Toshiba REGZA 42RV530U 42-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV

My wife noted recently "I haven't seen him watch so much TV in a long time".

Upgrading to the Toshiba from my old thirty six inch Sony CRT has been a revalation. I really haven't been watching much TV - the only shows that interest me have been more easily watched in higher resolution on a computer (laptop) monitor, but this changes things.

Out of the box, the high definition channels look just phenomenal. I saw "Cars" in HD and it blew away the lowly DVD my daughter has. The Red Sox look terrific. All the TV shows I have been watching from... alternate sources... are just great.

The sound is good, but doesn't compare to a good receiver with a surround sound set up. You would really need that in order to realize the best from this.

I purchased this TV about 3 weeks ago. I bought it locally. When it was delivered, they unpacked it and attached the pedestal. They then plugged it in and hit the power power button and nothing. We tried different outlets to no avail. The TV was then unplugged and unceremoniously dumped back into the box and taken back. They returned with a new one, which did work. This is a very good TV and well worth the price although I have yet to upgrade my service to HD. I have been running it through an upconverting DVD player and it really looks good. The STD DVDs when using the upconverting player will elicit a WOW!!! for sure. I am not disappointed even if I got off to a bad start. Charlie S.

My Grandfather just bought this tv with my help, it is great (so far) we got the the Best Buy 4yr warranty with it ($149.99). I had a 10% off coupon (applied to tv price) so warranty really only cost $29.99. Picture is awesome, upgraded grandpa to HD channels with Bright House cable ($6.95 promo price for one year). He is now the big dog on the block with this tv. It has an awesome picture. I would have given it 5 stars if this wasn't such a recent purchase, never know what problems might crop in 6 months. Overall very pleased and have talked with others who made same purchase and are also very pleased. I can definitely recommend this tv. Also love the fact that it has 4 HDMI ports!!!

I have the 42RV530 hooked up to my PC (DVI->HDMI). Wow, what a picture! This HDTV supports 1:1 pixel mapping/native mode, has lots of settings to tweak, has a fast response time (no ghosting), and even has a game mode to reduce input lag, should you need it (I don't find it necessary). Blu-Ray movies look amazing at 1080P, PC games (e.g. Crysis) are so much more enthralling on the big screen, and text is crisp when surfing the web. The 42RV530 has tons of inputs, and even offers an optical OUTPUT. I now have a self-powered Over-the-Air antenna and receive HDTV for free (NBC, ABC, etc); aside from the 1080i/720P OTA TV, you can also use the 42RV530's optical output to send Dolby Digital-encoded sound to your receiver. Watching Lost or the Office in high-def with DD sound is great! 1080P LCDs are pricey, but I've found the 42RV530 to be worth every penny.

I have been shopping around for my HDTV since November. The biggest issues for me were price + size + reliability. I was never set on 1080p, but when the prices for the older models went back up after the super bowl, I couldn't see paying MORE or EQUAL for a 720p.

The Samsung models claim to have Picture In Picture, which was a feature I really wanted, but don't be fooled. The PiP on the 500 series Samsung's is extremely limited: the picture in picture window can ONLY display analog television. You can not have two hdmi sources on the screen at the same time, and if you have satellite or digital cable the only possible use for this limited PiP is to have rabbit ears or analog cable channels in the PiP.

Due to the lack of real PiP being available, I went with the Toshiba because I played with it at a store, and it had the best remote/on-screen menus for quickly switching between sources. I only have 3 sources I use, digital cable -hdmi, my computer (using a DVI to HDMI cable, much better quality than using the VGA analog input (any decent video card doesn't even have VGA outputs anymore)) -hdmi, and a wii -component. I don't have to cycle through 2 empty hdmi's, 1 empty component, 2 empty composite, to get to the sources I use. With Input Labeling I have my sources I use labeled and the other inputs 'hidden'.

Each individual input source also retains its own unique picture settings, which is great for having my digital cable look natural, while my Wii looks stunning and bright with overly-vibrant colors (that would look silly on live action, but look mesmerizing on Mario).

This is the first HDTV I have ever owned, so naturally I am blown away by the picture quality. Half-Life 2 and Bioshock astound me, while I am falling in love with Conan O'Brian's High Definition face all over again.

I'm pessimistic enough not to trust Phillips or Westinghouse. With equipment this large and fragile, mistakes are going to happen, tv's are going to arrive broken. It isn't a question of which tv's are more likely to break, but how likely are you going to get any real customer service if you ARE one of those unlucky few. Toshiba is at a nice middle ground. Its the cheapest and best 42" LCD with 1080p that didn't make me feel like I was taking a gamble.

I couldn't be happier. I love this television.