Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Toshiba Regza HDTV -- any opinions?

IJ Reilly

IJ Reilly

macrumors P6
Original poster
Jul 16, 2002
17,912
1,506
Palookaville
I have narrowed my search for a 32" HDTV to a Toshiba Regza. It seems to be well-reviewed, and I like the fact that it includes three HDMI connectors (the only HDTV in this size that does, AFAIK). Street price is around $850-900.

Does anyone have any experience with this TV? Is it any good for SDTV? How about the sound quality?

Thanks!
 
I spent a few minutes at Best Buy comparing 32" LCDs yesterday and I really liked the Toshiba. Excellent contrast, wide viewing angle, Great color. HD looked spectacular on it. I did not see any SD on it, so I can't comment on that. I also thought it was one of the more attractive units on display.

I didn't listen to the speakers. HD really calls for better sound than you'll get from internal speakers.
 
Thanks for reviving this thread. With all the HDTV buyers out there, I was wondering why nobody seemed to be interested in this set.

I had a look at one in Fry's. The problem is, as in most stores, they pump the same signal into every TV. This source (1080i according to the TV) happened to be producing sporadic digital dropouts on all of the sets, so judging relative picture quality was virtually impossible. No audio is supplied. At least they let you try out the remote. The on-screen menus seemed pretty straight-forward.

Sound quality is in interim issue. Home theater is next, but I'll start with the TV.
 
I own the 24" model Regza and I love it. SD isn't perfect (like most HDTVs I feel) but I'm using a DirecTV tivo box with S-Video connection and the picture is always solid (the only negative is that its Theatre Wide mode to conver 4:3 to widescreen chops off quite a bit of the top or bottom of the picture so you might want to stick with its normal aspect ration).

HD quality is great as is anything you input through the component or HDMI (although only 1 HDMI port but the 32 doesn't have that problem). I'd say its a worthy buy.
 
macphisto said:
Another good resource is http://avsforum.com/. These are the guys that do custom home theaters, they talk shop and answer all sorts of questions about tvs and HT equipment.

Also try http://www.c4forums.com/.
Click to expand...

I've tried avsforum, but it's like trying to find good Mac info here. Can be done, but it's difficult. ;)

DeaconGraves said:
I own the 24" model Regza and I love it. SD isn't perfect (like most HDTVs I feel) but I'm using a DirecTV tivo box with S-Video connection and the picture is always solid (the only negative is that its Theatre Wide mode to conver 4:3 to widescreen chops off quite a bit of the top or bottom of the picture so you might want to stick with its normal aspect ration).

HD quality is great as is anything you input through the component or HDMI (although only 1 HDMI port but the 32 doesn't have that problem). I'd say its a worthy buy.
Click to expand...

I'm definitely not going to be using theater wide mode on any HDTV I buy. Distorted images are really quite nauseating IMO, and defeat the purpose of buying a TV with good picture quality. I'm always surprised by the number of people who'll watch TV that way.
 
Ignatius,
Once you get to right section of avsforum, a couple of good threads on the new regza. You might want to check on who is making the 32 panel these days (I think 32,37,42,47 all same manu). Depending on where you saw the reviews, not sure the new 32 is same as the one reviewed (I returned a very highly rated 42lz196 and got a 42HL167, which should have been comparable, but w/ hdmi supporting pc, and found much worse PQ. I may have to return it.
 
Sorry, just saw this thread.

I purchased the 32" Regza with the built-in DVD player about 2 weeks ago, and I've been quite happy with it. I'm not a videophile, but have been impressed with the HD picture on it, as well as the picture from the DVDs. My HD comes via the QAM tuner as opposed to "true" HD cable or an antenna. This is also a nice feature of the TV, as not all of them have the QAM tuners.

The SD picture is pretty good as well. Not as good as on my SD TV downstairs, I don't think, but quite respectable.

I've used it primarily for sports and news, and I haven't noticed significant ghosting or other issues related to poor pixel refresh rates. The contrast is quite good, so you get nice blacks.

The sounds quality is fine, but this isn't my primary TV so that wasn't a big consideration. Unfortunately, I won't be able to test it out until I get back home tomorrow night, so I can't get you a better answer.

I looked at several others, and although I also liked the 32" Samsung, this one filled everything that I was looking for, including the built-in DVD, which we liked because we're going to mount it.

Also, the remote and setup are fairly intuitive, which is a nice plus, and it's a fine looking piece of equipment. You have to attach the stand to the TV if you don't mount it right away, but that took a grand total of about 5 minutes, so no big deal.

Let me know if there's something specific you'd like me to check out for you.
 
I know it's probably a little late to respond but..

I work at Circuit City, and I get to see all the Toshiba's 5 days a week. For the price, they aren't that bad..but key phrase is, "for the price".

If I could opt to spend a hundred more for say..a samsung LNT3242H, I'd be all over it.

Toshiba's LCD panels this year suck compared to what they used to be. Oddly enough, their DLP's are AWESOME. Go figure. Our store has a setup that demos the 42HL167 1080p lcd with the HDA20 HD-DVD player, and customers stop to ask why HD-DVD picture quality sucks so bad. I have to remind them that it's the TV that sucks, and that I have the same player at home on a Samsung 1080p DLP that looks absolutely gorgeous.

So..if you aren't a videophile with high expectations, go for it. The Toshiba LCD's would look right at home in Walmart. As a matter of fact, if you could find a Vizio (they suck too), it would give you the same picture quality as the Tosh, for a hell of a lot cheaper.
 
emw said:
I purchased the 32" Regza with the built-in DVD player about 2 weeks ago, and I've been quite happy with it. I'm not a videophile, but have been impressed with the HD picture on it, as well as the picture from the DVDs. My HD comes via the QAM tuner as opposed to "true" HD cable or an antenna. This is also a nice feature of the TV, as not all of them have the QAM tuners.
Click to expand...

QAM tuners sound like they're of marginal value -- whether you get any stations at all without the set top box is entirely up to the cable company. What cable provider do you have, and what programming do they supply via QAM?
 
mccldwll said:
Ignatius,
Once you get to right section of avsforum, a couple of good threads on the new regza. You might want to check on who is making the 32 panel these days (I think 32,37,42,47 all same manu). Depending on where you saw the reviews, not sure the new 32 is same as the one reviewed (I returned a very highly rated 42lz196 and got a 42HL167, which should have been comparable, but w/ hdmi supporting pc, and found much worse PQ. I may have to return it.
Click to expand...

Yup, I finally navigated to a thread on the Toshiba HDTVs. They don't make it too easy to find, do they? (Especially since non-members can't use the search tool.) A lot of discussion on the merits of piano black but I will keep reading...
 
IJ Reilly said:
QAM tuners sound like they're of marginal value -- whether you get any stations at all without the set top box is entirely up to the cable company. What cable provider do you have, and what programming do they supply via QAM?
Click to expand...
I believe it is an FCC mandate that cable providers have to supply at least the freely available over-the-air networks via clearQAM. Some don't, but they may be in violation of the law if not - I'm not sure.
 
IJ Reilly said:
QAM tuners sound like they're of marginal value -- whether you get any stations at all without the set top box is entirely up to the cable company. What cable provider do you have, and what programming do they supply via QAM?
Click to expand...

I have Comcast, and I believe they're only providing channels that I could otherwise receive over-the-air (for example, no ESPN HD or anything). The plus side is that with my antenna, I didn't get even half of these channels, so the number of channels I receive with the QAM tuner is pretty substantial.

Sorry for the sporadic responses, but I just returned from being out of the country.
 
You might also want to consider the Olevia 532H. Consumer Reports (latest online update) rated it higher than the regza 32hl66. Not sure who has the 532 these days, but Target and Office Depot have the 232T which I think is pretty much the same panel and guts made for T and OD. My local OD has the 32" for $600 and Target has the 37" for $688 this week. Can't beat the price. CR rated the 37" (720p) as a best buy. Target has a 90 day w/ receipt return policy, no restocking fee. I may get one to compare to the 42" regza (1080p).
 
mccldwll said:
You might also want to consider the Olevia 532H. Consumer Reports (latest online update) rated it higher than the regza 32hl66. Not sure who has the 532 these days, but Target and Office Depot have the 232T which I think is pretty much the same panel and guts made for T and OD. My local OD has the 32" for $600 and Target has the 37" for $688 this week. Can't beat the price. CR rated the 37" (720p) as a best buy. Target has a 90 day w/ receipt return policy, no restocking fee. I may get one to compare to the 42" regza (1080p).
Click to expand...

Amazon sells it for $600, which is pretty cheap all right, but I'm always afraid of these off, off brands, and it seems to have only one HDMI connector against three on the Toshiba.
 
can someone correct me if I am wrong, but aren't these a new line from Toshiba?

Also, if you wouldn't mind, IJ Reilly, I am interested in trying to find more websites that discuss televisions and was hoping we could add some of the sites we like to use for good review and up-to-date news. Cool?
 
macphisto said:
Another good resource is http://avsforum.com/. These are the guys that do custom home theaters, they talk shop and answer all sorts of questions about tvs and HT equipment.
Click to expand...

This website pretty much makes you want to cut your eyes out after about 30 seconds. It is filled with so much junk and tons and tons of posts that make our MR crazies look perfectly sane.
 
Super Macho Man said:
I believe it is an FCC mandate that cable providers have to supply at least the freely available over-the-air networks via clearQAM. Some don't, but they may be in violation of the law if not - I'm not sure.
Click to expand...

do you really think giant cable companies would just be overtly breaking federal regulations such as these? I doubt it and there is little reason to risk an enforcement action over this.
 
Aniej said:
can someone correct me if I am wrong, but aren't these a new line from Toshiba?

Also, if you wouldn't mind, IJ Reilly, I am interested in trying to find more websites that discuss televisions and was hoping we could add some of the sites we like to use for good review and up-to-date news. Cool?
Click to expand...

Have at it. I didn't find much of use at the avsforum. After the first page the discussions go way OT, kind of like, well, here.

And yes, I believe this is a new/updated line from Toshiba.
 
As I understand it, the regzas came out in 2006. The hl wasn't too hot. The lx196 got very good reviews but knocked because not a true 1080p. The lz196 was true 1080p. Very good PQ and highly rated. These were discontinud a couple of months ago. The HL series is regza, but the panels are different (made in new plant in Mexico, I think). Not same quality. The new cinema series (lx) will be out in a couple of months and should be very good w/ 120 refresh rate, and new technology, but $500 more (for the 42"). BTW, I'm returning the regza and trying the 37" olevia from target. If that's not satisfactory, I'll just bite the bullet and buy a sony.
 
IJ did you ever decide on a TV and were you able to locate any useful TV websites with decent info?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back