Toshiba 43H70 Rear Projection

Toshiba 43H70 Rear Projection 

DESCRIPTION

43" HDTV Projection TV

USER REVIEWS

Showing 1-10 of 23  
[Jul 03, 2003]
Yan
Casual Listener

Strength:

beautiful picture

Weakness:

quality

I can't believe that my friend's advice became true, he told me that quality of Toshiba is not good before purchasing Toshiba TV. I purchased my Toshiba 43H70 HDTV almost 2 years ago and am partially lucky its picture tube gone bad before its 2 years warranty which is 10 days, so that I save 261 dollars for parts, but I still spent 355 dollars for labor and visiting fee. I am worry about other 2 tubes' life, replace any of them will cost $600.

OVERALL
RATING
1
VALUE
RATING
1
[Jan 17, 2003]
malibushirl
AudioPhile

Strength:

No strenghts

Weakness:

Poor quality, Extremely poor customer service.

This is the second model of this tv I have owned. The first died within 3 months the replacement TV died after a year. Repairman admitted that Toshiba had a known problem(color guns) with this model. Toshiba would not stand behind the TV, would not return calls, toshiba service manager would not speak to me. Thankfully Best Buy stood behind their Extended Warranty Plan and is going to replace the tv for a second time with a comparable Sony model!

OVERALL
RATING
1
VALUE
RATING
1
[Nov 21, 2002]
fonamna
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Excellent Picture, back lit remote, Good sound, price, tweakability.

Weakness:

Super reflective screen.

Ive had this TV for over a year and I love it. It's easy to tweak if you want to, but it was really ok right out of the box. I would by another (only bigger and 16x9)! The picture quality is superb on all but the worst signals. Even the sound is amazing and I didnt plan on using the sound at all! The super reflective screen is my only real complaint. I would suggest the stand too, but thats just my preference.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
4
[Apr 02, 2002]
turbobuick86
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

HD verical compression (raster squeeze) Remote is excellent Spatial speakers perform admirably(I don''t always turn on my a/v system)

Weakness:

only 1080i and 480i native highly reflective screen

I chose this set based on the size of our family room and it was a wonderful fit. If you go overboard and buy a huge set for a smallish room, you will be disappointed with standard definition resolution(NTSC). Bigger isn''t always better especially when viewing compressed cable or sat signals at a close distance as it will only magnify those imperfections. Here''s a tip... that TV will look twice as big in your house as it does in that huge store!!! The 4x3 vs 16x9 debate was a no-brainer for me as I watch a lot sports and older movies which are predominately still 4x3. The best part of this tv is the way it handles HD. It performs what''s referred to as "the raster squeeze", which means while you have bars across the top and bottom, you aren''t losing any vertical lines of resolution. There is simply nothing there...... it''s blank, and if the room is darkened you don''t even notice those bars. My next TV (4-5 years) will be widescreen if the trend continues in that direction, but for now we really enjoy the versatility of this set. With HD, a directivo, stand a lone tive, and a dvd player hooked up I running low on inputs and it handles them all very well. As mentioned before, be sure to get that contrast turned down asap. Those default settings are rediculously high and could lead to some serious repairs down the road. My contrast is at 45, sharpness 30, brightness 50... color to taste. :)

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Feb 20, 2002]
alanmaier
AudioPhile

Strength:

Exceptional video at a fantastic price. Good sound. Flexible inputs. Illuminated remote. Easy convergence setting.

Weakness:

Polished screen can be an issue - I don''t hold it against the set. Needs more user adjustment to the video preset settings.

Sometimes we stumble across the real gems while searching for other diamonds. That is what happened to me with this set! I threw in the towel on a Sony Wega 32" set and needed to upgrade to something, ANYTHING, other than another poor quality Sony set. I was about to buy a Panasonic 32" HDTV set when I saw this little (little?) set on display at Best Buy. The last thing I was planning on doing was buy a rear projection set. Overall I am pleased with this set. I must admit it is large for my den as I can see artifacts from DirecTV, and let''s face it - you can have too large of a picture. Ultimately it will be moved to a larger room, and when I view a 16x9 DVD - I am glad I have the extra screen size. I plan on buying a progressive scan DVD, but won''t buy a cheapie... they just don''t cut it. Sound is definitely good, and setting convergence is easy. I do wish this set gave a little more latitude to the video adjustments as the 3 preset and 1 user just does not cut it, especially when you can''t even adjust sharpness or color temp on them. The only other issue I can take is something which can be an issue - an anti-reflective screen would have been nice. All in all, for the price I paid for this model as the store made room for the newer 43H71, I can''t really complain.

Similar Products Used:

None really similar to this set.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
4
[Feb 15, 2002]
AUAtty
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Price; Toshiba quality; picture; extensive # of inputs, including additional composite and compenet on the front for easy access (i.e. video camera, video games)

Weakness:

Menus aren''t that great; stand at $200 extra is not very good (no room for components);

I origonally started looking for a 36" tube set....nothing fancy. I''m generally of the opinion that someone who watches more TV (esp sports) than anything else is wasting their money on HD. Then I found this Toshiba. I origonally notice the set at Sam''s for $1499, but was unsure of buying something of this magnitude there. Ultimaltly, I ventured over to Tweeter. They were advertising it at $1699 (list at $2300), but after I looked a a few tube set in the 36" range, I knew I was in for over $1000 for anything decent. I then focused my attention on this one. Tweeter readily met Sam''s price of $1499 [I have since learned from a post below that Sam''s carries the 43H70 (black cabinet) which does not have a glare screen or as nice of a remote. Tweeter''s model is the HX, which has a grey cabinet, glare screen, and better remote]. To go HD and good sized at this price, it seemed to be a no brainer. Out of the box I tweaked the setting as suggested below. Boy does the picture blow my mind. Granted, I''m coming from an old Zenith, but I never realized what I was missing. Even using standard coax for the cable input and included composite for DVD, VCR and PS2, I''ve notice a huge difference. I added the Toshiba SD3750 DVD yesterday, and I''m off to buy some component cables tonight. Can''t wait to see how this thing will operate then. looks like Ill be wathing a lot more movies now. In my opinion, this set is a must buy at $1499.

Similar Products Used:

Zenith

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[May 30, 2001]
KEN
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

PICTURE, SIZE AND REMOTE

Weakness:

TV STAND,

I JUST GOT THIS TV AND I AM VERY HAPPY WITH IT. I FIRST GOT THE MITS 46807 AND RETURNED IT, I COULD NOT ENJOY ANY OF THE MODES IT OFFERED FOR REGULAR TV, WHITCH IS 75% OF WHAT MY FAMILY WATCHES. THE TOSHIBA HAS A 4.3 SHAPE SCREEN AND THE PICTURE IS GREAT, I WOULD HAVE LIKE THE WIDE SCREEN FOR MOVIES BUT FOR 1 OR 2 MOVIES A WEEK REGULAR VIEWING WAS MORE IMPORTAINT.
WATCHING SPORTS OR MOVIES THIS TV REALLY PROFORMS, REGULAR CABLE YOU CAN SEE SOME SMALL INTERFERENCE. I BOUGHT VIDEO ESSENTIALS AND TUNED IN THE COLOR AND THE SHARPNESS. IT LOOKS AS GOOD AS A TUBE PICTURE.
MY WIFE RENTED "VERTICAL LIMIT" DVD THE SNOW AND CONTRASTING COLORS WERE PERFECT AND HOOKED UP TO MY RECEIVER THE MOVIE KEPT YOU AT THE EDGE OF YOUR SEAT THE WHOLE TIME.
THE SIZE OF THE SCREEN FOR ME WAS PERFECT, MY COUCH IS 12' FROM THE SCREEN. I CAN SEE EVERY DETAIL WHILE WATCHING A DVD.
SO FAR AFTER THE LONG 3 DAY WEEKEND AND PLAYING WITH THE REMOTE AND ALL THE MENUES, I WOULD RECOMMEND THE TOSHIBA VERY HIGHLY. THE ONLY THING BAD I CAN SAY IS THE TOSHIBA TV STAND THERE IS VERY LITTLE STORAGE, I COULD NOT EVEN PUT THE BACK ON BECAUSE MY DVD PLAYER WAS TO DEEP.
DENON 3300
SONY 650 DVD
DEFINITIVE SPEAKERS

Similar Products Used:

MITS 46807, HIT. 43"

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jan 19, 2001]
Larry Wemmelmann
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Great picture, especially with DVD. Broadcast is not bad. Good sound.

Weakness:

Remote is sluggish and limited to 15 foot range.

I got this TV as a trade from the dealer for a defective Hitachi 43FDX01B. I was somewhat ambivalent about trading because I liked the Hitachi in spite of the defect and it's apparent incompatibility with my JVC XV-D721BK in Progressive Scan mode.

When I first plugged it in and turned it on in broadcast mode, my first reaction was "this thing sucks". The skin tones looked waxy and blurry and everything looked grainy.

I felt alot better when I switched it to DVD in progressive scan mode and put my "Gladiator" DVD in. This disk would not play at all on the Hitachi but I couldn't detect any glitches with the Toshiba. I believe this is because the Toshiba detects a 480p input signal and bypasses it's own 480p circuitry. The Hitachi tries to upscale 480p to 480p and it doesn't work (just my opinion). Hitachi told me simply that their TV is not compatible with any DVD except theirs.

With renewed hope, I decided to try the TV's adjustments to improve the broadcast picture. First I decided to check the convergence. Sure enough, the alignment was okay in the center, but out of alignment on the corners. The Hitachi only had a single center cross to align but the Hitachi has eight additional crosses around the sides. This eliminated a pinkish haze on the right hand side of the screen.

Next, I got out my Video Essentials DVD and went through all it's video adjustments.The Toshiba factory settings were too high on almost every setting. After I finished with that I can say that the Toshiba picture rivals the Hitachi in broadcast mode and beats it hands-down in progressive scan DVD mode (Not hard to do since the Hitachi didn't work)and also in interlaced DVD mode.

Given that the picture is as good or better than the Hitachi and I am now able to use my DVD in progessive scan mode, I am quite glad that I traded "up" to the Toshiba. However,I am only giving a 4 star overall because of the poor remote performance which is only slightly worse than the Hitachi.

Similar Products Used:

Hitachi 43FDX01B

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Oct 21, 2001]
Tim
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Outstanding HDTV and DVD picture for the price! Good sound.

Weakness:

Can magnify poor cable picture quality, loss of picture brightness at lower angles, stand has limited component space

I never saw a projection TV I liked until I stumbled upon this model in a Best Buy.

At first, I was going to purchase the 40" widescreen Toshiba 40H80, but as I examined the 43H70, I realized that for a lot less money, I could get even more screen... in fact, the screen space taken up by the 40H80 is actually very close to the space taken up when the 43H70 is playing in widescreen mode. Spending the extra hundreds of dollars didn't make sense.

The DVD picture quality is superb, and I strongly recommend using Component video cables. Watch a Pixar film like Dinosaur or Toy Story for full appreciation.

I spent the $50 on the AVIA set-up disk and it helped slightly. If you're budget conscious, get X-Men or Star Wars Episode I and go through the THX set up mode in the options menu of the DVD. It provides some of the basic video test patterns as you'll find on the AVIA for a lot less $.

Upgrading from regular cable to Digital made a slight difference in the picture quality of only some channels. Some channels still look very grainy. This was the biggest disappointment with this TV. However, overall the cable pictire quality is "good".

My cable company eventually swapped out my Digital box for a HDTV box (after 6 months on a waiting list). This is what won me over with cable vs. Satellite. They don't charge you anything additional for the HDTV box and broadcast NBC, CBS, WB, Showtime, and HBO. The HDTV picture is amazing!!! Gladiator and the Patriot were fantastic... I never thought I'd see something so much crisper than a DVD. CBS has been broadcasting its prime time line up and various sporting events as well in 1080i. It looks great. Even the non 1080i signal looks amazing.

I bought this TV online and couldn't have been more pleased with the results. I discovered the e-tailer through pricescan.com and then researched them at bizrate.com . Sure I had to pay $100 shipping, but I saved over $600 versus paying the local retail price plus tax.

I also bought the stand at the same etailer, at half of what the local super store wanted for it. This TV sits too low without it. The drawback though is you loose picture brightness when you view from the ground and the stand has very limited space for components (I could only fit my receiver and DVD player in it).

The speakers on this TV are quite good. While I use my DD5.1 system while watching DVD and DTV, I use the TV's speakers when watching cable. A friend commented once while watching cable that my subwoofer sounded great. I had to tell him that my woofer was powered off and it was the TV's audio system. He was amazed.

Overall, a great TV for a decent price considering the range these HDTV's are at right now.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Nov 21, 2001]
Jae
Casual Listener

Strength:

Style, Picture Quality, Sound Quality

Weakness:

None

Best Projection HDTV for the price. You cant go wrong with this one. Even if i did have more money i wouldnt of purchased a different one. I did look at Sonys first but after comparing them with Toshiba there was absolutely no reason to buy a Sony! I mean Sony is a great brand but they are just way too over priced! Toshibas sell for alot cheaper and they are just as good or even better after owning this HDTV set. Toshibas got my vote! Buy it for yourself to experience this amazing product.

Similar Products Used:

Sony, Hitachi

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
Showing 1-10 of 23  

(C) Copyright 1996-2018. All Rights Reserved.

audioreview.com and the ConsumerReview Network are business units of Invenda Corporation

Other Web Sites in the ConsumerReview Network:

mtbr.com | roadbikereview.com | carreview.com | photographyreview.com | audioreview.com