Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #98253 in Home Theater
- Color: black
- Brand: Toshiba
- Model: 42HM66
- Dimensions: 28.30" h x
12.60" w x
39.30" l,
55.00 pounds
- Native resolution: 1280 x 720
- Display size: 42
Features
- 720p 42-inch DLP television with built-in ATSC/QAM/NTSC tuners and CableCARD port; measures 39.25 x 28.3 x 12.6 inches (WxHxD)
- TALEN 5 engine with PixelPure 14-Bit video processing; Faroudja DCDi eliminates jagged artifacts
- 3D Y/C comb filter for razor sharp image; Cinema Mode 3:2 pulldown detection and reversal
- Connections: composite (1 in), S-Video (1 in), component (2 in), HDMI (2 in), RF (1 in), PC VGA (1 in)
- Two stereo speakers, 10 watts apiece (20 watts total); SRS WOW virtual surround sound
Toshiba 42HM66 42-Inch 720p DLP HDTV
Product Description
42" 720P DLP PROJECTIVE TV
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
60 of 60 people found the following review helpful.
By Andrejs J. Cers
It is January 2007 and I have used this TV now for about one week. I was going to wait longer to post a review, but since there are none up here, I thought it would be useful to potential buyers to have it now.I bought this TV for my mother as a Christmas gift and my budget was $1000. For that amount of money the HDTV choices were: 27" to 37" 720p LCD; 32" to 35" CRT- based sets; and a few 40-42" DLP sets. Given that the set was for a living room, size was an important priority. So that meant examining most seriously the DLP options.Most DLP sets I looked at in the stores had a pretty decent image when viewed straight on, but like most other rear-projection TVs, rapidly fell off in brightness when viewed off axis. One exception was a 56" Toshiba DLP set which looked better than the others. Try as I might, I was unable to find the 42HM66 in a store, but what finally convinced me to buy it sight-unseen, was the Consumer Reports article which had Toshiba sets taking all of the top positions in the December 2006 ratings of DLP TVs. Though Consumer Reports did not evaluate DLP TVs smaller than 50", I noted that the 42HM66 was of the same series number as one of the best-rated Toshiba sets. So I decided to take a chance. Next the results.Having viewed it about 20 hours I have to say the picture is truly excellent for a 720p set. Colors are bright and the screen has a difficult-to-describe luminous liveliness absent from my new 40" Samsung LCD. Outdoor HD nature programming is particularly stunning. A nice surprise was the good off-axis performance. Though straight-on is still best, the image is quite bright out to about 45 degrees from perpendicular, much better than most other DLPs I have seen! Consumer Reports rated the larger Toshiba DLP sets with their highest picture quality rating. I would second that high rating for the 42HM66, it truly delivers the goods. I prefer its picture to that of my new Samsung LCD, which is also 720p, not the latest 1080p, and the Samsung cost 40% more. Image quality = a well-deserved 5 stars.Where the 42HM66 shows its limitations is in the sound subsystem. The speakers are weak with little bass response. When using digital input sources one needs to turn it up nearly all the way. Analog channels don't seem to have this problem. So when switching between analog and digital sources, one often needs to step the volume up and down, a recurring annoyance. I think most would find the sound performance seriously lacking, but this is easy to fix if you have a stereo receiver or AV sound system to plug into using the available line-out jacks. Sound quality = 2 stars.Now for convenience and user-friendliness. It is equipped with only one HDMI jack, so if you want to plug in 2 digital sources, like an upconverting DVD player and an HD cable box, you will have to plug one into the component or S-video input; but for a price of only $1000 this is not surprising.The TV was also not quite as simple to setup as my recently purchased Samsung. The auto-program feature was difficult to find, so if you are giving it as a gift to a technically-challenged person, make sure they get some help. I found the remote disappointing for it had small equally-sized buttons and the control layout was not very intuitive. But once you learn how to get into the menus and where things are, it becomes acceptable. Sadly it could be so much better with just a few minor changes. Kudos to Samsung for their excellent remotes. User friendliness = 3 stars.Now for the bottom line. I didn't expect the 42HM66 to be perfect all around, but in the one area which counts most... picture quality... it is a top-notch performer. Weak sound is easily remedied and the remote works OK once you learn it, but a bad picture cannot be fixed in any way. This is a GREAT choice if you need 40+" in screen size and don't want to sacrifice image quality on a budget of only $1000. My mother is simply blown away by the picture and I am VERY happy with this purchase... and Amazon's free shipping made it just that much better. The set has yet to accumulate serious viewing hours, so I will not comment on its reliability, but if I run into problems down the road I will revisit this review. For now... my bottom line overall rating: A solid 4-1/2 stars.P.S. The free Amazon shipping via Eagle was great. They called in advance, came when they said they would, were courteous, and the package was delivered in excellent condition. Kudos. I felt like giving them a tip :)UPDATE - May 5, 2007Last week the set blew out the projection lamp after 4 months of use. Replacement under warranty was simple, I just called Toshiba and they quickly sent out a new lamp without any fuss. The lamp comes in a cartridge that is easily removed from the left side of the set. I asked about lamp life and was told that 8,000 to 10,000 hours was the average and that mine went prematurely. They also said each replacement lamp comes with a 6 month warranty independent of the set. Out of warranty the lamp costs about $200. One needs to be aware of this issue with DLP HDTVs and be prepared to have this happen eventually. Still love the TV. The picture is SO good I would buy it again despite this quirk.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful.
By M. Edgecomb
Be prepared to pay the "DLP Tax" annually. That is one lamp each year. Toshiba knows that these lamps will not run 6-8000 Hrs. 2000-3000 is normal. I have spoken to 3 different Toshiba Authorized repairs centers and hey all verify that a year is the average lifespan of these lamps.Update New Bulb purchased September 08 This will be Bulb number #4 since purchase in 2005. Now they tell me I need a new Ballast. Am going to Sony Bravia.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful.
By Thomas Burns
Good picture, good features, great price. I have satellite, HDDVD, and VCR. all working great with system. Did purchase a Logetech 880 remote could not get all the remotes to work together.It was shipped quickly, but did have to help get off truck.
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