|
|
Toshiba 42HP95 42" Plasma TV (16:9, 1024x768, 3000:1, HDTV - MPN: 42HP95)
Description: Toshiba plasma TVs are known for their sleek looks and rich, high-contrast picture, and the high-definition 42HP95 has an especially space-efficient design. The first thing you notice is the narrower look ? Toshiba's bottom-mounted SoundStr.... Read More Description: Toshiba plasma TVs are known for their sleek looks and rich, high-contrast picture, and the high-definition 42HP95 has an especially space-efficient design. The first thing you notice is the narrower look ? Toshiba's bottom-mounted SoundStrip? Speaker System reduces the TV's width while still pumping out potent sound.Built-in tuners for over-the-air and cable signals (both analog and digital) give you a lot of viewing options, now and in the future. Even if you expect to watch mostly DVDs and high-definition programs, you'll still probably continue to watch regular (non-HD) material, too. That's when you'll appreciate Toshiba's advanced video processing system. Designed specifically to improve image quality on digital (non-tube) TV displays, this collection of 8 different circuits attacks noise, distortion and other picture flaws while increasing contrast and color saturation.The 42HP95 also provides an extremely well thought-out set of connections and conveniences. You get 2 HD-compatible component video inputs, plus a pure-digital HDMI input (perfect for use with an "upconverting" DVD player). There's even a standard computer input for connecting your laptop PC ? don't worry, the high-quality plasmas resist screen burn-in much better than previous models. Conveniences include a flexible picture-in-picture feature, and TV Guide On Screen to simplify finding programs to watch and scheduling recordings to your VCR, DVR, or DVD recorder. Minimize |
 |
| Date Reviewed: 02/26/2006 |
|
Strengths: Amazing picture quality/resolution, HDMI Input, Firewire Inputs, Cable Card input, Picture card input
Weaknesses: Only 1 HDMI port, TV Guide On Screen, Oversized base stand.
Summary: One word describes this TV...AMAZING! The picture quality is the best I have seen for the price point. Price point being those 42" plasmas $3000 and under. Can you get a better picture, sure, if you want to spend another thousand dollars to buy the new Pioneer HD Plasma that runs about $4000 list. Outside of that, this is hands down the best picture you can get at this price. I originally purchased the Phillips 42" with the Ambilight from the local Best Buy. After having this TV for about 3 weeks, I returned it to Best Buy because the picture quality was horrible. Even withthe sharpness all the way up, the picture was fuzzy. If you are thinking about buying that TV, let me save you the trouble, DON'T! Buy the 42" Toshiba instead. You will not regret your decision.
The Pros: Best overall picture quality under $3000. I compared this to the Phillips 42" with Ambilight 42PF9630A, The Panasonic 42" TH42PX50U, and the Samsung 42" HPR4252. This picture quality blows them all away. Closest competitor was the Panasonic, but the Toshiba was better. The Panasonic was too sharp and the screen was pixelated, not something I would expect to see from a High Definition set. The Toshiba provided a much smoother and clearer picture than any of the rest. The Dual tuner input is nice and so is the cable card. HDMI and IEEE 1394 are absolutely essential for supporting the latest in A/V interfaces. Easy to use remote, and the Picture card input for photo viewing on your TV are all great.
Cons: I could not get the TV Guide on screen to work at all. Maybe it is just the connection to Ccomcast that doesn't provide for this, I don't know, but even without going through the cable box and using the cable card and direct connection, the TV Guide never populated and is therefore absolutely useless on this TV. Another down side is the TV only has one (1) HDMI connection. In the Toshiba line, you have to go one step up to the 42HPX95 to get the dual HDMI inputs. I think the dual inputs is especially important if you want do not have a serious home theatre system when viewing HD. Most new HD cable boxes and Satellite boxes have the HDMI interface. Combined with most new DVD players hitting the market today having the HDMI interface, unless you have a home theatre receiver which supports multiple HDMI inputs and a single output to your TV, you will have to utilize the component inputs form one source (Cable box or DVD player). The TV also comes with a rather large oversized stand. As this is not really an issue if you are planning to wall mount the TV, or have a large flat surface to set this on, I wouldn't discount the TV too much based on this.
Overall, you won't go wrong with this TV. Shop around and get a great deal on it. I purchased from Best Buy for less than $2300 brand new. Had to do my shopping, but I'm extremely happy with the deal I got on this. This could be the best TV you've ever bought.
 100% of People (11/11) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
 There are no comments for this review. Post a comment.
| |
| Date Reviewed: 03/08/2006 |
|
Strengths: Gorgeous looking, excellent picture. Abiility to program remote for other vendors devices.
Weaknesses: Lengthy manual, had to hunt for information, complicated remote which takes a while to become familiar with.
Summary: This represents my second plasma purchase, and I wish the Toshiba were available at the time of my original purchase several years back. I chose it after looking at several plasmas together at a store, and thought it had one of the best pictures I have seen. The built in tv-tunes including high definition capabilaty (with cable-card) was a definite plus, as it would be immediately usable. Also, the capability of connecting to a PC was one of the features I was looking for, which some plasma models do not allow for. I would reommend this unit for purchase without reservation despite minor shortcomings which may well be true of other models.
It took me a while to get the component video going with my DVD player. At first I thought the DVD's looked awful because they were copies, until I tried original DVDs. Then I thought it was the color settings of the monitor, which I fiddled with with manual and remote in fromt of me for over half an hour, thinking I needed to calibrate the color settings somehow. I then searched the web for possible solutions. It turns out the DVD player (not a Toshiba, whichadvertises "colorstream" technology, needed to be set on the system level to the component video output rather than S-video. Once this was done, the DVD player produced superb images.
The on-screen TV guide is actually a nice feature. The numerous rear inputs are great. There is also a limited on-screen ability to actually label the various inputs for self-reference is actually nice, and I wish my old plasma had this capability.
The stand base is is large and protrudes anteriorly. It would be nice if it had a smaller footprint in front, so that it looks a bit nicer in the shelf assembly, but this is a relatively minor quirk.
Again, I think this is a very nice high definition plasma, and would recommend looking at models in the store to assess picture quality. Also, it ability to act as a relatively stand-alone model until one wanted to upgrade as well as pc interface capability were improtant to me.
100% of People (4/4) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
There are no comments for this review. Post a comment.
| |
| Date Reviewed: 04/07/2006 |
|
Strengths: Picture quality is excellent - which is most important.
TV Guide autoload is a nice extra, considering you don't pay for it.
Priced $300-400 lower than comparable HDTV with built-in tuners.
Weaknesses: Menus are thorough, but not fully intuitive.
Minor - when remote is set to backlight the buttons, it makes a low humming noise.
SD card reader is not that fast
Summary: I purchased this HDTV after considering other companies such as Panasonic, Phillips, Samsung, and Hitachi in the $2000-3000 range. Each one has it pros and cons, but I found this to be the best choice for its overall value and quality. I have no regrets. The programs which are broadcast at 720p and 1080i are truly supurb. I purchased a $30 Over-the-air antenna, and it works fine to receive 15 HD channels locally. Of course the Dish Network signal we have looks good as well, but it is not High Definition. The basic menus/set up is straight forward. In some cases I did have to search to find exactly what I was looking for. The built-in speakers are good for the needs of our large master bedroom. I like are they are in the frame of the TV without taking extra space on the sides. There is a small lag (1.5 sec) when you change channels as it adjusts to the signal being broadcast. This is to be expected with all built-in tuners...at least until each network broadcast at the same resolution. The built-in Secure Digital card reader is convenient, but a little slow to read the pictures from my camera. Overall, I would buy this TV again and I recommend it to others.
100% of People (3/3) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
There are no comments for this review. Post a comment.
| |
| Date Reviewed: 09/06/2006 |
- etoyserk
- Member Since:
Sep 2006
View Member's:
Reviews
|
 Glitch in its power supply Strengths: Nothing better than other plasma TVs
Weaknesses: Cheap and low quality components are used within it
Summary: I purchased this TV in Jan 2006. So far its power supply was burned two times. We have two dark rows on its display and Toshiba's technician cannot or does not want to fix it. Poor customer service. Each repair took three weeks. The guy who fixed the TV told me that he has six of the same TVs in his store with the same problems.
Do not waste your money and nerve!!
100% of People (2/2) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
There are no comments for this review. Post a comment.
| |
| Date Reviewed: 05/19/2006 |
|
Strengths: Easy setup with stand preinstalled, easy to remove. Nice remote. Nice rear bezel to hide the cords for stand alone installations...removes easily. Excellent color and picture quality.
Weaknesses: PIP is not very useful. Stand is oversized.
Summary: I shopped for many, many hours, and numerous stores...and even bought a Philips Ambilight 42" Plasma...and took it back. One of the features I really wanted was a good PIP. The PIP on this Toshiba is not very effective, although, with Tivo, PIP is no longer as necessary. And, NONE of the models I looked at had effective PIP...and some didn't have it all. I don't really understand why the menu system and operating system of the plasmas (and LCDs) are not as effective as my old 50" Mitsubishi Projection. It is amazing to me that the overall impact of a TV this expensive boils down to a few small features, like the remote, which BTW, is a pretty cool remote except for one thing. When you change input modes, it is slow...and you have to cycle through each mode. One thing that is a lot nicer, which I did see on a couple of TVs, is when there is a button for each input mode. My solution has been to HIDE the inputs which are not used or not used very often. So, at least this TV gives you the option to hide them. Otherwise, the remote is very nice, especially at night. Each button on the remote is illuminated. Although, it makes quite a bit of a hum...so fortunately, it does allow you to turn the illumination off. I actually wanted to keep shopping for yet another TV, but learned that the last dealer had a 14 day return policy on plasmas on the 16th day. I learned AFTER I returned the Philips Plasma, that I needed to change my DVD and Tivo components with the type of output to match the widescreen. So, I might have actually liked the Philips more, although the Philips still didn't have a VGA input...and the Toshiba does. The Philips also did not have audio inputs for all of the video inputs on the back. But, in retrospect, I do think the Philips would have handled the aspect ratio (with its auto sizing) better if I had changed the components to match the wide screen TV format. When I first got the TV, I was very pleased to find that the stand was already attached, so, unpacking was a breeze. Although, my impression was impacted by the fact that with the Philips I took back, I had to ASSEMBLE the stand. If you are not going to immediately mount this on the wall, this is a nice touch. When it came time to put this on the wall, removing the stand was as simple as removing 4 screws, and lifting the TV off the stand. Should the TV need to ever go back to a standalone (or service), replacing back on the stand will be a cinch. One of the reasons I decided to go with this TV is that it had a complete set of inputs. The Philips did not have audio inputs for a couple of the video inputs. I don't ALWAYS like to use the receiver, so I have my TV and my DVD audio out run to both the receiver and the TV. With the Toshiba, each video input has an audio input. I also liked the media reader. Although I prefer to view pictures over the Tivo network, it is a really nice touch to hook up a camera or memory card directly to the media station. If you are shopping for this TV, you might miss this, as it is just along the left side behind a pop out door. The video quality was one of the best of any screen that I looked at. I spent a lot of time with this, taking in my own video source (a bunch of pictures that I loaded on to a camera). As with other plasmas, the Toshiba does not handle black as well as you would like. But it does a good job compared to others. The real question is if I would buy it again. It normally sells for $2,500, which I did initially pay with the idea that I would get 36 months interest free. But, in the end, I got the price down to $2299 with 18 months. I have seen the price even lower, but then you are out all of the cash up front. For $2300, I am pleased with the TV. I really wanted a 50", but as of April 2006, just couldn't justify the price of the 50"s, with out going to a lesser brand with obvious lower quality. Actually, for the first few weeks, I really wish I hadn't sold my 50" 4:3 Mitsubishi projection TV. I sold it FIRST, and then HAD to get a new TV. However, now that I am getting used to the 42" widescreen, the DVD and TIVO unit are displaying 16:9 correctly, with the TV beautifully mounted on the wall, with some really nice Athena WS-100s speakers, all of the audio components moved into a stairwell closet, I am actually very pleased with the setup. Now I just need to find a low profile center channel speaker to replace the really nice, but HUGE center channel speaker I was using.
100% of People (2/2) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
There are no comments for this review. Post a comment.
| |
| Date Reviewed: 01/25/2006 |
|
Strengths: TV has a built in tuner and we are able to receiver over the air HD. The TV has more bells and whistles than most tv's.
Weaknesses: I really haven't found that many. One option I would add is a recall on the remote.
Summary: We purchased the TV about two weeks ago and we are still in the mode of learning all the functions. We followed PriceGrabbers recommendations for company selections and found that to be very helpful. The reviews sent in by other customers also played a part in our selection. We saved over $1,000.00 by buying on line.
88% of People (7/8) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
There are 1 comment for this review. Read all comments.
Post a comment.
| |
| Date Reviewed: 02/20/2006 |
|
Strengths: Glass front (not soft like most)
Great picture with good color
Stays cool even when on for long periods of time
Remote lights up (soft glow) for night use
Weaknesses: No co-ax cable connector - if you have that cat 5 cable in the house it's not going to hook directly up to the television, you have to go through a cable box or VCR.
Summary: This television has SO many features I can't begin to list them all. We got it on sale for $1999.00 yesterday at a President's Day Blow out and it's GORGEOUS! I don't like most of the new televisons - the rear projection models get so hot that you almost have to run a fan blowing on them all the time. Over half the models of projection and rear projection televisions (and some plasma) couldn't be seen unless you were almost directly in front of them (we have a small living room and two seats are at a 50 degree angle from where we have to put the television.) This is one of the only televisions that we looked at that had a clear picture that didn't darken even at a 90 degree angle!
The directions for using the television are clear and easily understood (thank you Toshiba) and we have all learned the basics in record time.
The only thing that was hard is that the television does not have the regular co-ax cable connection that most cable comes into the house on (cat-5 wire.) We had to buy a VCR/DVD combo so we could hook THAT up to cable and then hook the television up through the video cables from that. I haven't called the cable company to see about a digital box yet - but I am going to look into that.
This television comes prepared for the new cable cards that you can get from some cable companies (I hope ours is one of them) that replaces the need for the large bulky digital cable boxs. That is the only draw back of this televisoin that we have found so far - you are going to have to go through (and use the remote for) some other device such as a cable box, to hook up the television to cable. Which of course means that the remote that comes with the television becomes un-necessary! Drat I hate that - especially when the remote that comes with the television is so darned COOL! It lights up at the push of a button so you are not fumbling for buttons in the dark! How cool is that!!!
We have to say this TV is a dream - I highly recommend it, for quality, and enjoyment!
83% of People (5/6) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
There are 1 comment for this review. Read all comments.
Post a comment.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Report this as 
