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The biggest drawback is that there is no headphone jack, incredible as that sounds. This Toshiba HDTV has reasonably decent picture quality, though not equal to the best I've seen. I can't watch this TV with headphones to avoid annoying my wife. Set up wasn't too difficult, though I can't use the remote that came with it; I have to use the cable remote to access all the features. Sound quality is adequate, though not inspiring. I ordered this TV online and it never occurred to me to make sure it had a headphone jack. I've had probably 30 televisions in my life and I think this is the first without a headphone jack.Except for that (serious) drawback, this is an ok television for the price.
The only problem I'm having is that I can't get the TV remote to recognize the brand new Direct TV DVR. So I called Direct TV and upgraded to HD service.
I had researched TVs in Consumer Reports a year ago and had decided that a 720 p was all I needed because of the limited number of programs being transmitted in HD and the increase in monthly service from Direct TV for the HD signal. But I put off the purchase and now a year later I had a hard time finding a 42" TV that wasn't 1080.
I saw this TV in a big electronics store in February while visiting friends in San Diego and was really impressed with the quality of the picture. All the SD programs that I was paying for looked aweful because the screen was so much larger than what we had before.
I was also impressed with the 120 Hz vs the 60 Hz. The TV arrived and as soon as I hooked it up to my Standard Def Direct TV DVR I was very dissatified with the fuzzy pictures.
After installation of a new oval dish and a new HD DVR, the picture quality is fantastic, even for programs that don't appear on the Direct TV program guide as coming in HD. Instead we programmed the DVR remote to recognize the TV but the DVR remote can't do all the functions that are on the TV, so we still need both remotes.
I haven't even tweaked the settings much yet, and it is a beautiful picture. One nice thing is that this set has both analog and digital audio inputs. I purchased this television locally, and I absolutely love it. The setup was incredibly easy, also. All in all, a wonderful set, and an excellent value at this price.Don't look solely at the rating on this, as there are several idiotic reviews that have nothing to do with the television itself. I can't believe the number of features crammed into this television for the price (I paid $1099). I have a DVR, digital cable box, PS3, and home theater system, so I was surprised how well it went.
He had to use the headphone jack to use his home theater (I only add this to show the number of features). The picture is incredible, especially on my Playstation 3 (games and movies). A friend bought a Philips 47 inch LCD and had problems because it only had digital audio. This set had many more features than similarly priced Sony, Samsung, or Sharp models. I just plugged everything right in. The user interface on this set is great, as well, I found it easy to move between inputs, adjust settings, etc. Read for yourself and you will see that nearly all of the real ratings for this set are 5 star.
Not as good as this it a 720i but it has lasted well and is now in the bedroom. I have had this TV for about 2 months and I love it. We have yet to see any of those digital squares to come up during football games or action movies. Regza also. It seems to be a great value. I can't wait to see what the pictue will be like with a BlueRay player.Everything is supper crisp.
That TV is still in great condition and have no problems with it. The high def is fantastic. It was in the living room and had been banged on by little children and sippy cups. The sound is great I don't even need to hook it in to my stereo. Our other TV is a 32 in. I believe the Toshiba to be a great long lasting sturdy product.
I would recommend the Toshiba to anyone.
I also auditioned the Samsung's and Sony's at Sears and decided that the Toshiba was at the right price with all the features of a Samsung or Sony (which cost $[.]. Once I knew this, the greens became EXTREMELY apparent and annoying to the point it was distracting me from my movie watching. I saw this LCD at Costco for $[.]. The greens are especially amplified when you look at blonde hair or certain light skin tones - like faces - and they all look green. color of things will always be skewed - FOREVER. more than the Regza at the same screen size). I then found that other people noticed this as well on AVS forum as well as a professional review of 46" version of this LCD - CNET - I believe.
Thank goodness I didn't order this online from some e-tailer. and it looked much better than the Vizio's and Panasonic plasmas lined up next to it so I bought it along with a Panny Blu Ray player. So, I returned the Toshiba to Costco for a full refund. I then realized that the Regza has a serious green over saturation problem that CANNOT be fixed by adjusting the green color controls in the Color Master settings. Even on Blu Ray this is happening. So, point of the story is : even though the 42xv540u is a great tv and has all these wonderful features like 120hz and 10bits at a great price with a bright screen, the fundamental picture i.e. So, if your gonna spend a GRAND or so on a TV that you want to last you at least a few years, DON'T CHEAP OUT AND GET THIS TV, spend the extra dough and get a Sony or Samsung or something else.
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