Toshiba 32C120U 32-Inch 720p 60Hz LCD HDTV Reviews

Not bad(then I found a tip, and I rate it very good)UPDATED, March 28, 2012

Updated this review on April 18th, 2012 Look Below >>>>>>>>>>

I have had this tv for a few weeks. The choice was between this one and a cheaper Panasonic that had lots of good reviews. When I went to the store, I expected to buy the Panasonic, but this one seemed to have a better picture. The clincher was the sound quality. This one was much better. I could actually hear this one, but the other one sounded muddled. Maybe the speakers were blown on the Panasonic, but I couldn’t hear it. Since I have a wood pellet stove, there is a lot of background noise in my living room, so I needed good sound. This one has some equalizing scheme that allows it to sound better at lower volume. Perhaps Toshiba pumps up the gain on the highs which makes it easier to hear.

As for the picture, it is fine. Not near as bright as my friends TV of the same size that cost over twice as much, but okay for what I want it for, which was primarily to watch netflix at 480P.

When you first hook up the tv, it asks you if you want to take it out of “store mode” Which is why it looked so great to start with… I guess it pumps up the brightness, and contrast so it looks great in the store, and makes people want to buy it.

It isn’t quite as bright as it looked in the store, but it is fine.

I don’t regret my purchase, and as long as it turns out to be reliable for years to come, I will be satisfied with my purchase.

I could use some separate composite inputs.

Overall, it is fine.

I increased the rating of this TV to 4 stars after I found the following EXTREMELY HELPFUL TIP ON A BEST BUY REVIEW posted by USofANDY.

“The picture looks excellent, however, I did need to make a lot of changes to the menu settings to achieve this – the picture is too dark at default settings but the two key settings to remedy this are the energy saver settings and backlight intensity.
Turn off energy saving and crank up the backlight and you have a very bright picture, the remaining settings can be easily calibrated to your preference.
Make no mistake, I love the picture quality and the screen itself has low reflection.”

The picture was always nice, but the first thing I noticed was that it was a little dark. I didn’t like it, but could tolerate it. Turning that energy saving mode off, made a HUGE difference! Now I have a nice bright picture, which looks much better.

I am really glad I found that tip by chance, and I hope you find the tip either on Best Buy, or here on Amazon.

That one little tip made me give it another star. Now I am completely satisfied…

James Ruffin Says:
“1. Hit the menu button,
2.go to “preferences” in the menu
3. press the down arrow key to scroll down (the energy settings are sort of hidden at the bottom),
3. hit the enter button to select energy savings
4. Set auto brightness sensor to “off”
Picture should be much brighter. ”

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Exceeded expectations!, March 11, 2012

I purchased this 32″ LCD TV as a “slick deal” recently, which means I found it at an uncommonly low price, and purchased it on a whim.

Out of the box, I was pleased to learn that the picture quality was going to FAR exceed my expectations. I have discerning taste, and I can say with a clear conscience that the picture quality of this set is on par with what I’ve seen from Sony & Samsung. The black is black, the contrast is great, and the colors really pop. It is truly a stunning picture! And completely unexpected from a set of this price range (and brand name).

I read reviews that disparaged the sound quality before I received the TV – but I was pleased to learn upon setting it up that the sound quality was fine. It’s average, mind you, but not terrible. I have it currently set up in a 14 x 23′ carpeted & fully furnished family room and it sounds fine. I just wish it had an “analog audio-out” port so I could hook up one of my subwoofers to it.

Besides the picture quality, the HDTV antenna reception was an unexpected surprise. It’s outstanding! I don’t have an antenna connected to the TV, yet it pulls in every local channel that I get on my other LCD TV (that has a highly rated Leaf antenna connected to it)! In fact, this Toshiba TV provides BETTER reception than my other TV. None of the channels “come in and out.” They just work, all the time, clear as day, in high def. Pretty impressive stuff! [In the spirit of full disclosure, my other LCD TV is a few years old and might not have a great tuner. So maybe all LCD TVs have great in-the-box reception these days. Take my feedback for what it’s worth.]

All in all, I’m very impressed with this set from Toshiba. I never would have purchased one of their sets if I hadn’t gotten such a good deal on it, but now I’ve opened my mind to their TVs. They certainly did a good job with this one! Particularly around the picture quality and over-the-air HDTV reception.

Quite impressive for this price range.

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Great for a bedroom tv, March 30, 2012

Got this television for my bedroom because my old television broke. I was tossed up between this television, and the Panasonic VIERA TC-L32C3, and picked this. At the time there was a negligible difference in price, under five dollars difference. This was a great deal for a tv that is barely used. The main reason I picked it was the screen the panasonic had was an IPS screen, after looking online, although I had trouble understanding the specs, the info led me to believe this is brighter as it has a different style of screen.(Wikipedia IPS and CCFL) The picture is crisp and sharp and the sound is fine for a bedroom, it is currently more than loud enough On half volume at 10 feet away. The only cons I had was I had to screw the stand on to the television, and the remote feels cheap, although it works well. The USB function does not play video for me so it was essentially useless, and the screen defaulted at 4:3 and I had to set it to 16:9 so the image would fill out the screen. I know I am nitpicking because all the cons with the exception of the remote were easily solved. In the end there are televisions better than this one, but not at this price.

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