( 21 reviews )
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Posted: 03-10-2009
I did a lot of research into TVs, reading reviews and consumer reports. I am very happy with my decision. I have owned this TV for 1.5 years now, and it continues to work great. I love the standard and HD picture on this TV from my standard cable programming. The DVD quality is also very good. The TV appears to have a sophisticated algorithm for effectively upconverting standard TV and DVD signals to make them look HD. I do suggest spending the extra money on the anti-glare screen if you keep the TV near a window or coffee table lamps. I find I never have to worry about closing the window shades or anything. Here are some surprise features with this : I get basic, basic cable. However, the tuner on this Panasonic TV picks up a wide range of TV channels that I don't think I am paying for. For instance, it picks up both NBC and NBC-HD and several other NBC channels. I receive 780p HD broadcasts for most of the major networks even though I am not paying for a HD option. Even better, the TV picks up pay-per-view channels that apparently people in my neighborhood are watching. On a Saturday night, there may be as many as 5 movies playing on a bunch of channels obscurely located from 87-1 to 87-15 (exact numbers probably depend on where you are located). Now some caveats : I bought an up-converting DVD player/recorder, and it has poor picture quality on this TV, although many other reviewers found it worked great for them. I think the reason is because this TV is already essentially upconverting standard tv signals with its own algorithm. So be careful hooking up DVD recorders as tuners to this TV. If you do, and you find the picture stinks, see my other reviews where I describe how you can maintain your Panasonic picture quality and still use a DVD recorder. One concern I had was that plasma TVs have a reputation for not lasting as long as LCDs, but I was satisfied from reviews that this issue has been solved in the last few years, and since the picture for plasmas is probably better than LCDs, which tend to have a tinsel-ly computer monitor look to the picture, I thought it was time to plasma. It is true that there is some temporary burn-in with plasmas, for instance, when a DVD ends, and it shows the disk main menu for a long period of time, you can see a ghost-like image of the disk main menu when you change the channel. This goes away quickly though, and it hasn't bothered me so far.
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Posted: 03-25-2008
The TV is great - but the white glove service consisted of dragging this enormous box into my living room and leaning it against the wall. Thank goodness my husband and I could lift it, but if you have any doubts about whether or not you can lift it... I'd really quiz the delivery service ahead of time. Quite annoying.
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Posted: 03-07-2008
Received the TV early with no problems. I researched plasma TV's for about 3 months before choosing this one. I basically looked at Panasonic, Samsung and Pioneer. Pioneer was a bit out of my price range. Panasonic and Samsung both have great sets, but I ended up going with Panasonic because of its antiglare properties and the picture seemed a bit better to me. I have to say that I'm extremely happy with my purchase. The picture quality is fantastic. The antiglare works well. And the controller is well thought out and easy to handle. I love this TV. Plus Amazon has the best prices by a few hundred bucks.
