Toshiba 46XF550U LCD HDTV

This is a highly expensive High Definition TV that has underwhelming features when it is compared to others of its kind.

It's not apparent how Toshiba might consider its 46XF550U to be worth selling for $2500. With the forty-six and forty-seven inch HDTVs included in our other tests for image quality, the model came in at number 5 out of the 9 contenders.

The judges that we had for image-quality have noticed an overly yellow skin color for the people appearing in our 'According to Jim' segment. Though another judge had found that the clip had a bit too much graininess in it, one judge had been quite awed with the quality of the Mission Impossible 3 movie segment in the Blu-ray format. The Return of the King movie segment shown in standard definition DVD appeared to have been quite negatively affected by having a bit too much of an oil-painting look to it.

The 46XF550U possesses a variety of good extra features such as the set tuning in to the DVD player whenever you have just turned it on. This automatic feature works for whatever source is connected to the set at the time. Another good extra is the TV being able to swivel on its stand. This feature helps when you're watching the 46XF550U HDTV from odd directions.

This feature also gives you better access to the input ports found right at the back of the HDTV set. These same input ports, though, are pointed down and this lessens their accessibility. This Toshiba LCD TV is compatible with the Regza-Link type of the HDMI Consumer Electronics channel, also known as the CEC channel. This allows one gadget to control another gadget.

The remote control for the 46XF550U has a good enough feel and layout to it. The remote control buttons seem to be in need of backlighting but none is provided. The control possesses an element not seen in others like it. In switching to mute, pressing mute the first time only halves the volume of the sound. To fully be muted, it has to be pushed a second time.

The menus for the TV are displayed in the center of the screen. This, coupled with the menus being solid blue, makes that feature not too appealing. The choices such as 'Theater Settings' and 'Auto Aspect Ratio' are also not really given explanations either.

The remote control's button to bring up the set's information displays a box that seems too low from where it probably should be. This makes it quite likely that displaying it would cover up some key part of what you're viewing.

At the present time, the manual for the 46XF550U model still cannot be found anywhere online. This just means that no easily searchable version of the manual is available right now to help one readily find the explanations for those options mentioned above.

The printed manual is bulky, is actually written in two languages, 74 pages in English. The manual is illustrated in tiny but helpful pictures. No stand-alone guide exists for quickly setting up the 46XF550U HDTV.

This Toshiba LCD television is an HDTV system with a lot of extras and features that makes it a passable buy. However, the price alone means that many consumers will avoid it in favor of big screen TV's that have a fairer price.

If you have an entertainment system setup, make sure that you connect them to this big screen TV to get the best use out of it. Once you turn on your gadgets such as a VCR, Stereo or DVD player, the TV will automatically switch to it, and you can avoid having to search for multiple remotes to switch the input options.

Had the 46XF550U been a TV sold at bargain prices, then buying it might be something worthy of consideration. However, due to the high price that it has, buying the 46XF550U is a very unwise decision.