Toshiba REGZA 42RV530U 42-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV

I bought mine more than a year and a half ago, have had ANY problem with that given the fact that all its functions are used quite extensively. By the way i bought it from buydig.com; they have very good prices on most, not all, electronics and it arrived safe to me. they even put it into 2 boxes.

We purchased this model's relative, a Regza 42HL196, in September of 2006. In June of 2008, 20 months after purchase, the set failed totally, with a diagnosis of a bad lcd controller board. Toshiba does not sell this part separately (estimate cost $200-$400), but requires a full replacement of the panel which was quoted at $2789.70. This is $600 more than the price of the television. After waiting for customer service and a supervisor for 30 minutes, I was told that due to the age of the set, nothing could be done. Diagnosis cost $160 dollars as well.
Given Toshiba's unreliability, and exorbitant part replacement strategies, I would run, not walk, to their competitors.

The Toshiba REGZA 42RV53OU performs as specified. THe picture is sharp and clear. It is easy to set up and use. Thus far, it has performed flawlessly. I believe that it is a good value, solid product.

[...]

The Gist:
The Toshiba REGZA 42" LCD is a great buy and I'm really happy with it. Sporting a sweet, sexy gloss look and high quality video, it's definitely a purchase I'd make again. For very picky users, I'd recommend getting the new 120Hz version so that motion blur will be non-existent. Again, it's hardly noticeable.

It has plenty of connections, tons of tweaking features, awesome color and picture quality, and is easy to use.

Audio

From what I've heard, the TV audio isn't so bad. It's not amazing, but that is really expected. However, I did hook it up right away to our home theater system. I use the Fixed Audio out to route the audio from all the components into the home theater box. Since my home theater system only has one audio input, this was a big plus.

Standard Definition

SD is where all LCDs fail. You shouldn't buy an LCD with the thought that you will be mostly viewing SD material (SD defined by me as 480i and 480p material).

With that said, this TV presents SD in above average quality. Our cable box is 1080i but most material is output in 480p. I would safely say that I could watch a regular cable TV channel and not pull my eyes out. It's not that bad. It's acceptable.

High Definition Digital Cable

HD channels that don't have true HD material playing looks a little bit better than the 480p channels but still not excellent.

HD channels playing true HD material look great. It's still digitally compressed, but it's definitely leagues above the standard definition. For comparison, it's not as sharp as Blu-Ray, but definitely good nonetheless.

True 1080p Material

Here is where the money's at. Plug in a PS3 or Xbox 360 or Blu-Ray player in 1080p and you've got pixel sharp resolution.

If you are a gamer or an HD nut and own 1080p devices then this TV will not disappoint. I was blown away by the picture, it's incredibly sharp. I've seen the Blu-Ray picture in the store and it's just as incredible.

Color

Another reason I bought this TV, it has every feature you'd need to tweak it for days. Not only does it let you tweak picture options like Color, Tint, Sharpness, Backlight, Contrast, Brightness, and Static Gamma, but you can also tweak Red, Green, Blue, Cyan, Yellow, and Magenta. It also has a handful of advanced options like B Drive and G Drive, basically everything you need.

The picture and sound quality are both great, plenty of inputs for all my electronics. Just wish Charter cable would beef up their HD lineup so i could watch things in HD that i am actually interested in watching. Maybe someday... Great TV though, I am extremely happy with it so far.