Toshiba Consumer 40'' LCD 1080p TV

Great picture, lousy sound. February 14, 2012
via sears_dot_com

This was a great price for a 40" HDTV, or so I thought, until I got it home and heard it.

The picture quality is GREAT for a TV in this price range. Crisp, clear and very bright and well lit for a non-LED model. Then we tried to turn up the volume...

The volume is very very LOW, compared to my old tube tv. Let me say I am by no means a tv snob. Being female, I don't care how big it is, so long as I don't have to move closer or squint my eyes to see it. I do care that the sound goes loud enough for me to hear, and I am not old enough to need a hearing aid!

This TV sounds as if you put a cheap clock radio behind it, and that's when the TV is at max volume. I had to turn off the dishwasher in the kitchen, next room over, just to hear the words being said in the movie I was watching.

To be fair, we do have a 12 foot ceiling peak where this tv sits, and it is in a corner, so the backfiring speakers don't really have much to bounce off of. But we hald it up against the wall to see if mounting it would help. Still crappy. SERIOUSLY. Clock radio sound from a modern $400 TV is just not acceptable.

Did some research, and looked at a few other similar TV's in other stores...and it's pretty common for TV's in this price range to have crappy sound. Thinner TV case=smaller speakers=bad sound quality. So rather than lugging the TV back to the store, I just purchased a decent quality soundbar with a subwoofer. Much better, even though this put me way over what I had planned to spend on the TV in the first place...

Moral of the story is,

1.DO NOT be afraid to crank up that TV you're eyeing in the store to see what it will really do. The salespeople might not like it, but they won't like when you drag it back for a refund either.

2.Don't expect too much sound quality from a $400 flat screen these days. There is a reason for the newly popular soundbars marketed for medium sized LDC TV's.

All that being said, for the price I paid, this is a decent TV. A bit short on features, but it does have 2 HDMI ports and an optical port, as well as the older type left/right inputs. No headphone jack, so if you want to hook up computer speakers or headphones, you can't do it without some sort of adaptor. But the picture quality is AWESOME for this price. So if you can handle crappy sound, or you already have or plan to buy external speakers or a soundbar for this, it's a good buy.

Good screen, awful speakers, lacks features January 03, 2012
via sears_dot_com

My reasons for buying this TV were mostly limited to price and physical size. The price was good, and the size was perfect for a cabinet in my house that has limited space.

As I read the reviews for this TV I was encouraged by the picture quality comments but concerned about the sound. Still, price was a serious factor as well as the fact the size was perfect. I purchased the TV.

When I got it unpacked I quickly realized the comments about the sound were true. It is unreal how far off the quality scale the sound is. The sound is shallow, unresponsive, and really poorly engineered. The fortunate part is I was able to run an optical out to my Sherwood receiver. I almost never use the speakers in this TV.

Second problem is the lack of features. On a previous smaller LCD Toshiba I could label channels in my favorites. That feature is gone from this TV.

Lastly, the stand for the TV is a little weak. It does not give me the feeling of security of having a sturdy mounting platform.

In closing, the picture quality and the price are the only saving graces. Because of the other faults, I think I am being generous by giving it 3 stars.

Great Practical TV December 29, 2011
via user

We replaced a 31" tube type TV in our bedroom with this 40" and what a difference! The cable company installed a digital box and installed a blue-ray DVD player, too. We get true HD from both and are very pleased. After reading some of the other reviews we think the sound is fantastic?? Of course we have never had a TV sound that vibrated the windows... We purchased a 3 year protection plan for it, but It has performed flawlessly.

Nice picture. Nice design. Nice proce. October 26, 2011
via user

We've been very happy with this TV. If I recall correctly, it doesn't have an S-Video input, which is a little annoying, and the "TOSHIBA" name is back-lit on the front of the TV, which is also a little annoying (we covered it with black permanent ink), but otherwise, it's been great.