Opinions on Toshiba TV's

[pincushionman]

I'm going to ask any of you who own televisions made by Toshiba to please comment on the reliability and general how-good-it-is-ness of your TV's.

I ask because I'm looking for an HDTV set that is all of these things: CRT (why? because the chapest comparable flat-panel costs one-third more! Plus, most flat-panels look ugly, IMHO), widescreen, and LESS THAN 28" WIDE.

The last requirement has been the kicker, as I have a bookshelf entertainment center, with a TV hole that is 28 1/4" wide. THE ONLY tv that I have seen that fits all of these requirements is a Toshiba 26" monitor, since they were kind enough to decide to put the speakers horizontally below the screen (which is how they used to do it on all the TV's) rather than every other company, who have decided to make their already-wide TV's even wider by putting the speakers vertically beside the screen.

Anyway, this is the only TV currently availible that meets my requirements, so I don't want any "sony does this better" or "I got a Philips because" because frankly, I don't care. I would only like to hear opinions from people who have experiences with TOSHIBA televisions about whether they are good TV's.

BTW, the model is $550 at Best Buy.

[klauss]

Have in mind that usually companies place the speakers on the side to increase stereo separation, not just because they look better.
Speakers below will be less apart from each other, and won't sound as "stereo" as the others.

If you intend to use your own sound system, and not the TV's speakers (which is the case in most home theater systems), then you don't care about that, and Toshiba may be for you.
If you don't care about sound, it's the same.
But if you expect good quality sound from it, that's a downside.

Be careful about that: if it has poor stereo separation, it may still sound good. There are a zillion factors that influence sound. The best thing would be to ask for a demo: play something on it, and see if 1) it looks good, and 2) it sounds good.

Also, have in mind that most electronics need breathing room (not just Hitler), so perhaps the space is a little cramped: 1'' each side is not much. If you don't provide enough breathing room, it may overheat and get damaged.

As for the poll, I can't help you there since I've never owned a Toshiba TV. But just wanted to let you know you were in some trouble (for the space requirements).

[pincushionman]

Clarification concerning Klauss' post - We run sound through the stereo system, not the TV. So any space taken up by the speakers on the side is wasted for us.

[smbarbour]

I'm going to go out on a limb in regards to the TV's speakers.

If you care about sound, you won't be using the TV's speakers regardless of their position.

[klauss]

If you care about sound, you won't be using the TV's speakers regardless of their position.

There are some respectable-sounding TV sets out there. Not that I would use them (I'm just too picky with sound), but some people might feel that's all they need.

[smbarbour]

I personally have a 27" Sansui TV. Not widescreen, no component video, but the picture is nice and it has audio out to connect a stereo or surround system.

Personally, I think they should have TV's where the sound is only available by connecting an audio system rather than messing around with shielding and/or using weaker speakers so as not to interfere with the beam projection of the cathode ray tube. (I know LCD and Plasma are available, but they still don't refresh fast enough.)