From 30HF84 To 30HS420 To Sony 46WT520 And Happy!!!

[hurtz777]

As you all probably know I was one of the first to buy the Toshiba 30HF84 back in August from OneCall and it had horrible geometry, out of focus across screen, and had horizontal glitching on HD sources. The techs couldn't fix it and I ahd to go through the almost infite loops with Toshiba just to get another new set from them. Well 2.5 months later they send meanother 30HF84 set and it got busted up by the freight company so I had to wait another 3 weeks for them to send me another set. I received this set and the geometry was much better on it besides the bend on the bottom of the screen but the horizontal glitch on HD sources was even worse and the screen was still out of focus even in the center. I called Toshiba back and demanded a refund for their horrible excuse of an HDTV that they made with this year's HF84 models. They agreed to give me a refund and have said it will be 4-6 weeks to get my $950~ refund. The same day I went down to Ultimate Electronics and bought the Sony 30HS420 foronly $899 on sale to see what and HDTV tube is suppose to be like. I put the 30HS420 through the loops and the geometry and color were the best I have soon on an HDTV tube out of the box. the 30HS420 did look slightly softer then the 30HF84 but it was more pleasant. There were no glitches on the HD inputs like the 30HF84 showed. The only thing I didn't like about the Sony was how big the frame around the tube was. It actualyl made the viewing screen look smaller then the 30HF84. At this point I decided I would either try the 30XS955 with the fine pitch tube and OTA tuner built in and sell my wonderful LG LST4200A OTA HDTV tuner, or I would get a bigger screen size for around $150 more then the 30XS955. I went back up to Ultimate Electronics and took a look at the Sony 46WT520 RP HDTV and it had great PQ and the size was just right for bedroom. I get it home and notice slight convergence problems so I hit the Flash Focus and it actually fixed all the convergence issues and after adjusting picture prefs with AVIA this 46" RP HDTV looks absolutely stunning and all for under $1500. With the RP HDTV I don't have to worry about not being able to adjust the geometry and convergence unlike a HDTV tube and I don't have to worry about the color smearing from the Earth's magnetic poles that happens on some HDTV tubes including the Sonys. I sit about 7 feet away from the 46" Sony and it is just perfect in my eyes especially when watching HDTV sources which is the majority of my viewing via OTA. XBOX also looks stunning on it on all 480P and 720P games. I would highly recommend the Sony 46WT520 RP HTDV!!!

To all you other poor souls that are dealing with Toshiba and their sad excuses of HDTV sets in the HF84 series, please hang in there and be very persistent in calling them every day and staying on top of things. If your set has horrible geometry the odds of you getting a good set really aren't that great and I would demand a refund immediately and pay a little more and step up to the Sony if size permits of course. If you have the horizontal glitch on HD sources I would also demand a refund since I have seen 3 sets now that have this annoying glitch and it isn't acceptable at all. I know there are many others that feel this glitch is annoying and there are also others that just live with it. For almost a grand I am not going to just live with it. Toshiba needs to go back to the drawing board and make a good HDTV like they use to. They also need to improve quality control and customer service skills and when they say 2-3 days to not really mean 2-3 weeks if your lucky. I feel for everyone else that is dealing with Toshiba over these horrendous HF84 sets. Fight Toshiba to the last punch with this and get a REFUND immediately and make them pay for the crappy quality control and horrible customer service and maybe then they will make a decent set in the future! After you get your refund never buy Toshiba products again until they get their act together. DAMN YOU TOSHIBA for causing me and many others all of this heart ache.

[RudyMeister]

Wow, Ouch...Toshiba can't be happy with your comments.

[Matt_Smi]

Thanks for sharing your experiences, I am going to be buying a 30” widescreen hopefully soon and my top consideration is the Sony 30HS420, I am glad to hear that it had great geometry and no defects out of the box. While I have read comments from happy Toshiba owners, I have read way to much negative to even consider the purchase of one.

[arthurking]

I second hurtz777's comments. My problems, whose description and feedbacks can be found in the lengthy posts in this forum, still haven't been solved. I am stuck with their defective TV, 30HF84.
I lack the persistence mentioned in hurtz777's above post, though. Toshiba is such a crappy company in my mind. Good luck to the people who are still shopping with Toshiba.

[hurtz777]

I would like to fill everyone in on my refund status. I received my $953 REFUND check from Toshiba today and it included my freight charge and everything like I demanded! It took them right around 4 weeks to get it to me but I have it in my hands. I will probably never buy a Toshiba product for a long time because of their poor quality control on the HF84 series and mainly because of their sad excuse for customer service and how they have treated everyone with the same problems I had with the 30HF84. I bet it would be impossible to find a 30HF84 that doesn't have either the horizontal glitch via the component inputs on HD content or horrible geometry and poor focus around the sides and edges of the tube. It is a very sad day for Toshiba when they can't produce a quality HD tube anymore and abck it up with good customer service. By the way I have been loving my new Sony 46WT520 RP HDTV and have had no complaints yet about it's quality control. Good luck to the rest of you poor souls that are dealing or will be dealing with Toshiba on the crappy HF84 HD sets!!!

[teevee]

Dude, you should have a gander at my 34hf84. I have the feeling that you would eat your words!

I have heard about the problems with the early build dates, and to be honest I was petrified about buying an hf84. However, due to the price and the ability to return "no hassle" for 30 days, I took the chance.

Perfect out of the box. Seriously. I can't find a single thing wrong with it. And believe me...I have tried. My 30 days expires in 3 days so I have been putting it through every loop I can think of. It's almost like I WANT to find something wrong with it so I can justify an extra grand for the Sony. But like I said, this set is as close to perfect as direct view CRT's get.

I'm glad that you are happy with your new set, and I'm sorry to hear about your problems, but it certainly seems like Toshiba has heard the cries of those who suffered.

Also, everyone seems to act like Sony has never produced a defective set. Obviously that is not the case. I'd be interested in knowing what dealing with their customer service is like.

I think the standard procedure for these large comanies is to deny that a problem exists, fix or replace for those consumers that demand it, and ensure that future runs do not suffer the same defects. As a business student, I can understand the practice, but as a consumer I can understand your frustration.

[Dark Rain]

It's good to see you got your money back, Hurtz. The 30HFX84 sets have problems as well. For those still considering buying these TVs I highly recommend buying one from a place that offers returns/exchanges. Don't buy one from Amazon.com or you may be sorry since they will not take it back should there be a problem with it. There is a reason why the price is so cheap.

teevee, I think you just got lucky and got one that works without problems. But I'm happy you're enjoying your new TV. I'm awaiting the arrival of my Sony KV-30HS420. Toshiba let me down so I had to go with a Sony. Sony's customer service isn't the best, but I've had good luck with their audio and video products.