Toshiba 32AV555DG

Author's product rating:   

How is the Picture Quality?	Excellent
How is the Sound Quality?	Good
Ease of Installation	Very Easy
Range of Features	Average
Value for Money	Good

Advantages:	Good value,  easy to set up
Disadvantages:	Only has 2 SCART sockets

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I have been promising to treat myself to a new TV for some time now and a few weeks ago, with Christmas fast approaching, I decided the time had come to buy.

My old TV was a Toshiba which had given me 9 years of trouble free viewing so it was fairly logical that the brand would be high on my list of possibles when I went shopping. To be honest the only thing tht made me want to replace my old TV was the fact that it was so huge that I couldn't lift it which meant it was a major problem anytime I needed to move it anywhere. It was a 26" CRT type and I figured an new LCD version would be lighter and much easier to manage.

The space where my TV sits is fairly limited so I couldn't go for anything too large but I did discover that a 32" LCD TV was virtually the same overall width as my old 26" CRT so I went off shopping for a suitable 32" replacement.

I spent a few weeks deliberating, looking at various reviews and specifications before I finally decided that the Toshiba 32AV555 was the model for me. It is HD ready rather than full HD but to be honest that is fine by me. I gave up my Sky subscription some time ago and I don't watch much sport on TV. I looked at a higher spec model which would also automatically adjust the brightness according to the lighting in the room but for the extra £100 that cost I decided I didn't want to spend the extra.

I went into Comet a couple of weeks before Christmas and saw it on offer for just £349 and my mind was made up - it looked like excellent value to me so I bought it. It was light enough for me to carry out of my car and install at home my only problem was how to get rid of the old one. In fact that was actually quite simple to dispose of - I listed it on Freecycle for the local area and I had a willing taker within five minutes who was happy to collect!

Out of the box

The TV comes securely packed and all you need to do when you get it home is fix the stand to the base (assuming you aren't fixing it to a wall bracket). I found the instructions for that straightforward and easy to follow. When they suggested putting it on something to fix the base to the TV I simply rested it on the box using the foam it was wrapped in to protect the screen.

The instruction book provided isn't glossy or flashy but it does contain all the information I needed to set up the TV. Tuning to both analogue and digital stations was very straightforward however I didn't get a good signal to ITV through the TV which is probably more down to the reception in this area than the TV. However when I connected the TV to my Humax PVR I found that the ITV signal was fine through that.

In use

The first thing that struck me about the TV in use was the outstanding picture quality although I imagine that this is due to the fact that my previous TV was 9 years old and I now suspect was not as good as it should have been!

The controls are very intuitive, the remote is neat and easy to operate and in general I am very satisfied with it. One slight downside from my point of view is that it only has two SCART sockets whereas my previous TV had four which means that with a PVR and DVD player taking up two sockets I was stuck in respect of the Wii box. That was easy resolved with a SCART splitter which I had anyway so it isn't a problem for me generally. It does however have two HDMI connections so once I upgrade the rest of the equipment I am sure I will be glad of them.

For the Technically minded

This isn't really my strong point so I will just settle for listing the information.

HD Ready
Freeview Digital Tuner
Panel Resolution: 1366x768
Dynamic Contrast Ratio: 20,000:1
Brightness (cd/m2): 400
HDMI: 2

Main Specifications

Picture

Visible Screen Size (cm): 81
Screen Format: 16:9
Active Vision LCD
Standard TV up-scaling
Exact Scan Mode
MPEG Noise Reduction
Selectable Picture Format
3D Digital Comb Filter
Digital Noise Reduction
Viewing Angle: 178
Luma Sens (Auto Contrast)
10-Bit Processing
Full Power Down Mode (On/Off)
Game Mode

Interactive Features

Digital Text
Electronic Programme Guide: 8 Day
Now and Next Information
Favourite Channel Memory
Fastext
Text Page Memory

Audio

Sound output (RMS) W: 20
SRS WOW
Stable Sound
Bass boost
Internal Speaker ON/OFF

Tuning

Digital Ready
Freeview Digital Tuner
Analogue Tuner
Auto Set-up

Connections

HDMI: 2
Component video
RGB (via SCART)
SCART: 2
Side AV input
PC Input: WXGA
Analogue Audio Input
Fixed/Variable Audio Output
Optical Digital Audio Output
Headphone
Sub woofer output
DVB Common Interface
REGZA Link (CEC Functionality)
S-Video

Other features

Off timer
Panel lock
Integrated Signal Amplifier
Wall Mountable (VESA)

Dimensions

Width (mm): 796
Height without ped. Stand (mm): 512
Height with ped. Stand (mm): 552
Depth without ped. Stand (mm): 99
Depth with ped. Stand (mm): 224
Weight (Kg) without stand: 12.15
Weight (Kg) with stand: 12.9
Power Consumption(Typical): 137
Power Consumption (Stand-by): 0.9W

Would I recommend it?

Yes I would, it looks very smart in my lounge with its black surround and neat stand. The picture quality is good and so is the sound. It was very easy to set up and represents good value for money in my view and I hope it gives the same good service its predecessor did. Thank you Toshiba!