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Full user review
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12 out of 12 people found this review helpful
4.0 stars
"Good picture, poor manual and Web support"
Pros: Good picture quality
Cons: 24x7 fan on, no way to shut it down
Summary: ORIGINALLY WRITTEN ON MY BLOG, edited a bit here....
In the spirit of every blogger is a reporter, I dutifully report my week old experience with my Toshiba 46HM95. This is probably the only review you will ever see on the Internet on this model as nobody cares too much about Toshiba, let alone this model, Toshiba's own website doesn't care about this model either as they still have no information on this model as of August 24, 2005. I can't even register the model via their so called award winning website because the value on the drop down didn't get updated to include this model and they don't allow free-form input.
To keep things in perspective, I have been watching TV for some 30 plus years, that is PAL and NTSC CRT TVs. My last two TVs were SONY and Panasonic. This is my only HDTV. So for what is worth, here is my mini review.
Picture Quality
The picture quality of the set is good. Sharp, vivid and contrasty. Picture should be good so there is nothing to write home about. (<- I tend to take things for granted, I did see some yucky pictures from other sets.)
Rainbow effect
The manuel admits from time to time in some rare situation you can see that. I see that too, primarily in white scenes. But that doesn't bother me much.
Talking about white scenes, the white has a shining quality to it, it's almost glaring, I don't know if it's a DLP thing or not. I adjust the set to low lamp and non-sport mode. High lamp and sport tend to give even a brighter picture. You probably need to wear sunglasses to watch it, if there are lots of bright scenes.
HD picture is just awesome. SD picture varies from station to station, I guess if it's digital, chances are it's better, if it's analog it's not so good, just like any non HD set.
Video and Audio Synchronization
I don't hear and see a problem here. I read and did experience some sets that exhibit this problem. It's just awful. I don't know if it's the set problem or more like a broadcast thing. Or a DLP thing. I have no clue. My set doesn't exhibit any syn problem.
Geometry
I notice some slight pin cushion on the picture, by that I mean the vertical lines tend to concave in a bit. It becomes "obvious" when you watch 4:3 TV with vertical bars running on the left and right. If you stretch the 4:3 mode to Wide 1, the set leaves some 5mm blank space to the left. I would like to slightly horizontally shift the picture to the left. But I fail to find that feature. I guess primarily, Toshiba thinks you shoudn't touch those settings. When I have time, I will call Toshiba.
Connection
It's a new model, so it comes with 2 HDMI inputs. I got a SA 8300HD from Time Warner and sadly the audio doesn't work (at least for me) using HDMI. So I ended up using component, not a huge deal. This seems to be a TWC STB issue.
Miscellaneous annoyances
Time Warner provides TV guide already. At some point I tried to setup the set's own TV guide (when TWC screwed up my service), but then it never quite works the way I thought it would work. Now every time I turn on the set, TV guide appears, one more button to press to get rid of it before I can actually watch TV.
"Fan" noise. The set seems to be running some fan 24x7. Yes, I do mean 24x7. The manuel isn't very clear to me, I thought the fan would remain on for a few minutes if you have Quick Restart active after you turn the set off. And by induction, it should be off right away if Quick Restart is off. No matter, my experience is the fan or so I thought that's what it is, runs all the time even when I power off the set. It's not loud like my refrigerator but you can hear it. Does it bother me, a bit yes. When I am home and have time I will call Toshiba to see if that's normal. Their succint email reply is yes it's normal. To totally quiet the set, I have to unplug the power cord. I just wish their manuel could be clearer.
UPDATE:
I reset the TV so the TV's own TV guide won't come up ever. I don't need it as TWC provides TV guide.
I did call Toshiba, they say the fan or fan noise is to cool the TV tuner. No mention of that in the manuel (which only says to cool the lamp, yea, when my TV is off the lamp is off what's that noise?), if only they did, I wouldn't bother to call them. Now their award-winning website does include this model, after more than a month selling the set.
Before I bought the set, their email supports says all 05 set comes with HD4 chip, while the vendors spec and their ambiguous press release kind of say it is HD2+, now their website finally says it's HD2+ chip. They can use some help in the internal communications.
One day, the picture just failed to light up at all. I checked the cable and all the connections, still no good. I called and they say the lamp is out, they need a fax of my invoice. No email invoice, has to be fax. I told them, according to the manuel, the bulb seems to be fine as the set doesn't exhibit any of the symptoms described in the manuel (but then the manuel kind of inadquate). Anyway, I don't mind getting a new lamp except I can't fax.
Few hours later, the video is back on. Don't know why but it doesn't inspire a lot of confidence in terms of long term usage...Updated
-HDMI audio and video work with TWC sa8300hd now, for some time actually. not toshiba's fault from day 1.
-Toshiba sent out letter dated 3/23/06 voluntarily replacing lamps that may have potential problems: not up to life and performance. My initial lamp despite some initial glitches is still running OKAY.
-Still happy with the performance.
-Web site still no pdf manuel download. You can do product registration though.
- 4 replies to this review
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I have tried to find the manual on toshiba's award winning website and have not found any information about the 46HM95 other than the general spec sheet. Does anyone happen to have a PDF copy of it that they can email me?
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I have ordered the 46HM95. I too have a 8300 Cable box from TWC. Since the HDMI will not work, do I just connect audio with RCA Jacks?
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I've had my 46" HM95 for 2 months now and have had no complaints up until yesterday. I turned the tv on and the screen was completely black. I could hear the sound in the backround from whatever channel was on, but there was absolutely no picture. I looked through the Troubleshooting portion of the Owner's Manual and found that the problems are most likely from the lamp unit not working. I called Toshiba today and explained to them what was going on with the tv and they confirmed that I need a new lamp unit. I asked what the normal life expectancy is for a lamp and was told that it varies but a lamp should last for over 2 years. I asked why my tv lasted only two months and was told mine may have been defective. Their solution is to send me a new lamp for me to replace. They will not ship it out until I fax them a copy of my purchase receipt, which means I will probably have to wait about 5-7 days until I can watch my tv again.
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I had the same problem with the picture going black. I could hear the sound, but no picture. I bought the 46HM94 a week ago today (which I think is the exact same tv, with only one HMDI input, maybe a few other subtle things). This just happened today. I contacted crutchfield, and they advised me to "unplug" the tv for about 15 minutes. I did, pluged back in, and it turned on. This VERY much concerns me. I'm wondering what future problems may occur with this tv. Your user opinion is the second article I have read on subject. The other was on another website. The other article was not very informative, but it stated that the bulb has to reset 4 times, and the picture came back on in a couple of hours. I don't know if unpluging mine reset the picture, or if it was conisidence. Never the less, since I bought the set from costco, I'm going to give it one more try, and see what happens. Otherwise, it would already be back at the store. I just wish someone could tell me this may not be a big deal, and it just needs resetting. I'm a furnace technition, and completely understand that "unexplainable" things happen, and have to reset the furnace once in a while. It's really not a big deal (if you're home enough to know how cold it's getting in your home (freezing pipes)). I will call toshiba, and see if I can get a response to this problem. From what I've read about Toshiba's tech support, I'm not expecting to get a very good answer, if I get one at all. I shall write a review of my own in a few days, after I get my HD Cable (remember I have the 46HM94). Overall, I really do like the TV. I would hate to see it go back. The picture with an upconversion dvd player with Shrek in, was stunning, while digital cable leaves something to be desired. From what I read, this is common with almost any HD set. I think people are expecting too much from a TV that was designed to display High Definition.
