toshiba 15lv505 review. Should you get this HDTV set?
I’m far from being a “techie,” but within a few minutes of removing this item from the box, plugging it into the wall, and attaching an ordinary coaxial cable, I was commander of a media empire (with nary a glance at the instruction manual). First of all, this thing is remarkably light, compact, and transportable. Even though it was delegated to replace the aging Emerson 13″ TV in our kitchen, I can’t think of anything I would rather take with me to another room, my desk, or on a trip. As is the case with any flat LCD screen, it doesn’t “play” as large as its cathode ray equivalent. (For example, If you want to experience the effect of your old 27″ big tube TV, you’ll need a 37″ LCD display–not just because of aspect ratio but the brighter, more intense, life-like quality that is unique to the “picture-tube” television sets of yore.) So given the shallow profile of this baby, don’t be surprised if you find yourself second-guessing whether or not you should have sprung for the 19″-20″ model.
Nevertheless, once you’ve lit up this little Toshiba 15lv505 review, chances are you won’t want to let it out of your sight. It doesn’t have HDMI inputs–just coax, S-Video, and 3-color component video. Yet with a screen this small, clarity and brightness are never an issue. Even with an ordinary coax connection, the images are as crisp and sharply defined as the “enhanced” HD signals at a Best Buy or Sears TV department, the colors are vivid yet complex (just be sure to set it in permanent “Movie” mode–all of the other settings push contrast at the expense of hues and colors).
I have a big Sony flat screen that takes me several minutes to locate the switches, adjust the TV menu, then the set-top box, and by the time I find my way through the plethora of Time-Warner channels, I’ve missed the opening skit to SNL. The Toshiba 15lv505, by comparison, is instant (allow for several seconds for the channel to lock and the screen to illuminate. The audio is acceptable for dialog. There’s no distortion or “canned” quality, though for listening to Bernard Herrmann’s score to “Vertigo” (the first DVD I fed the machine), I might give some consideration to using audio “out” for headphones or a hi-fi system. For most purposes, the sound is just fine. The remote, moreover, is bigger and friendlier than those coming with sets costing 5-10 times as much (yet this is one set for which the remote is an unneeded luxury). And I find the channel changes to be relatively quick for an LCD hi def processor.
In sum, simplicity, practicality, price and state-of-the-art technology tell me Toshiba 15lv505 is a “gadget” to own–if only because it behaves less like a gadget than a utilitarian necessity. Just remember to set it in “movie mode” (I know, too yellow on most HD sets), which seems like the perfect setting for all program types on this baby.
