Toshiba REGZA 32″ 32RV530u LCD HDTV

Filed Under Gadgets & Hardware on 2008-10-18, 12:30

I’ve been meaning to make a post about the new tv/monitor I picked up awhile ago. The projector that a friend had given to me as a birthday gift almost 2 years ago decided it was on it’s way out, or at least its bulb was. And since it was a Woot special, the bulb was long since discontinued and going for $2-300 on eBay (if you could find one for sale). I decided it was better to invest in something nice that would be more useful than the projector. I also wanted something super high-def so that I’d be up-to-date for at least a few months.

What was I looking for?
- Something that fits in our apartment – i.e. no 50″ behemoths
- Something affordable – sub $1000 seemed reasonable
- High def – 1080p, I have a Playstation 3 and can play Blu-Ray
- Multiple inputs – Needs at least one of each: composite, component, HDMI, VGA

How did the Toshiba meet these needs?
- The Toshiba Regza 32″ is the smallest 1080p LCD tv out there that I could find.
- The Regza listed for $759.99 from Newegg.com.
- It’s 1080p
- It has 4 HDMI ports, 2 Component, 2 Composite, VGA, and an Antenna/Coax input

Setup:
I currently have the Toshiba REGZA 32″ setup with the following:
Playstation 3 (HDMI)
XBox (running XBMC) (Component)
Dedicated Laptop running a host of software (VGA)
VCR (Composite)
Laserdisc / Super Nintendo (have to unplug one composite connection to switch)
I also have an HDMI->DVI cable that I can use for plugging in the Macbook Pro when I want to use the TV as a monitor.
Sony Receiver and Speakers (refurb) on the Optical Audio out.

Where does it fall short?
Surprisingly for a “budget” LCD HDTV, I have very few complaints. I haven’t taken the time to truly tweak the color settings and everything, but things looked pretty good out of the box. The only significant issue I have had with it was when I hooked up a laptop the image was slightly off center. I was able to correct this by adjusting the screen though. Whether or not this is the fault of the TV or the laptop, is unknown, but I’m betting it’s the laptop. I’ve also had some issues with getting the best resolution for the laptop, but again I’m guessing blame is on the laptop.

I’m very happy with the TV and it’s nice to have a quick and easy way to watch media, play video games, as well as work. The TV doubles as a beautiful monitor for doing web programming and general browsing. I really wish I had a desk big enough to use this as a dedicated monitor (or even get a second for dual 32″ web browsing!). Like all products, it has it’s little annoyances that I won’t bother getting into since they’re trivial. Things like not being able to name your inputs something other than the defaults. All in all I really like it and I’d buy it again in a second. If you’re looking for a TV that will fit in a small apartment, won’t break the bank, and is high quality, this is it. Toshiba has (unfortunately) not paid me for my endorsement though.

In my research on the set, I came across a bunch of links I’ll share with you:
Current price on Amazon:

Calibration Thread: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1029217

Extensive thread filled with discussion: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=998752

Why you shouldn’t spend a fortune on HDMI Cables: http://boardsus.playstation.com/playstation/board/message?board.id=ps3&message.id=828972#M828972
Buy em from Mono price instead: http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10240&cs_id=1024004&p_id=3661&seq=1&format=2

Tagged: HDTV, LCD, Playstation, Toshiba, TV, XBMC, Xbox

Comments

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I guess this TV is now phased out.
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