I really wanted to like this TV

Toshiba 32L310U18 32-inch LED Television

When the family spent a few days in temporary lodging not long ago, we found ourselves TV-less. Not in the mood to miss the big game (much less the latest episode of Jeopardy!), we quickly scanned the offerings at a nearby BestBuy. That’s where we found the Toshiba 32L310U18; a small, 32-inch model television (LED, 720p) and brought it "home," along with a low-end amplified antenna for grabbing over-the-air broadcasts.

The set was easy to set up and, once hooked to that amplified antenna, seemed to provide a good picture and decent enough sound. Then again, we were only about 12 air miles from the broadcast tower. This model is equipped with AV inputs, two HDMI ports, an antenna port, a USB port (though you can only browse a flash drive, not hook up a computer), and an optical output port so you can route the audio through a sound bar. The usual remote is in the box as well. We lived with it for six or seven days, and never noticed any problems. 

We did find that the process for setting up and using “favorite” channels was clumsy, and that doing manual tuning to block out unwanted stations (e.g., HSN and QVC) seemed even clumsier. But what the heck: decent picture, decent price.

Once we went back to our real home and unpacked the television for its “forever home,” though, we found some problems that hadn’t been apparent before. First, when we ran the automatic tuning to find the local OTA stations, the Toshiba only detected about half of what was available, even when we hooked it up to the same Mohu Leaf antenna as an older television sitting just a few inches away. The older TV (an Insignia model from BestBuy) found more than sixty, the Toshiba found twenty-seven. By way of comparison, we're about 25 miles from the broadcast towers here.

As if that weren’t enough, the Toshiba suddenly quit responding to the remote. To be sure, I installed fresh batteries. The only way I could turn it off was to use the power button on the set. Once I turned it back on, it “saw” the remote… for a while.

After that, I gave up and returned it.

If you can find one of these that actually works correctly, it would make a decent enough TV for a kid's room or the guest room (that’s where we were going to put it). It’s obviously not suitable for a home theater, but then it costs less than $150.

Pros: good picture, good sound, reasonably priced, some nice features

Cons: clumsy remote, weak tuner, electronics issues

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