Toshiba 50HM66 50 in. HDTV DLP TV
Giving My Back A Break.
After many years with a CRT, I gave up my monster Sony 32” Television (bye bye tubes) and went shopping for a hi-definition big screen television.
It would be nice not to have to move that CRT monster. When you consider I had to move it myself (weighing well over 120 pounds), a flat-screen would be welcome relief.
Earlier, my massive Sony CRT computer monitor was replaced with a flat panel. It effectively gave up 72 pounds for less than 16. So, my back would thank me for the lighter screen.
Measuring My Options.
There has been astounding progress in the nearly seven years since I purchased a television. Now there is High Definition Liquid Crystal, Plasma, and Digital Light Projection (DLP). On top of that, there are so many options that it is not hard to get a headache researching and shopping.
Well, my research was enough to justify an honorary engineer’s degree. After thinking about the side effects of taking a bottle of aspirin to relieve the throbbing from all the technical jargon, I was finally ready to visit a store.
Research led me to limit my brand shopping to Sony, Samsung, and Toshiba. To avoid the boredom or make your head hurt, let me cut to the chase. I got the Toshiba 50” Rear Projection, model 50HM66.
Initially, the Sony Rear Projection was my choice. However, the Toshiba 50HM66 was the one I took home.
Getting the DLP.
It was immediately clear the weight was much better than my CRT. It was not too difficult to haul it to my truck to bring it home. Nobody in the store offered to help so it was just me and the HDTV. To my relief, lifting the somewhat large and bulky box up in to the bed of the truck was manageable.
It was nicer once home since the house required climbing a full flight of wooden steps to get to the front door. Getting the TV up the stairs and on a stand in the living room was fairly easy. Just remember to take the TV out of the box, first.
Compared to my old CTR which required me to summon all my strength, this Toshiba was easy! It didn’t matter that the Toshiba was much larger out of the box. The weight did not prevent me from putting it whereever I wished.
Set-up.
The Toshiba is easy to install and set-up. This is assuming you have the correct cables. The remote and menus are simple and easy to use. Of course, this assumes you actually read the manual… well at least the important parts.
Using the DLP.
I tried 2 smaller LCD televisions. Neither appealed to me. The picture sharpness and clarity were lacking. Plus, it was difficult to get the color right. The Toshiba has no such problems.
High-definition digital light projection (DLP) technology seems to have taken TV viewing to a higher level of enjoyment. This is particularly true with high definition channels from your cable or satellite provider. Colors just jump out at you.
Sharpness and clarity is phenomenal. Also, the Toshiba model allows one to change the “lamp mode” to different settings, such as ‘sports’, ‘cool’, ‘warm’ and so on. It just depends on your preference.
The Gotchas.
The integrated speakers are of poor quality. You won’t want to watch this with the built in sound. So, I suggest immediately getting a nice surround sound system.
My sound system has a total of thirteen satellites. Watching a movie on that 50 inch screen is almost better than going to the movies. The only things you need are popcorn, a date, and noisy rude cell phone users. (The popcorn is easy, the date is another matter.)
Uh Oh!
After having the Toshiba for a few weeks, two strange things showed up one day.
1) A thin pie wedge of a shadow appeared. It begins at approximately the center top of the screen while gradually widening to a couple of inches toward the right hand side.
2) There is a high pitched whining noise. It varies in pitch when the changing channels.
Over the next couple of weeks, I called around the problems. Should it be taken back to the store? Or, do you wait for Toshiba?
In the meantime, the shadow began to grow until it extended all the way across the screen. It got wider too! It was gradually blacking out a sizable portion of the screen!
Return to the Store.
I returned the TV to the store. They replaced it with the identical model. After returning home and installing it, everything was fine. This lasted for a few days. Then, this one started to do the same thing as the 1st one!
By this time, the return period at the store had expired. So, I called Toshiba. This led to one of those classic customer nightmares no one should have to endure.
Toshiba Customer Service.
First, Toshiba denied any inherent problems in this model. They claimed my particular problems were limited to me, out of every customer who ever used this model. I even played the whining sounds over the phone for them because they refused to believe me.
After a lot of persistence and numerous soul-sucking phone calls, Toshiba finally sent a repairman. At the time, Toshiba had no procedure in place to deal with customers who did not live near an authorized service center. It took over 2 weeks, but they decided to just pay a repairman. He came from a city 120 miles away to drive to my home to see what was wrong.
The Repairman.
The repairman tried to fix the problem by adjusting (in his words) the “light engine” of the TV. Apparently, something in it was not made very well. It kept slipping out of place. This caused this pie wedge shadow on the screen.
He seemed confident when he left that he had repaired the TV. This did not solve the strange whining, but at least the picture was okay. BUT… a few days later, the problem re-appeared. This time it was worse than ever!
Several weeks later, I turned on the TV. Within a few seconds, there was a rather loud pop and the screen went black. Believe it or not, the lamp had actually blown up inside the TV. After another set of phone calls, the repairman came to my house and replaced the lamp. He tried to fix the TV shadow again. However, he could do nothing about the whining.
More Toshiba Customer Service.
More calls to Toshiba and the repairman followed. The repairman and Toshiba went back and forth about the problems and how to fix them. Eventually, he told me Toshiba was designing and manufacturing a “new light engine” for my model.
Toshiba was getting lots of calls about the problem with the black wedge. The channel whining was another story. At this point, all I wanted was a viewable TV.
The Frustration Is Building.
All this time, I was paying over $80.00 a month for high-definition satellite programming. It was becoming rather frustrating staring at a blank wall and an empty TV stand.
A few weeks later, I got a call from the repairman. He told me he had a “newly designed” light engine. So, I drove the TV to him and spent the day in the city while he installed it.
Once again he could do nothing about the whining. At least I went back home with a TV to watch. But, you had to hold your ears while changing channels.
Yet Another Call To Toshiba.
I believe Toshiba would have let the issue go away because they never contacted me about my problems, after meeting with the repairman. So, I called them back weeks later. After reminding them that the TV whined between channels, they continued insisting was not the TV.
The satellite provider and Toshiba refused to take responsibility for thewhining. At first, Toshiba said it their problem, then changed their story to bad cables. Next, Toshiba and the satellite provider said it was something in my stereo system.
Will Someone Fix This Whining?
Round and round I went with Toshiba and my satellite provider. It got more and more frustrating. BEFORE calling customer service, I like to think the “stupid stuff” is already covered. I check the cables. I eliminate things and consider the possibilities. I investigate and try to repair. Only after all that and feeling utterly lost, at a dead end do I finally call customer service.
When they continue to blame all the “stupid stuff” when it’s already been checked… well, let’s just say I am not a happy puppy.
Will Toshiba Finally Fix This?
After several weeks, I worked up the customer service ladder and spoke to various supervisors. Finally, I got a call informing me that Toshiba had decided to ‘replace’ my television.
They offered no reasons and no explanations. They simply told me they were delivering a TV from a far away city. Later, I learned, like the faulty light engine, Toshiba found out these TVs “whined.” They just did not want to tell me!
It seems I had been one of the first to own this particular Toshiba model. You could say this is why Toshiba customer service refused to acknowledge the problem. They were not aware of these problems until unfortunate customers, like myself, beat them over the head with complaints. Rather than fix the problem, they decided to blame everyone and everything else.
What An Experience.
Currently, my Toshiba DLP HDTV is working fine. Overall, I am pleased with its performance. With a more understanding, receptive and proactive manufacturer, the customer service would not have been a nightmare.
The Good.
The picture is awesome. The size and portability are great. My living room is now a private theater. Just be sure to research the brand for a quality TV manufacturer.
You will need high definition compatible equipment. This means cables (high definition media input and fiber optic audio,) and a high definition channel package from your provider. It is like computers, cell phones and other such modern technologies. If everything is not compatible, you will not get the full potential and enjoyment from the product as advertised.
The Bad.
You may need to upgrade your stereo system because the TV audio is not good. My previous receiver was only seven years old with an old 3 speaker surround sound system. It was not compatible with the new TV.
The receiver only had RCA inputs and outputs. There were no optical audio plugs. So, I purchased a new receiver, new surround sound system and a bunch of too-expensive cables for my new and existing devices.
You need high definition media input cable, optical audio cable, and a good surge protector. Don’t forget to allocate space for your new giant TV. But, it is not impossible to move, so you can if your wife does not like where it is.
Be prepared for customer service. They may or may handled your problems in a professional and productive manner. The repairman advised me that everyone who buys one of these televisions should purchase an extended protection plan.
The repairman’s reasoning for the extended protection was the cost of a new lamp, when the OEM blows. He siad many of them cost hundreds of dollars and they blow like light bulbs. In other words, you never know when.
The Ugly.
If you buy a TV from a retail store, they only care about you until the return policy expires. Know what that is BEFORE you buy the TV. After that, it’s you and the manufacturer.
When that happens, you could find yourself stuck on the automated menu from hell (press 10 if you would like to talk to real human). Worse yet, the manufacturer may fight you tooth and nail to not fix the problem or replace your TV.
Be aware the manufacturer would rather commit suicide then admit to an intrinsic and inherent design problem. If your new device has a problem and it persists, the manufacturer usually knows. They just do not want to tell you.
It is why Toshiba called me (“out of the blue”) and told me they were replacing my whining TV. They knew there was indeed an audio problem. On the phone, I asked the representative whether Toshiba was sure the replacement TV would not “whine.” She guaranteed me it would not.
Sure enough, the “NEW” Toshiba 50HM66 has no “whine.”
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