Official Toshiba 42HP95, 42HPX95, 50HP95 & 50HPX95 Thread

[deharry]

I am starting this new thread in order to consolidate all new comments on these hot Plasmas. It is getting difficult to follow all discussion in several long threads.

I believe that as soon as vendors and buyers alike become familiar with these sets, they will become hot sellers. Toshiba has given us all that the Panasonics lack, a great picture with the Panasonic glass (my opinion), great looks, realistic price and AVAILABILITY.

Needless to say, I just ordered my 50HPX95 from Tweeter yesterday, to be delivered when I choose, as soon as I get the wall mount.

[mastercaster]

hello. i am new to the forum. i just placed my order for a Toshiba 50HP95 a couple of days ago. i'll be posting when i get it set up as to how it performs and how well i like it.

[basselope]

Why is this thread here, given all the threads that already exist on this topic?

[lipcrkr]

Originally Posted by basselope

Why is this thread here, given all the threads that already exist on this topic?

Why? Because there is no "official Toshiba 42HP95, 42HPX95, 50HP95 & 50HPX95" thread.

[pat9999]

Originally Posted by deharry

I am starting this new thread in order to consolidate all new comments on these hot Plasmas. It is getting difficult to follow all discussion in several long threads.

I believe that as soon as vendors and buyers alike become familiar with these sets, they will become hot sellers. Toshiba has given us all that the Panasonics lack, a great picture with the Panasonic glass (my opinion), great looks, realistic price and AVAILABILITY.

Needless to say, I just ordered my 50HPX95 from Tweeter yesterday, to be delivered when I choose, as soon as I get the the wall mount.

I would get the set delivered now. It comes with a stand; so you can set it
on a table and get immediate enjoyment.

How does the return policy work at Tweeter. Does the return limit time
start from the day you order or the day it is delivered?

pat

[deharry]

Originally Posted by pat9999

I would get the set delivered now. It comes with a stand; so you can set it
on a table and get immediate enjoyment.

How does the return policy work at Tweeter. Does the return limit time
start from the day you order or the day it is delivered?

pat

The policy is 30 days, from date of delivery. I only placed a deposit, because they only have 12 sets of the 50HPX95, and I felt they may be gone. They have several stores in the South Florida area under the name of "Sound Advice", and this inventory is for all stores.

I am really waiting for the final resolution of my refund for my 50PX500U, which has a tuning circuit flaw for the QAM tuner. Otherwise the Tosh would now be on the wall, as soon as I got it. It is great to hear, "want it tommorow? You got it! "

[C-Potatoe]

Originally Posted by deharry

The policy is 30 days, from date of delivery. I only placed a deposit, becuse they only have 12 sets of the 50HPX95, and I felt they may ge gone. They have several stores in the South Florida area under the name of "Sound Advice", and this inventory is for all stores.

I am really waiting for the final resolution of my refund from Panasonic for my 50PX500U, which has a tuning circuit flaw for the QAM tuner. Otherwise the Tosh would now be on my mount.. It is great to hear, "want it tommorow? You got it! "

Just curious, I have a 500u. What was wrong with the tuner? Do you remember the build date? I have had some problems with two other 500u's that I returned. Now, with this third one I'm getting a little worried. I still have 30 days to decide. Any info would be helpful, thanks.

[deharry]

Originally Posted by C-Potatoe

Just curious, I have a 500u. What was wrong with the tuner? Do you remember the build date? I have had some problems with two other 500u's that I returned. Now, with this third one I'm getting a little worried. I still have 30 days to decide. Any info would be helpful, thanks.

The build date was June 2005, Tijuana, Mexico. If yours works on QAM, you have nothing to worry about. The problems with the tuner I believe would not existed had I elected to use a cable card. However who knows, as I never had a chance to try it. I have Comcast, no STB, and stubborn to get QAM for which I paid and as advertised by Panasonic.

After scaning for digital channels, the tuner would return "No" under channels 92 and 93 on the matrix of found channels, indicating that there were no digital channels found. Other channels, even though the signal was scrambled, would be indicated, for example, 84-1, 84-2, 85-2, 85-3 etc.. The HD locals that it found, would be 103.3 (CBS) 103-4 Discovery, but it never picked up PBS and Fox on 92-1 & 92-3 and ABC and NBC on 93-1 and 93-3.

I know the signals are there, because 2 LG sets and 3 receivers with QAM tuners picked them up. I found a freaky way to get 92-1 and 93-1 by changing the "No" on the scanned matrix to "Yes", and then tuning to 92 and 93 with the remote.

The screen would try to tune the analog 92 & 93, but of course with no analog signal, the screen would be snovy white for a few seconds. Then it would switch to the digital tuner and receive PBS 92-1 and ABC 93-1, with the screen still showing 92 and 93, same as in analog. Manually tuning the other 92-X and 93-X subchannels, would reward me with "No signal"

I have been trying every scheme, using attenuators, amplifiers, removed the splitters but nothing worked. Panny got me in touch with a service center, who took the set to his shop and experienced the same, with his Comcast service. He ordered a new tuner, but that did not solve the problem either. He still has the set and I am negotiating with the retailer to refund the purchase price and take the set back. There is more to this, I feel, as why would Panny discontinue a popular hot seller?

I really enjoyed the set, the HD channels I was able to see were great. The analog SD was super and I still am reluctant to give it up. I let the 30 days trial go by, as the retailer did not have a replacement. The understanding was, when in stock, he would replace. But he never had stock, at least he never told me so, as he would fill the back orders at my expense.

I like the new Toshiba because the glass and picture is equal to the Panny, however, the guts are Toshiba, and I hope the Panny tuning problems are not an issue. As my mother used to say, "all things happen for the best",. so I will soon see. Will keep all posted.

[C-Potatoe]

Originally Posted by deharry

The build date was June 2005, Tijuana, Mexico. If yours works on QAM, you have nothing to worry about. The problems with the tuner I believe would not existed had I elected to use a cable card. However who knows, as I never had a chance to try it. I have Comcast, no STB, and stubborn to get QAM for which I paid and as advertised by Panasonic.

After scaning for digital channels, the tuner would return "No" under channels 92 and 93 on the matrix of found channels, indicating that there were no digital channels found. Other channels, even though the signal was scrambled, would be indicated, for example, 84-1, 84-2, 85-2, 85-3 etc.. The HD locals that it found, would be 103.3 (CBS) 103-4 Discovery, but it never picked up PBS and Fox on 92-1 & 92-3 and ABC and NBC on 93-1 and 93-3.

I know the signals are there, because 2 LG sets and 3 receivers with QAM tuners picked them up. I found a freaky way to get 92-1 and 93-1 by changing the "No" on the scanned matrix to "Yes", and then tuning to 92 and 93 with the remote.

The screen would try to tune the analog 92 & 93, but of course with no analog signal, the screen would be snovy white for a few seconds. Then it would switch to the digital tuner and receive PBS 92-1 and ABC 93-1, with the screen still showing 92 and 93, same as in analog. Manually tuning the other 92-X and 93-X subchannels, would reward me with "No signal"

I have been trying every scheme, using attenuators, amplifiers, removed the splitters but nothing worked. Panny got me in touch with a service center, who took the set to his shop and experienced the same, with his Comcast service. He ordered a new tuner, but that did not solve the problem either. He still has the set and I am negotiating with the retailer to refund the purchase price and take the set back. There is more to this, I feel, as why would Panny discontinue a popular hot seller?

I really enjoyed the set, the HD channels I was able to see were great. The analog SD was super and I still am reluctant to give it up. I let the 30 days trial go by, as the retailer did not have a replacement. The understanding was, when in stock, he would replace. But he never had stock, at least he never told me so, as he would fill the back orders at my expense.

I like the new Toshiba because the glass and picture is equal to the Panny, however, the guts are Toshiba, and I hope the Panny tuning problems are not an issue. As my mother used to say, "all things happen for the best",. so I will soon see. Will keep all posted.

Thanks for the info. I use a cable card and do not experience any of the problems you mentioned. The build date of my latest TV is December 2005. I'm not sure that Panasonic discontinued this model, rather it was a question of supply and demand. I was able to buy this TV easily via Circuit City (as I mentioned I had three). My concern is do I keep this one after the problems with the first two and the problems I see reported in the forum or send it back. Does anyone know of any recalls, Panasonic says no. I hate to make a decision on what might happen down the road but I don't want to be stuck with a problematic plasma either. Also, sorry for all the Panny talk on the Toshiba Thread but since you have both I thought it was ok.

[sgnakster]

I think you forgot to mention more features on the Toshiba. Also, if it is not too much trouble, can you post the differences between the normal HP line and HPX line so people interested can see it right away.

[deharry]

Originally Posted by sgnakster

I think you forgot to mention more features on the Toshiba. Also, if it is not too much trouble, can you post the differences between the normal HP line and HPX line so people interested can see it right away.

The owner's manuals are available on the Crutchfield website, with some videos and nifty pictures for both models. I copied some of the info, so here it goes:

HPX95 DETAILS


High-Definition TV — receives and decodes digital TV signals from over-the-air broadcasts (antenna required) and cable TV service (CableCARD™ required)
widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio
1366 x 768 pixels
3000:1 contrast ratio
160°(H) x 160°(V) viewing angle
PixelPure™ video processing (upconverts non-HD signals)
CableClear™ video noise reduction
TV Guide On Screen® 8-day program guide
1-tuner Picture-in-Picture (split-screen)
built-in stereo speakers (10 watts x 2)
illuminated multibrand remote control
picture settings memory for each video input
9 A/V inputs, including:
• 3 composite video (2 rear, 1 side)
• 3 S-video (2 rear, 1 side)
• 2 HD-compatible component video (accepts 1080i/720p/480p/480i signals)
• 2 HDMI digital audio/video inputs
• 2 "DTVLink" (IEEE 1394) ports for HD record/play with digital video recorders like Toshiba's Symbio™
PC input: analog RGB (D-Sub 15-pin)
2 RF inputs for antenna/cable signals
THINC™ (Toshiba Home Interactive Network Connection) Ethernet port for accessing music files and digital photos stored on a compatible PC
memory card slot for viewing digital photos and playing MP3 files
detachable stand (depth is 15-1/8")
wall-mountable (bracket not included)
49-5/8"W x 32-3/4"H x 5-3/4"D (34-1/2"H x 15-1/8"D on stand)
weight: 117.3 lbs. (without stand)
warranty: 1 year parts & labor
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


HP95 DETAILS

High-Definition TV — receives and decodes digital TV signals from over-the-air broadcasts (antenna required) and cable TV service (CableCARD™ required)
widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio
1366 x 768 pixels
3000:1 contrast ratio
160°(H) x 160°(V) viewing angle
PixelPure™ video processing (upconverts non-HD signals)
CableClear™ video noise reduction
TV Guide On Screen® 8-day program guide
1-tuner Picture-and-Picture (split-screen)
built-in stereo speakers (10 watts x 2)
lluminated multibrand remote control
picture settings memory for each video input
8 A/V inputs, including:
• 3 composite video (2 rear, 1 front)
• 3 S-video (2 rear, 1 front)
• 2 HD-compatible component video (accepts /720p/480p/480i signals)
• 1 HDMI digital audio/video input
• 2 "DTVLink" (IEEE 1394) ports for HD record/play with digital video recorders like Toshiba's Symbios
PC input: analog RGB (D-Sub 15-pin)
2 RF inputs for antenna/cable signals
memory card slot for viewing digital photos and playing MP3 files
detachable stand (depth is 15-1/8")
wall-mountable (bracket not included)
49-9/16"W x 32-13/16"H x 5-13/16"D (34-9/16"H x 15-1/8"D on stand)
weight: 117.3 lbs. (without stand)
warranty: 1 year parts & labor

[Raj]

Since this is the "official" thread, I feel the need to post my experiences.

1. My panel died with it being 3 weeks old

2. Major hassles with Toshiba's authorized centers - They indicated I needed to help carry the plasma to the truck and back, etc. even though there is in-home service. 8 day lead time on service.

3. I bought from Onecall.com who will not let me return the TV as they have a policy not allowing it. A mistake I will not make in the future, I will buy from a vendor that has a full 30 day return policy.

I have begun a legal fight to return the TV as I don't want to deal with Toshiba's policies and the chance the panel will die again.

Buyer beware. This is my 3rd plasma. Pioneer and Panny have been great with no issues since my first one from fall, 2002. This is my last Toshiba product.

[deharry]

Originally Posted by Raj

Since this is the "official" thread, I feel the need to post my experiences.

1. My panel died with it being 3 weeks old

2. Major hassles with Toshiba's authorized centers - They indicated I needed to help carry the plasma to the truck and back, etc. even though there is in-home service. 8 day lead time on service.

3. I bought from Onecall.com who will not let me return the TV as they have a policy not allowing it. A mistake I will not make in the future, I will buy from a vendor that has a full 30 day return policy.

I have begun a legal fight to return the TV as I don't want to deal with Toshiba's policies and the chance the panel will die again.

Buyer beware. This is my 3rd plasma. Pioneer and Panny have been great with no issues since my first one from fall, 2002. This is my last Toshiba product.

Sorry to hear about your troubles with Onecall.Com. The service centers are independant from the manufacturers and handle many brands. I would have contacted Toshiba Customer Service and have them put some pressure on the service center to provide 2 men to cart the TV out of your house.

What was wrong with the TV anyway??

[koan]

How is SD on the Toshiba plasmas? Anyone aware of any magazine or other reviews on any of these models?

[Raj]

Originally Posted by deharry

Sorry to hear about your troubles with Onecall.Com. The service centers are independant from the manufacturers and handle many brands. I would have contacted Toshiba Customer Service and have them put some pressure on the service center to provide 2 men to cart the TV out of your house.

What was wrong with the TV anyway??

I did contact Toshiba Customer Service and escalated, they finally authorized two people a WEEK later. It took them two days to even call me back. I even put a request in on the website and got a response back from a rep that it's up to the local service center.

The TV has been out of service for two weeks while we fight this out. I have an attorney involved to sort this out as I want to return the TV and be done with Toshiba (never again to return). For good measure I think I will also dispute with MasterCard (MasterCard's suggestion) although not sure how that will go.

Word to the wise - Buy from a vendor with a 30 day full return policy and be sure that in-home service means in-home service that doesn't involve you being there to help carry the TV.

[Yawn]

I have not had any problems with the toshiba products I have bought before, and am currently looking into the 42hpx95. As far as the post made by Raj.......... is this a normal procedure from onecall.com?

[Jake04Goat]

I've bought from onecall.com before but not a TV. They've got great prices but I probably will not buy a TV from them based on the return policy. It says they do not accept returns on TVs larger than 20 inches.

[Raj]

Originally Posted by Yawn

I have not had any problems with the toshiba products I have bought before, and am currently looking into the 42hpx95. As far as the post made by Raj.......... is this a normal procedure from onecall.com?

It is their standard procedure and they did make it clear to me that TV's over 20" cannot be returned. Based on my prior plasma experiences I didn't see any issue with this.

However, the fact that the TV died at the 3 week point AND the subsequent hassles of getting it fixed has driven me to challenge this with them and Toshiba as they have not been able to properly service.

My fear is that it gets fixed and then breaks again. I don't need the hassle. If they would have been able to quickly fix with two techs I would not be having an issue.

[Juc]

Raj, first off, sorry to hear about your troubles. Next, please keep us updated as to your Onecall return experience. Being an attorney myself, I am curious to see the arguments your attorney is making to rebuff their standard policy of NO RETURNS over 20". More curiosity than anything else but it may help others down the road. Note--their return policy was the only reason I did not order from Onecall because their price was great.
Thanks
Juc

[dschwags]

I have a 42HP95 and have had a HDMI inpute issue since the day i bought the monitor in late november and have gotten the run around from Toshiba with regards to the issue:

Monitor is hooked up to a Comcast HDMI DVR Box (this is the only hdmi source i have tried).

In general when viewing programing though the HDMI input the monitor will literally crash- Audio goes dead, screen is still active with what ever the programming is and the red power light starts to blink, none of the buttons will do anyting except for holding down the power button for 5 secconds to reboot the system.

viewing content from the same DVR box using the componet cables is fine and never have an issue but were reconfiguring the set up and would like to use the HDMI input this time like i originally hoped i would.

Called Toshiba Tech Support - kind of a joke i might ad but that is another issue, and they said that its an issue with the HDMI source. So i then had the Cable box switched and same issue happens.

I honestly dont want to have to take it to a service center - risk it breaking in transit and be out of a tv for weeks only to find out that acording to them there isnt a problem.

Any one else experiencing a similar issue?

[mastercaster]

WOW!!! well, i have had my new 50hp95 up and running for a couple days now. the picture is AWESOME. ran it through the avia disc and calibrated it. no complaints as of yet. the hd picture is unreal. if i am unfortunate enough to have any of the above mentioned problems (which all manufacturers have), my set will go right back to good ole costco. i'll let you know how mine fairs over time.

[remanhawk]

watch out for inoax, same as onecall...think they are one company....very good prices
but usually say they have item to ship when they dont.....think they are drop shippers

[remanhawk]

bought my 42hp95 from best buy 11,27, 2005 so far, no problems...love the thing..
i just dont like all of a sudden all networks want to display their logo on the screen
all the time...wont watch these channels as i am afraid of burn-in...

[BCerveny]

Our screen is on for 3-5 hours a day and i have never seen any image retention of the channel logos. Logos are almost always translucent so their color does shift some with the content. Also the TV does orbit the display over time to help prevent retention.

Just keep the contrast and brightness below 50 and you will not have any trouble. I certainly would not avoid channels.

[perfect5storm]

HDMI problem still may be with the cable box even though you switched it. Try hooking up a DVD player through hdmi and see what happens. I know Brighthouse cable has had issues with hdmi connection. I have had no problems issues with this tv. And if any one could post their calibrated settings it would be appreciated.

[dark1x]

I just received my 42hpx95 today and did a few tests and such as well as tweaked the settings (lightly, will properly calibrate later). Overall, it looks great, but I had a few concerns...

First thing I used was an XBOX360, which was extremely nice looking. Very crisp, colorful, and clean. Yellow trails were present, like any plasma, but do not bother me a whole lot (still much better than LCD and DLP ghosting). I only saw it once, but at the main menu of Call of Duty 2, I saw some slight flicker in the dark areas. I had heard about this before, and I'm a bit concerned. Hopefully it will not be a problem. It saw it on no other inputs or instances. Other than that, 360 was perfect.

I then moved to PS2 to take a look at 480i. It actually looks great, overall. The image remains rather sharp and crisp (though the pixels are fairly large) as opposed to an LCD, which blurs the image. What I did notice, however, was general image noise in dark areas. I suppose this could be the fault of my cables, however. 360 was direct to TV via component. PS2 was run through receiver (via component) and input to the TV using (shamefully) some spare composite cables of low quality. So, until I prove otherwise, I'm hoping that the low quality of the cables being used for video are at fault rather than the TV. Even if it isn't fixed, it doesn't seem to be particularly noticible unless you are sitting closer to the TV.

The other issue I have involves gray bars. The 4:3 mode uses gray bars, for screen protection, no doubt, but I would like to be able to set it to black. I'll have to dig through the menus in more detail, but it did not seem to be present. My eyes are a bit too sensitive and having those gray areas causes them to catch brief glances of yellow. It's not a huge deal, but it reminds me of the DLP effect (rainbows and such), which I can't stand to look at.

[slider33]

Originally Posted by dark1x

I just received my 42hpx95 today and did a few tests and such as well as tweaked the settings (lightly, will properly calibrate later). Overall, it looks great, but I had a few concerns...

First thing I used was an XBOX360, which was extremely nice looking. Very crisp, colorful, and clean. Yellow trails were present, like any plasma, but do not bother me a whole lot (still much better than LCD and DLP ghosting). I only saw it once, but at the main menu of Call of Duty 2, I saw some slight flicker in the dark areas. I had heard about this before, and I'm a bit concerned. Hopefully it will not be a problem. It saw it on no other inputs or instances. Other than that, 360 was perfect.

I then moved to PS2 to take a look at 480i. It actually looks great, overall. The image remains rather sharp and crisp (though the pixels are fairly large) as opposed to an LCD, which blurs the image. What I did notice, however, was general image noise in dark areas. I suppose this could be the fault of my cables, however. 360 was direct to TV via component. PS2 was run through receiver (via component) and input to the TV using (shamefully) some spare composite cables of low quality. So, until I prove otherwise, I'm hoping that the low quality of the cables being used for video are at fault rather than the TV. Even if it isn't fixed, it doesn't seem to be particularly noticible unless you are sitting closer to the TV.

The other issue I have involves gray bars. The 4:3 mode uses gray bars, for screen protection, no doubt, but I would like to be able to set it to black. I'll have to dig through the menus in more detail, but it did not seem to be present. My eyes are a bit too sensitive and having those gray areas causes them to catch brief glances of yellow. It's not a huge deal, but it reminds me of the DLP effect (rainbows and such), which I can't stand to look at.

You can set the bars to black by going into the power saving menu.

For the black flickering, turn the brightness down. DVE wanted me to set the brightness WAY too high as to what looks best IMO. DVE wanted it around 60 and I have it at 44-46 depending upon the source. If you have the brightness at a correct level the flickering blacks are a no issue. You don't get as much shadow detail as CRT, but the blacks are BLACK and look great.

As far as the composite cable for the PS2 goes, I ran a VCR into mine with a composite connection and I was surprised actually at how good it looked, maybe I was expecting it to be really bad, but it was easily acceptable.

I think if you bring the brightness down you will have no issues.

Oh I almost forgot... turn the dynamic contrast OFF. That makes the blacks look horrendous in my eyes.

[dark1x]

Thanks for the tip. I'll trying bringing down the brightness a bit more tonight and see what happens.

Is it safe to use the black bar setting, by the way? I've heard both sides of this. They say that black isn't going to burn-in, but rather, the sharp contrast between the central frame and those bars will cause the problems. However, gray bars still result in a similar situation. I'm uncertain.

Also, regarding burn-in time, would something as simple as "television fuzz" (when selecting a channel that doesn't exist) work? I'd like to reach the 100 hours as fast as possible, and that would be something I could begin immediately.

As far as the composite cable for the PS2 goes, I ran a VCR into mine with a composite connection and I was surprised actually at how good it looked, maybe I was expecting it to be really bad, but it was easily acceptable.

Well, to clear this one up, I was actually using a component connection. I ran the component video into my receiver and then, using the component video output on the receiver, sent it to the TV. Both 360 and the PS2 were running through component. However, the cables I used for the three video connections were actually just a set of three cables (yellow, white, red). That's all I had handy at the time and didn't bother to replace the thing, cheap cables as they didn't make a difference on the CRT. It seems that they may be making a difference here, however.

Also, are there any other settings/tweaks that you might recommend I take a look at? Could you PM me service codes?

[gkinma]

Don't forget that the settings are stored separately for each input. So even if you have turned down the brightness for one input, you will still have to go back and do it again for each ofthe other inputs that you use. As slider pointed out, this is the most likely cause of the black flickering. It may not be the cables, even though you are not using "real" component cables.

[dark1x]

Originally Posted by gkinma

Don't forget that the settings are stored separately for each input. So even if you have turned down the brightness for one input, you will still have to go back and do it again for each ofthe other inputs that you use. As slider pointed out, this is the most likely cause of the black flickering. It may not be the cables, even though you are not using "real" component cables.

Well, there was no flickering during my PS2 tests. The problem was a noisy/dirty image when displaying really dark colors. The image was completely clean on the 360 when displaying dark images, however.