oh-so-shiny' cabinet or superflat screen of the WEGAs, the picture quality is the most important thing. I've seen some sporting events that are almost unwatchable on the WEGA, and WEGAs greatly distort video games. Yes, the WEGA XBR400s will be out at the end of the summer, and probably give a picture of this tv's quality plus the true flat screen, but you're adding almost 1000 to the price tag, and are losing a LOT of the features that make this TV great. the XBR250s available now can't touch this TV, and as another reviewer wisely said, shouldn't even be mentioned in the same class of TV as the CN36X81. I use this TV for everything from VCR to analog cable to DVD to video games, and have never been disappointed. Best 1700 i've ever spent, and based on my flawless history with my old toshiba I expect this TV to last for a very long time. I welcome any comments, and have looked at the CN36X81 vs. WEGA XBR comparison from every angle, and would be glad to share my observations

Similar Products Used:

WEGA XBR 250s

Inexpensive, Progresive Scan, Line Doubler

4:3 aspect ratio, slow channel changing/input changing

Ok, don't let all these terrible reviews scare you off. I can't help but think that Todd V and Lawrence have either a) a bad TV, which is bound to happen occationally, or b) is too used to overly bright, oversaturated, ultra-contrasted pictures like you see in 90% of households and at all retail stores. Don't believe this could happen to you? Read the recent article in HT magazine about configuring your TV using VE or Avia. Even the author (can't remember who is was...) said he thought the TV looked WORSE after calibrating it. However, after a little bit of time, he realized that the old way was WRONG and that the picture DOES look better, just that you have to train your mind to forget about the blaringly outrageous image you're used to viewing.
Second, the TV is heavy- but it DOES NOT take an army to move it.
Third- Channel changing IS slow, but how often do you watch regular TV? With Digital Cable and DSS, it's increasingly rare for you to need the silly tuner AT ALL anymore. Don't get me wrong, it's a pain if you DO need it, but it's not worth crying over.

Fourth- The remote is one of the best rempotes I've seen in a while. It's backlighted and very nicely laid out. It's not touchscreen, but what do you want, a joystick? :)

Fifth- So the sound ain't the best and the Spatializer idea is about as useful as "duck and cover", but let's be real: The sound is more than adequate. It's better than a lot of TV's out there, even has decent bass response. But odds are, you're not dropping $1.6k on a TV without having a stereo to go with it.

Sixth- Let's not forget the main reason you would consider buying this set: It's big, it's HDTV (kinda) ready, and it's digital all for $1600 dollars! I encourage you to read the recent review in SGHT (May?) if you're considering this set for HDTV only duty. However, if you're like the rest of the population that watches digital cable, DSS, and DVDs without wanting to drop another grand on the HD decoder, this is a VERY nice set.

The set does have shortcomings in the HD department (most of which stem from the 4:3 display) and the line doubler ain't perfect, but please, anyone, tell me of the perfect TV or projector. A $60 grand DLP projector, you say? Well, execept for the $60 grand, yeah it's perfect. But for everyone else, give this set a VERY serious look and decide for yourselves.
Oh, and for the record- the Sony Wega's ARE nice Tv's, but in no way are they going to look better than a nonanamorphic progressive scanned DVD will look on this screen. WHY? 480p.
I'm trying not to rant here, but I hate to see a decent product bashed by people who were expecting too much and who didn't undestand what they were buying before they bought it. Unless you spend twice as much, you'd be hard pressed to find its equivilant. Do your research and decide for yourselves.
This IS my second review, but after 4 monthes, I thought it needed an update.

Similar Products Used:

You name it-, if it's analog, I've seen it. This is my first DTV

Picture quality, especially in HDTV

Weight

After a ton of research, I selected the Toshiba. I started with the Sony in mind, but after careful comparison and viewing this set in progressive scan mode, the choice got easier. RCA's picture was about as good, and they have their HDTV dish ready (hopefully Toshiba's will be here in April-May), but RCA did not have a line doubler, which is nice when viewing NTSC material (probably 90% of our viewing- which ruled out a 16x9 format TV). Hitachi was also a consideration, but much tougher to find, $300 more expensive, and I don't value anamorphic squeeze as much as some folks seem to. Paid $1600 after doing tons of shopping.Better picture than any demo I saw in any store.



I got the Toshiba 5109 CD ($499 at ecost.com- half of local price even before factoring in sales tax savings). This is the only reasonably priced progressive scan DVD player, so easy choice. Then hooked up via Canare cables ($59 from bettercables.com). Supposedly much better than Monster.



No problems of any type with anything. I am just looking forward to getting HD dish with this set (and for more HD programming).

Similar Products Used:

Sony XBR, RCA 36100, Hitachi 36sdx88

Vibrant Colors

Scan Lines, Geometry

I have the TV for 2 days now. Vertical line on a test pattern tend to bend outwards on the left side of the screen. I also noticed slight bending in the lower right corner of the menu boxes. All these are not noticable when viewing cable. While watching DVDs the top black bar seems to be slightly bent (downwards at the corner).
Overall, I still like this TV a lot. I wonder if the geometry problem can be fixed under warranty

Similar Products Used:

CN36H97

I can not find any yet

Bad colors, must adjust all th etime from VCR tO DVD To cable

I just bought my Toshiba CN36X81 TV 2 weeks ago along with Toshiba 5109 DVD player.
Oh Boy what a mistake. After reading all these reviews I thought there must be something good about this TV set and since it is HD TV ready I porbably get a better picture as well.
I went online and ordered throught www.onecall.com, not a bad deal , the T.V was $1623, I bought the tand that goes with this which took me over 2 hours to put it together.
The delivery company did not deliver the T.V inside of the house due to their insurance policy. This T.V is so heavy, about 24 LBS. My wife and I managed to push it through the garage and slide it into the living room. Once out of the box (how one is suppose to get this out of the box!!!)
it took 3 people to put it on the stand and lots of hand, what a pain.

Once T.V was up and running, I could not belive how bad was the picture, I have analog cable and just found out that the HD T.V does nt do a good job getting analog signals.
To be fair I tested the DVD and it looked better but nothing special.
About the remote control, it is a total joke and you have to wait few seconds betwwwn changing channels.

I used the vedio essentials and things got a little better after spending one hour of going through it.

I have seen the Sony 36 inch XBR with DVD and it looks so good that I could not belive my eyes.


www.onecal.com won't take the T.V back and just told me to try to adjust the colors. So I am in the process of getting an authorized Toshiba dealer to come over for service since this is not acceptable.

The colors look so bad and faded and acutally there is not much colors when using cable. VCR is not much better and once DVD is used you see some colors.

I think Panasonic makes the best T.V for the price in the market and I should have bought the Sony XBR and now I know why they cost so much, because they look so good.

Anyway before you buy this T.V make sure you see it and test it.

You'd better have some to lift it. Line doubler, HD ready (kinda), very good color

Heavy, still some artifacts on DVDs, egad the channel surfing is SLOW. Can only memorize ONE color calibration. The others are set by default

Bought this monster on an amazing deal and never looked back. I enlisted a trusting friend to haelp me carry it up the stairs (it's heavy, BTW. 180lbs) and set it up. I also bought the 5109 DVD player. Using the Progressive outputs on the DVD, the picture was blue and bright as all hell at first. Dropping the Video Essentials DVD intot the player, I promptly dumped the contrast to 20%, the sharpness to zero, and the picture was 100X better. The color really only needed a minor modification as did the tint. I also changed the temp setting to Warm.
Well, what a difference that made. The picture is beautiful- not perfect, but beautiful nevertheless. The scan lines are almost invisible (from 6 feet away). Turning the lights back on and changing to Cable, I hit my first snag. The picture was too dark. Simple enough, right? Increase the brightness. Well, you can only set ONE user defined setting. The other two (Cinema and normal) are hard-coded. This is fine if you watch only in the dark and you're lucky enough to have the cable and DVD signals nearly identical. I'm not so lucky. The Cinema setting is nearly the same as my "tweaked" setting, but the Normal setting is all wrong. I calibrated mine for the DVD and just watch TV a little darker than normal. You're gonna have to make a choice.
Snag number 2: The channel changing is beyond slow. It's like that dramatic pause in the game show "Greed"- and equally annoying. It's slow changing inputs (from Antenna to component, for instance)
With these two exceptions, I love the set. I can't think of much better for the price- you have to sacrifice something.

Similar Products Used:

Nothing comparable

Great Picture on DVD

only a 8bit line doubler and pixelates on moving picture and does not look good on cable which is where most people use it

I have been using this tv for a while now in my shop I don't like the tv when it comes to cable Toshiba has cheaped out on there line double only putting a 8 bit line doubler in it there for creating alot of pixelation when it comes to cable and moving images like sports or action.

on the other hand with DVD it looks stunning but still alot of digitalization in the motion part. Don't buy this TV if you are going to watch alot of cable.

Similar Products Used:

pro610

Great Picture, many inputs, good manual, great picture, excellent sound with "mini- surround sound, HD ready-kinda. Progressive scan is great with progressive scan DVD.

Ergonomics are a little weak. Slippery plastic case has no hanholds to grip 185 pound monster. Remote is top heavy and tends to slip out of your hands. Tuning up or down channels or between video inputs is s-l-o-w. Excellent sound with "mini- surround sound." Very hard (impossible) to find one in the stores in Minneapolis area to look at before buying. Makes my cable tv signal look sick, even with a cheap Monster line filter.

I am very satisfied with my Cinema-Series Toshiba 36 HD ready TV. I list the sound as a plus and minus. The sound so far outstips the 27 inch RCA we had before that it will be hard to convince my wife that we need to get a receiver and surround sound, but its NOT surround sound. The remote has all functions laid out cleanly and it took my kids about three days to know more than I do about the various functions by reading the manual. I bought the set from onecall.com at $1623 with a five year warranty for $130 and shipping for $140. Onecall threw in the shipping for the Toshiba S5109 progressive scan DVD. Arrived via truck in terrific shape, then I spent two hours wrestling it downstairs. This is where I wished for better handholds. Picture seems bright in the corners in black, haven't done the video essentials DVD tuning yet, I have toned down the contrast and set the flesh tones to "warm" - very good pictue overall. I understand that the HD issues, but am sure that it will work well enough. I look forward to HD satellite so I can get rid of the crappy cable signal. Hope this helps someone, I find a lot of the reviews very helpful, some are over my non-technical head, but I wouldn't have been able to justify the purchase without this site because I couldn't find one locally to look at (and I went to over a dozen places). I look forward to any emailed responses to my review at corey002@maroon.tc.umn.edu

Similar Products Used:

I looked at them all.