One thing I'd like some input on is how many of you HM(X) owners decided to buy some sort of extended warranty? I've basically got 3 and a half weeks left before my 1 month return policy is over by which time I'll probably end up getting a 4 or 5 year warranty added onto the purchase, just for some piece of mind.

Unless the warranty covers the Bulb, I wouldn't get it.

I'd simply have paid for the TV on one of those credit cards that doubles the manufacturer's warranty up to an additional year (like my CIBC credit card).

52HM85

Paid 2299 plus stand at Best Buy.

5 year warranty at AVU for $279 (bulb not covered) In store credit if no claims on warranty.

Fan is really quiet

Rainbow drives me nuts.

THE LAMP BURNED OUT IN 42 DAYS. NO ONE HAS ONE IN STOCK TO REPLACE IT UNTIL SOME COME FROM TORONTO SOMETIME NEXT WEEK. BAD.

Told them about 2 dead pixels and they immediately ordered a new light engine. GOOD.

I bought a 62HMX85 last month and I an very happy overall, however why am I experiencing lag while watching TV. For now i just have in hooked up to SD Rogers cable while I am awaiting my house to be built. Then I will go HD for sure. I still not think that lag on any type of broadcast is acceptable, I could probally understand if it was while watching a DVD (which has happened too) because then I would blame it on the HDMI cable rather than the service provider.

Any suggestions? BTW, the only thing I have connected at this time is a HDMI DVD player using a HDMI cable.

Hey folks,
I've been reading these forums avidly over the last few months, and especially this thread in the last few weeks. I just want to say thanks for all the amazing information that lead me to my first HDTV purchase on Friday.

I got a 52HMX85 + matching stand for $2,645.00 after tax. Got it straight from the Toshiba warehouse in Markham at their employee charity christmas sale. This amazing deal came out out of nowhere through a connection who works at Toshiba.

I am absolutely blown away by this tv. I love it. It's amazing. High def is breathtaking. I can't say enough about this TV. Thanks again, all of you.

Cool I can't wait to get mine in :)

Hey folks,
I've been reading these forums avidly over the last few months, and especially this thread in the last few weeks. I just want to say thanks for all the amazing information that lead me to my first HDTV purchase on Friday.

I got a 52HMX85 + matching stand for $2,645.00 after tax. Got it straight from the Toshiba warehouse in Markham at their employee charity christmas sale. This amazing deal came out out of nowhere through a connection who works at Toshiba.

I am absolutely blown away by this tv. I love it. It's amazing. High def is breathtaking. I can't say enough about this TV. Thanks again, all of you.

First of all..Congrats on the new set. That's by far the best deal i've heard of so far.
I agree, this site is great and I'm glad it's all Canadian! A really knowledgeable and mature group we have here.

We just got ours a few weeks ago and are waiting to get our promotional Rogers 12mo HD Kit. Other than that, DVDs, and even SD has been phenomenal. I think i'll faint when I see HD on this set. heh.

Even my friend who owns a 52HMX84 (last years model) says this TV has a 'clearer' picture.. and he loves the black compared to silver... so do I.
I was explaining to him about the differences with the HD2+ chip and the HD4, and how the HD4 image is a bit softer and gives a slightly more natural image. Compared to a more digital crisp image that's not as realistic although still looks amazing from the HD2+.

Hey guys. Well, I have had my 46HMX85 for a couple months now. It is definitely a beautiful set, but I may try to sell it. I don't want to, but that rainbow effect gets on my nerve sometime. Everytime I use it, I always think about it. I can see it without even trying. Any dim scene, I can see the rainbow effect very easily. Just a small shift of the eyes and splash. It is hard to keep my eyes fixed in one spot. I like to scan the TV to see more. I may just purchase a 30-35" widescreen CRT for now until DLP technology develops more. I am willing to wait until it is standard for all DLP's to come with the 3 color wheel design eliminating that rainbow effect. I am kinda torn at what to do, but hmm.....:(

Hey guys. Well, I have had my 46HMX85 for a couple months now. It is definitely a beautiful set, but I may try to sell it. I don't want to, but that rainbow effect gets on my nerve sometime. Everytime I use it, I always think about it. I can see it without even trying. Any dim scene, I can see the rainbow effect very easily. Just a small shift of the eyes and splash. It is hard to keep my eyes fixed in one spot. I like to scan the TV to see more. I may just purchase a 30-35" widescreen CRT for now until DLP technology develops more. I am willing to wait until it is standard for all DLP's to come with the 3 color wheel design eliminating that rainbow effect. I am kinda torn at what to do, but hmm.....:(


I absolutely agree. I returned my 52HMX85 with a heavy heart. While I loved the picture and evrything it was too big and I was fearing the potential of having too many problems with the set.

I decided the same thing as well on a replacement. Just bought the 34hm85c from FS. They had it listed at 1299.99, but I checked at BB and their computers had it listed at 999.97. With the 10% policy I got it from them for 969.97.

It's HD, widescreen, and big enough while still being a reliable Toshiba CRT set. I'll take shipment Thurs. and hope it looks as good as I hope it should be.

I was searching for this set in stores with no success and I was surprised to see it at the sale. I have been holding off for 1080i/p set and there it was. I was very hasitant as I had not seen it before and wasn't able to compare to others but once I got it home it looked amazing.

I had a hard time tuning in HD content as the built in ATSC tuner works seemlessly with the NTSC tuner. Once I ran the auto program scan it picked up 5 HD channels with a pair of rabbit ears! LOTR the two towers was on CBC monday/tuesday and it looked stunning. Once I forgot that I was watching TV I felt like I was on the set. Then I tuned in Letterman and the detail is undescribable. When ever I had a chance to see actors in real life I always said they look so different in real life. I had the same feeling now that Letterman's guests look so different! I can only chalk it up to the extra definition. With low res shows in the past I simply was not able to see actors as they would appear in real life due to the limitation of the technology. HD has changed all that!

Cathrine Zeta Jones was on last night and with some of the close up shots it felt almost erotic. She was wearing this low cut dress with her boobs just about falling out. I almost felt uncomfortable like I was seeing more than I should be seeing! At this size people are about life size and you feel like you are right there. Really bizarre! I can't imagine what it would be like at 62"/72" on the other two models.

My problem now is that while HD looks awesome at my 10 foot viewing distance SD gives me a headache and even DVD doesn't have enough detail. Uncompressed LD not surprisingly looks better than DVD. I'm actually contemplating selling it and buying something smaller. I will try an upconverting DVD player to see if it makes any difference although I don't expect it will as the TV does upconverting. My other alternative is viewing SD content maybe even DVDs in the POP window which is still larger than my 27" tv was and wait for HD DVD/blue ray.

I have to get it into it's final place so I can make a decision but if someone wants to make me an offer I just might let it go in favour of a 34'' XBR. I want the 1080 resolution and all the smaller DLPs are only 720p. Right now I'm watching it from my dining room which would be a better distance to watch from (about 15'). It's less than two weeks old and at the sale I got it below dealer's cost so given I have not seen it anywhere in stores I would only let it go for close to what I paid for it. I can be reached at synmag (@) gmail.com

I would suggest to anybody buying this big is to check the lowest res content from your viewing distance in a store to make your decision. I checked HD content at the sale from my viewing distance which was fine but the rest are too low res for me from my viewing distance.

The rest of the features are great, input galore, the optical audio out is great for sending the 5.1 channels from the built in ATSC tuner to my receiver. I really appreciate that the side controls can be locked out for my daughter. With the speakers mounted on the bottom the physical size is not that imposing either. The memory card reader is a nice touch which I will probably use for a slide show of my favourite family pics for guests as the CF card size is limited to half a gig. I have an old 256MB card which I will keep in there for this purpose.

The only negative comment I have is it would be nice to have the firewire port on the side instead of the back which is minor and that the PoP display can't display two ATSC or ant sources (one tuner).

The 5000:1 contrast is bright even at low power setting.

I have been lurking here for information for a while, thanks for all the info. This is my first post, sorry if I went over board.

I highly recommend this set to anyone looking for this size who can view it from a good distance. And I'm not just saying that b/c I may have to sell it.

Cheers

P.S. I'm in downtown Toronto

It is good advice on checking your viewing content on the TV.

My buddy bought a new Sammy DLP, and he says HD looks awesome, analog cable looks really good, but DVD's and digital cable looks sub-par.....

I have been searching for some time now about information on DLP and LCD TVs and have been to as many stores as possible as well as doing as much online research as possible.

Last night, I was in 2001 AV and curiously, they had no Toshibas. The sales rep there said that Toshibas have cheapened up the parts in their TVS ie substituting plastic for glass etc...Anyone ever heard of that problem before?

He was all hyped up on the Panasonic LCD TV, which I admit to liking as well but at the end of the day, I see little difference in any of these 2500-3000 TVs. Maybe I am just not a Videophile???

My inlaws belong to Direct Buy and they can get a 52" Toshiba Cinema Series DLP TV for $2250 CDN plus taxes. I assume from what I have read that this would be the 52HMX95 or 52HMX85 that I keep hearing so much about. From what I read here, this is a great TV and I should be happy about it.

I read a bunch of customer reviews on cnet on 52hmx84 and while it averaged at 8 out of 10, it scares me that there were some 3 and 4s in there.

Has anyone had problems with the shelves of the 52HMX85 stand not being big enough to mount your receiver? The shelves seem quite shallow, I don't think the Denon receiver I've been looking at will fit.
...or do most people have a seperate stand for their components?
Thanks
Will

I have been searching for some time now about information on DLP and LCD TVs and have been to as many stores as possible as well as doing as much online research as possible.

Last night, I was in 2001 AV and curiously, they had no Toshibas. The sales rep there said that Toshibas have cheapened up the parts in their TVS ie substituting plastic for glass etc...Anyone ever heard of that problem before?

He was all hyped up on the Panasonic LCD TV, which I admit to liking as well but at the end of the day, I see little difference in any of these 2500-3000 TVs. Maybe I am just not a Videophile???

My inlaws belong to Direct Buy and they can get a 52" Toshiba Cinema Series DLP TV for $2250 CDN plus taxes. I assume from what I have read that this would be the 52HMX95 or 52HMX85 that I keep hearing so much about. From what I read here, this is a great TV and I should be happy about it.

I read a bunch of customer reviews on cnet on 52hmx84 and while it averaged at 8 out of 10, it scares me that there were some 3 and 4s in there.

I prefered the Toshiba over the Panasonic hence the TV you see in my sig. The only TV that I would have bought over this set is a 1080p set, namely the Sony SXRD set... too much money for it, so I went with the next best thing IMO.

Try to go and look at both sets and try to use similar reference material so that your opinions are not biased since some places have better HD feeds than other, and some places put nice upconverting DVD players on their sets and some don't. These things make a difference. Also, try to look at the set from the approximate viewing distance and angle that you would in your home.

The price you can get the 52HMX series TVs for is great if you can get a stand thrown in. We got ours with set, stand, taxes and delivery/stand setup for $2950CDN. Warranty was an extra $400 (60 months) but is well worth it IMO.

And the reason that 2001 AV guy said Toshiba's are cheaping out on parts or what not, is probably because they didn't have any in stock to show you and probably wanted to get you to buy the Panasonic instead. I think he just wanted a sale out of you there. Go look at the Toshiba's before you take his word for it.

My 0.02 cents.

Has anyone had problems with the shelves of the 52HMX85 stand not being big enough to mount your receiver? The shelves seem quite shallow, I don't think the Denon receiver I've been looking at will fit.
...or do most people have a seperate stand for their components?
Thanks
Will

I have a separate stand for all my a/v stuff. The TV stand just won't cut it. My receiver barely fits in my A/V stand as well, but it fits.

The Brick sells some nice A/V stands for decent prices.

This is mine:
http://www.thebrick.com/Application/Cart/BuyRoom.asp?TraderID=34DC92B9-3DBD-438F-AA0B-BD0F699D5896&Code=MD-1844&ProductID=645E3BF1-4286-410C-AB9D-8C7EE422C52C&SellOrderId=BD3C49F0-32B8-469A-9C37-81FE19CD7B6E&CategoryID=519CDDB4-DF1A-42E8-BC8A-AA263836F1FD&SiteCode=EN&CategoryTracking=519CDDB4%2DDF1A%2D42E8%2DBC8A%2DAA263836F1F D

Has anyone had problems with the shelves of the 52HMX85 stand not being big enough to mount your receiver? The shelves seem quite shallow, I don't think the Denon receiver I've been looking at will fit.
...or do most people have a seperate stand for their components?
Thanks
WillI guess it depends on the equipment. I have my Sony DVP-NS975V DVD Player and Motorola 6412 DVR on the top shelf and my Sony STR-DE935 Receiver on the lower right side of the bottom shelf of my 62HMX94 stand. I'm not sure of the dimensions of the 52" shelf but I have the following:

Top Shelf: 43"L X 13.25"D X 6.5"H

Bottom Shelf: 43"L X 14"D X 7.75"H

My receiver is only 13"D and 6"H so it's not a problem.

That looks like a nice unit MRM, if it was black it would match the MX85.
I was thinkin bout putting the center speaker on one of those shelves ontop of the TV, hopefully I can get by with the stand, if not the Sonax unit would work well, course then I'll need longer cables...

BTW, I've been reading many people aren't getting anywhere near the bulb life Toshiba claims with the MX85 sets, what kinda life should I expect realistically? I may pick up a spare bulb when I get the TV 'just in case'.

That looks like a nice unit MRM, if it was black it would match the MX85.
I was thinkin bout putting the center speaker on one of those shelves ontop of the TV, hopefully I can get by with the stand, if not the Sonax unit would work well, course then I'll need longer cables...

BTW, I've been reading many people aren't getting anywhere near the bulb life Toshiba claims with the MX85 sets, what kinda life should I expect realistically? I may pick up a spare bulb when I get the TV 'just in case'.

Actually that's exactly what I've done.. I've got my center channel on the top shelf and my SA STB on the bottom. And yes, the wiring will need to be long to accomodate the devices connecting between the audio stand and the tv set.

Yea after we got the TV, we are kind of leaning towards getting a black av stand now.

Maybe something like this... however I need something with a glass door (to keep my baby out of there when she gets older) and enough depth to handle my chunky Pioneer.

http://www.thebrick.com/Application/Cart/BuyRoom.asp?TraderID=34DC92B9-3DBD-438F-AA0B-BD0F699D5896&Code=MD301&ProductID=7EFEB079-3E5B-4FF9-B174-4820AB82DBF5&SellOrderId=54CAE81E-716D-49C0-BFF2-FB95EBF0474D&CategoryID=519CDDB4-DF1A-42E8-BC8A-AA263836F1FD&SiteCode=EN&CategoryTracking=519CDDB4%2DDF1A%2D42E8%2DBC8A%2DAA263836F1F D

They have some more decent black ones as well but wouldn't work for me since there's no door on them.

http://www.thebrick.com/Application/Cart/BuyRoom.asp?TraderID=34DC92B9-3DBD-438F-AA0B-BD0F699D5896&Code=SR5000&ProductID=66AB09D4-00B7-4F89-AD40-CC78ECD3E2F0&SellOrderId=7937FFCF-19B4-41E0-8555-FB1759E70BD8&CategoryID=519CDDB4-DF1A-42E8-BC8A-AA263836F1FD&SiteCode=EN&CategoryTracking=519CDDB4%2DDF1A%2D42E8%2DBC8A%2DAA263836F1F D

http://www.thebrick.com/Application/Cart/BuyRoom.asp?TraderID=34DC92B9-3DBD-438F-AA0B-BD0F699D5896&Code=SR4040&ProductID=2B595A7A-863B-4B46-BFC4-103B343BED81&SellOrderId=EBA8823A-83D7-4853-A7C4-751E5BDC2760&CategoryID=519CDDB4-DF1A-42E8-BC8A-AA263836F1FD&SiteCode=EN&CategoryTracking=519CDDB4%2DDF1A%2D42E8%2DBC8A%2DAA263836F1F D


I'm also worried about bulb life, but then again I've only had my set for about 3 weeks and it's running strong so far.

I just got back from Visions and they offered the 52HMX85 with stand and 5 year warranty for $3100. The TV was 2400 the stand and warranty made up the other 700. Good price or not?

Now I was wanting the 52" JVC but no one carries in Regina unless you order it.

Has anyone had problems with the shelves of the 52HMX85 stand not being big enough to mount your receiver? The shelves seem quite shallow, I don't think the Denon receiver I've been looking at will fit.
...or do most people have a seperate stand for their components?
Thanks
Will

Had this same problem with a pioneer vsx-1015tx almost 20 inches in length
removed the back board and installed a metal bracket , I have a half piece of glass for a shelff that I have to get around to install

anyways it just an Idea

heres a pic http://img355.imageshack.us/full.php?image=backremoved9jz.jpg

Has anyone had problems with the shelves of the 52HMX85 stand not being big enough to mount your receiver? The shelves seem quite shallow, I don't think the Denon receiver I've been looking at will fit.
...or do most people have a seperate stand for their components?
Thanks
Will

Actually you should be more worried about the weight of your receiver rather than the size. I don't know about the 52 as I have the 56 but my glass shelf will not support the weight of my H/K receiver (18Kg). Also, I have not decided what I'm going to put there but I don't like the idea of a receiver being so close to the floor with dust and my 2yr old daughter. I was thinking of puting the center speaker there but its too low for it as ideally the tweeters of the center speaker should be at the same level as the front main speakers.

I'm going with a separate stand or a wall unit that has a stand on each side and a bridge on top where the center speaker can go.