Toshiba 19HLV87 19″ LCD HDTV with Built-In DVD Player

ATSC - NTSC & QAM Tuners / 1440 x 900 Pixel Resolution / Digital Comb Filter / 480p - 720p & 1080i Component Input / DivX Certified / VESA 100 Mount Digital Zoom Fast Scan Slow Motion Multi-Camera Angle Select Dolby Digital and DTS Compatible Output StableSound Bottom Mount Stereo Speakers Bass/Treble Balance Controls Auto Channel Memory Clock On/Off Timer Closed Captioning V-Chip Parental Control System Tri-Lingual OSD (English, French/Japanese) Multi-Subtitle Select Channel Labeling Video Label with direct input selection Unified Remote Control Energy Star Compliant Ports - HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface), ColorStream HD Component Video Inputs, S-Video, 1 RF, PC Input D-Sub 15 with L/R Audio, Digital Audio Out 1 Optical (DVD only), 1 Headphone Jack and 1 Rear RCA Video Inputs Dimensions - 20-5/8 x 15 x 3-1/2 inch

Customer Review:
Good DVD TV Combo Lousy Documentation
I got this tv (floor model) for $250.00 including MA 5% sales tax at an electronic store going out of business. I don’t watch a tremendous amount of tv, so just wanted a basic flat screen LCD HDTV for watching news, and some shows. This unit is replacing a 12 inch color tube tv bought in the early 1990’s. The tv performs well overall with both cable and dvd playback.

I did not experience any major problems, or notice the sound of the DVD player being louder than any other dvd player. My chief complaints are regarding the manual, the rca connections, and remote control. The manual is not very well written. It took some time, probably 15-30 minutes, to figure out how to program the tv. I connected it to a coax output from a standard Comcast cable box. And when you turned it on, nothing happened. The manual as well as the on screen menu were not intuitive to set up the unit for the first time. Again it took trail and error, and I’m not sure how the manufacturer did this if they did any sort of usability testing.

They should have put this in front of 50 people, and watched how consumers try to set up the unit. Similarly the connections are not very well labeled. When I got a Comcast HDTV box with RCA cables (they were out of the HDMI boxes) it took some trial and error to get the connections in the right place. Also in the input, we had to set it up to HD Color Stream for it to pick up the cable box. There is no large picture describing what the cryptic sounding connecters do, and again they were not clearly marked. The remote control is not bad, but again like many manufacturers, has a dizzying array of cryptic buttons.

For instance there is one called “shuttle” which doesn’t do anything obvious and its difficult to know what it means. There is also a button that you would think changes something related to audio but nothing happens when you push it. One nice feature which is unit has, and which is not on all units, is a VGA connection for pc or computer equipment. I will probably use this as a monitor for a 12 inch screen laptop. Also once you press the input button on the remote control, you can easily toggle the various input methods.

For $250.00 I still think I got a bargain. I’d be open to learning about other HDTV DVD combinations or even just LCD HDTV’s in this size range that people may think are better. E.g. 19 to 26 inches. In conclusion I’m not disappointed with the product, but there are some elements of the experience that could be better. I’ve looked at a number of reviews, and if I had to do it all over again, I’m frankly not sure what other make/model would have the features I’ve noted in this smaller form factor. Generally Toshiba has a good reputation. I’ll update the review if anything significant changes. I specifically bought the item with a credit card that doubles the manufacturers warranty so if you have such a card I would recommend this for any large purchase. I’m rating it 3 stars for now but it could be 3.5 or 4. Again I’m not sure if the manuals, connections, and remotes are any greener with other manufacturers. One can only hope, but I don’t know.

Customer Review: Good as a second set. At the time I purchased the Toshiba (November, 2007), there were not a lot of options for an LCD TV in this size range with an integral ATSC tuner. We were looking for a TV for the kitchen, and this was about the largest size that would fit. The other reviews suggested that the Toshiba might have more than its share of units with manufacturing defects. However, knowing that such problems typically show up pretty quickly, I decided to go with it. We have now had the unit for about a month, and thus far I’m pretty pleased. We live in a rural area with no cable, and so are dependent on broadcast TV.

The Toshiba pulls in all our local DTV stations sharp and clear with fewer errors than our main TV, a 3 year old Sony (we’re in a hilly fringe reception area). Analog over-the-air is about the same as it was for the old CRT set this unit replaced. We won’t be using any video inputs in the near future, so I haven’t tested these yet. Picture quality is decent for an LCD, though the color decoder can’t be adjusted to get rid of an overall bluish cast. The horizontal viewing angle range is acceptably wide for our purposes, but the vertical range is not so good. The contrast and color fade pretty quickly when standing above the unit, and as another reviewer pointed out, there is almost no viewing angle below the screen.

This is not a unit I would purchase for hanging on the wall or sitting on a tall bureau unless you’re willing to angle the screen downwards (which the supplied base does permit, to about 5 degrees below horizontal). The DVD player is basic, though it does have a zoom feature. Ours is quiet in operation, which shows that the design is capable of it, even if some other reviewers have gotten noisy units. The TV lacks some convenience features that would be nice. For example, there is no button on the set or on the remote that allows you to switch quickly from one picture mode to the other, as you might want to do to compensate for the ambient light in the room–you have to go to the setup menu each time you want to change the picture setting.

And while there is an antenna signal meter, the reading does not change dynamically when it’s displaying, and it doesn’t stay on when you change channels, both of which detract from its ability to help you aim your antenna for the best DTV reception. As one might expect for a TV/DVD combo, the remote is a bit complicated, with buttons serving multiple functions. For example, I was looking for a button that would enable me to jump back and forth between two channels. At first I feared that this feature was not available, until I found in the manual that it shared the same button as the DVD/CD’s Previous Chapter/Track function (and only then did I notice the tiny “CH RET” for “Channel Return” printed above that button). Overall, though, this Toshiba is more than acceptable for our purposes, and I have no regrets about purchasing it.

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Current Listings on Ebay for the Toshiba 19HLV87

SEALED TOSHIBA 19" 19HLV87 TFT LCD/TV/DVD HDTV HDMI~HOT US $274.95 (0 Bid) Auction Ends: Monday Dec-01-2008 20:04:05 PST Bid on this Item   | Buy this Item   | Watch this Item

SEALED TOSHIBA 19" 19HLV87 TFT LCD/TV/DVD HDTV HDMI~HOT US $274.95 (0 Bid) Auction Ends: Monday Dec-01-2008 20:32:30 PST Bid on this Item   | Buy this Item   | Watch this Item

SEALED TOSHIBA 19" 19HLV87 TFT LCD/TV/DVD HDTV HDMI~HOT US $274.95 (0 Bid) Auction Ends: Monday Dec-01-2008 21:00:23 PST Bid on this Item   | Buy this Item   | Watch this Item

SEALED TOSHIBA 19" 19HLV87 TFT LCD/TV/DVD HDTV HDMI~HOT US $274.95 (0 Bid) Auction Ends: Monday Dec-01-2008 22:03:17 PST Bid on this Item   | Buy this Item   | Watch this Item

SEALED TOSHIBA 19" 19HLV87 TFT LCD/TV/DVD HDTV HDMI~HOT US $274.95 (0 Bid) Auction Ends: Tuesday Dec-02-2008 7:02:48 PST Bid on this Item   | Buy this Item   | Watch this Item

SEALED TOSHIBA 19" 19HLV87 TFT LCD/TV/DVD HDTV HDMI~HOT US $274.95 (0 Bid) Auction Ends: Tuesday Dec-02-2008 7:39:06 PST Bid on this Item   | Buy this Item   | Watch this Item

SEALED TOSHIBA 19" 19HLV87 TFT LCD/TV/DVD HDTV HDMI~HOT US $274.95 (0 Bid) Auction Ends: Tuesday Dec-02-2008 7:46:00 PST Bid on this Item   | Buy this Item   | Watch this Item

Toshiba 19HLV87 19in Flat Panel LCD HDTV/DVD Combo US $99.00 (2 Bids) Auction Ends: Tuesday Dec-02-2008 8:33:44 PST Bid on this Item   | Buy this Item   | Watch this Item

SEALED TOSHIBA 19" 19HLV87 TFT LCD/TV/DVD HDTV HDMI~HOT US $274.95 (0 Bid) Auction Ends: Tuesday Dec-02-2008 9:02:31 PST Bid on this Item   | Buy this Item   | Watch this Item

SEALED TOSHIBA 19" 19HLV87 TFT LCD/TV/DVD HDTV HDMI~HOT US $274.95 (0 Bid) Auction Ends: Tuesday Dec-02-2008 9:32:42 PST Bid on this Item   | Buy this Item   | Watch this Item