Toshiba 19AV500U 19-Inch 720p LCD HDTV

5 Comments

• L. Fiochetta Said:
  September 7th, 2009

  NOTE: this is a general review of Toshiba’s customer service center. Should you have any concerns about what may happen when or if you tv breaks, this is the chaos and frustration you will find in dealing with them. Please go with a different brand…

  We bought a TV/DVD combo from Toshiba as a gift from Santa last year for my 8-year old so that she could watch her Full House and Lizzie McGuire movies on it in her bedroom. Unfortunately, after 4 months, the tv’s picture stopped working. She told me to send it back to Santa, so off it went to our local authorized Toshiba repairman, as you cannot return these items to Amazon after a certain period of time. We were told by Toshiba that the tv was under full warranty for parts and service. The repairman said no. We would have to pay at least $80 in service repairs. Well, it’s been six months and we have yet to see our tv. The part that was supposedly broken was out of stock. Toshiba has sent out part after part after part…spending more in shipping and parts I’m sure than we actually paid for the tv. Now they are shipping out their 4th part…and we still have no tv and it’s November. NOTE: the Toshiba representatives were rude and their supervisor (Dave Thomson) was scripted and condescending. TOSHIBA DOES NOT STAND BY THEIR PRODUCT AND DOES NOT HELP ITS CUSTOMERS.

  My daughter got so upset that Santa didn’t return her tv that we had to buy her another tv a few months ago. Then, she overheard one of the numerous heated discussions between my husband and Toshiba. Every time my husband called, we were told the issue would be “escalated”. The representatives are scripted and said whatever they could to passify us. In the end, we were told by Toshiba’s supervisor (Dave Thomson) that this was their final decision…to just continue to keep trying to fix an inferior product with no hope that it may get fixed. By the time we get the tv back, if we get it back, it will no longer be under warranty.

  In the end, with no return of her original tv and the numerous phone calls to/from Toshiba, my daughter finally got the clue and realized Santa doesn’t exist. Thanks Toshiba. MAY NO PARENT EVER RELY ON YOUR PRODUCT AGAIN! THE TECHNOLOGY IS LOUSY AND YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE IS AN EMBARRASSMENT! GIVEN HOW TIGHT CONSUMERS’ WALLETS ARE THIS SEASON, I HOPE PEOPLE LOOK PASSED YOUR BRAND AND SELECT A BETTER CHOICE.

  FYI…When we purchased the tv, it was not made clear to us that it would be outdated within 14 months with the switch to digital.

  Happy Holidays from a very dissatisfied customer.

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• Robert Bruce Ferguson Said:
  September 7th, 2009

  Arrived on time, intact and working well.

  Replaced an old 19″ CRT clunker on which the remote was no longer functioning.

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• Antonio Said:
  September 7th, 2009

  I bought this white TV for my white kitchen and it comes with a black power cord! What a disappointment! I had to go into my pile of old computer parts and find a cream colored power cord to use instead of the black cord. I sent the company (Toshiba) a couple of emails trying to get them to send me a “white” power cord but they insisted they didn’t have white power cords. A week or so later my wife saw a 19″ white Toshiba portable TV at SamsClub and it had a white power cord with it. That TV had a built-in DVD player. I was very disappointed about the cord color. Also, the TV’s sound is “tinny” and seems to have no bass at all. I don’t know if we’ll ever get used to the sound. I’ve actually considered buying a couple of small (white) speakers to use with it. The picture is fine but it takes a couple of seconds to come on and to change channels. Plus the channel number that appears on the screen is much too small to read. Finally, the remote is huge and black! We used to have a 13″ white “kitchen” TV and it came with a small white remote. So, Toshiba, I hope you’re reading this. You need to go back to the drawing board and get it right. I’m not sure if I’d buy this TV again for these reasons. At the time I bought it, I could find no other “white” TV. I bought it for that reason alone…and the size of course.

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• Jamie Sooy Said:
  September 7th, 2009

  I puchased this tv shortly after purchasing a Samsung LN19A450 19-Inch 720p LCD HDTV, Black from Amazon. I am disappointed with the picture quality of the Toshiba. No matter how we adjust it the screen is just lacking a sharpness or crispness it needs. You should not have to work that hard to get a good picture. we use it in a small bedroom so the sound is ok. all in all if you need a 19 inch go for the Samsung for a very very clear and sharp image.

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• J. Voiles Said:
  September 7th, 2009

  I really wanted to like this TV. I bought it for my 15 year old daughter for her bedroom for Christmas. The price was by far the best for a named brand TV of this size.

  The first TV we received had a dead pixel in the upper left quarter. I returned it to Amazon (effortlessly, I would add, as UPS came and collected it from my doorstep so 5 stars to Amazon for their service!).

  The replacement TV arrived and that had 2 dead pixels. Amazon refused to replace it like for like the second time because there was obviously a problem with this model. They were going to speak to the manufacturer about it. It was therefore again returned to Amazon who processed my refund remarkably quickly.

  Whilst we had the TV, my husband did hook it up to a normal Philips DVD player. The sound seemed to be a little out of sync but that was think it was the cables that came with the DVD player as it improved when we swapped the cables. The picture was okay but we didn’t see the capabilities this TV had with it being 720p.

  We hooked up our Sony Blu-ray player and the image was crystal clear. The sound isn’t very loud on this TV but it would be more than enough for a bedroom.

  If you are thinking of buying this TV, or any LCD TV for that matter, I would definitely buy from Amazon.com. They obviously will accept returns with 1 dead pixel whereas many companies won’t. We bought a Samsung LN52A650 from Sears and had to buy the extended warrenty as they will only exchange TV’s if the dead pixels are the size of a quarter! Always ask about the dead pixel policy if you chose to buy elsewhere or have them plug the TV in and check it before you leave the store. Bestbuy recently did this for us with the replacement TV we ended up buying for our daughter.

  If you buy this TV I would definitely consider, at the very least, an upconverting DVD player to get the most out of the 720p. I’m sorry we didn’t.

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