Toshiba Regza 37A3000E (37-inch LCD)

Print

Email

Bookmark

Share

Add to My Products

By Philip Wong, CNET Asia
Apr 20, 2007

It has been almost a year since Toshiba embarked on an aggressive campaign for its rebranded LCD TVs. Since then, we have witnessed the debut of its pioneer 66-series Regzas and the latest 100Hz-ready 68 counterparts. The time is just about right for a replacement model for the now entry-level 66 range. Would the upcoming A3000s be a complete rework or a mere rehash of its moderately successful predecessors? Read on as we bring you this full review.

Design
Instead of branding a new look, the 37A3000E sports a tweaked design of the company's flagship 68-series Regzas. On top of the unique V-shaped pedestal stand and streamlined Jet Slit speaker system, there is also a dash of glossy black finish on the bottom. This replaces the matt-silver hue of the latter and blends harmoniously with its black LCD frame, giving the panel a nice classy feel. While we would not call it a sexy piece the likes of the Sony Bravia X and Samsung Bordeaux Plus, its overall design is none too shabby. In fact, most would agree that it's definitely one of the better lookers among the entry-level class.

Accessing the side A/V inputs on this Toshiba is a straightforward affair, conveniently situated on the right and clustered well out of the way of the TV controls. The same, however, does not hold for the HDMI, PC and TV aerial jacks. These are horizontally mounted on a recessed panel, facilitating wall-mounting--optional kit at S$199 (US$141.85)--without clearance limitation for thick cords, but at the expense of installation difficulties. Looking on the brighter side, two huge clips are available for basic cable management, routing unsightly cables behind the pedestal stand which is itself capable of delivering a conservative 15-degree two-way swivel.

	Clips to keep the cords neat and tidy. (Click for larger image)

The TV is bundled with a plain cylindrical remote in silver. It offers very few perks in aesthetics and functionality but is, nonetheless, ergonomic and comfortable in hand. You will probably need some time to get acquainted with this stick, too. This is due to its shared channel/volume controls and use of symbols over texture labels. To switch between video sources, you have a choice of either a toggle button or software scroll list. Neither is the preferred choice in our books, though the latter does speed up selection in general.

Working our way within the familiar software menu is both a no-brainer and satisfying experience. To our pleasant surprise, Toshiba has thrown in quite a competent array of basic and advanced configurations for this humble and inexpensive panel. Putting aside the standard flairs of contrast and sharpness, you will also have access to six-hue color management, black enhancement and various noise reduction functions. That's not all. Some of these boost multistep adjustments, giving users a higher degree of flexibility to fine-tune the video and sound quality.

Next page »