Friday, October 30, 2009
Panasonic TH-50PZ80U More Of The Same Review
What can I say that others haven't already? I owned this tv for 5 days now and I am absolutely floored! I held off of buying a flat panel tv for over a year because I thought I needed to spend $2500-$3500. I finally broke down after finally accepting that I couldn't spend that much, and settled on the TH-50pz80u. I thought I might be disappointed by not buying the TH-50pz800u. Boy was I wrong! If (that's a big if), the TH-50pz800u looks better than this TH-50pz80u, then so be it because I am totally satisfied. I just want to tell everyone out there that this tv looks 10X better at home than I ever saw in any retail display. Once I plugged in my Comcast HD-DVR and the Panasonic DMP-BD30 Blu-Ray disc player I realized that despite how good all those displays looked in all of those stores, they paled in comparison to a clean, dedicated signal. This tv is perfect...I love it and I believe that you will too.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Panasonic TH-50PZ80U Great Performance, Great Value
This was the cheapest 50" 1080p plasma I could find from a reputable brand and store. 6Ave delivered it to my house at no cost (although they could only deliver on a Saturday, which was inconvenient), and set it up on the stand and tested it before leaving.
I have been very happy with my purchase. The picture is as vibrant and crisp as all the commercials claim. Watching movies is now a true joy. I'm definitely glad I opted for 1080p. 720p movies look great, but 1080p movies will blow you away. Onboard speakers are very decent, although a home theater will definitely need more audio.
Energy-conscious people look elsewhere. This bad boy eats almost 700 Watts and has three cooling fans which exude warmth caused by its entrancing glow.
My only problem thus far is that sometimes it won't turn on, the LED on the front will just blink. I live in an older house, and have found that by turning off the electronics and lights around it, I can start it up again after a few minutes of being unplugged, then have to turn everything else back on. The TV carries a 1 year warranty, so if this issue persists or progresses I will have it taken care of. I talked to customer service about it, and they were very helpful (Panasonic has a separate 'Plasma concierge' customer service center).
I have been very happy with my purchase. The picture is as vibrant and crisp as all the commercials claim. Watching movies is now a true joy. I'm definitely glad I opted for 1080p. 720p movies look great, but 1080p movies will blow you away. Onboard speakers are very decent, although a home theater will definitely need more audio.
Energy-conscious people look elsewhere. This bad boy eats almost 700 Watts and has three cooling fans which exude warmth caused by its entrancing glow.
My only problem thus far is that sometimes it won't turn on, the LED on the front will just blink. I live in an older house, and have found that by turning off the electronics and lights around it, I can start it up again after a few minutes of being unplugged, then have to turn everything else back on. The TV carries a 1 year warranty, so if this issue persists or progresses I will have it taken care of. I talked to customer service about it, and they were very helpful (Panasonic has a separate 'Plasma concierge' customer service center).
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Panasonic TH-50PZ80U Glad I made the purchase
Like so many,I reviewed information,went to stores and "eyeballed" the many sets available.Finally made the decision to purchase the 50" Panasonic based on features,picture quality and price.Have had it now for a month and could not be more pleased.I would and do recommend this set.Hope this helps the "nail biters" among us.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Panasonic TH-50PZ80U Great TV
This a great TV set. I am glad I went with this over LCD which I was leaning towards to begin with. No degredation in the picture at all from a wide angle; even the best LCDs cannot match that. It's just like a regular CRT TV set but much sharper and bigger; which means it's nothing like a regular CRT TV set. It will blow you away. The picture quality is great even on non HD channels. All digital channels looked great both Standard and High def. Analog channels were not good but that was because I had bad signal. I had a lot of "snow" in the background. The delivery was fast enough (matched the estimated date 7 business days). They came in and plugged it in. It turned on and they were gone; not great but functional.
Bottom line, this is one of the best deals for the money. Go with LCD only if your TV will double as a PC monitor on regular basis and you want to save a litle energy. Plasma screens run hotter and use more power. This one gets warm but still tolerable. There are 3 small PC style fans on the back to keep it cool. In any other way Plasma rules the picture quality department. It's just as good on sharpness and provides better contrast and a much wider viewing angles than the best LCDs out there and does all that for comparably less money for the same screen size, and this one is one of the best plamas out there and the best deals. Panasonic has good thing going here. I would definately recommend it.
Update: Had the TV for 6 months now, still going great. I have seen other LCD HDTV's at friends and I have to say they do not give the same "cinema like" view that this TV has. I have been spoiled. Plasma big screens certainly have that movie theater feel and quality especially in a "darker" room. Blu-ray movies look amazingly good and sports are more fun. I love this thing. I have to admit though I find it hard at times if I can see much difference between a 1080p blu-ray and a 720p one. If you want true 1080p I think this model is the best value as you get a great product. But if you can settle for a 720P you can go with the TH5080X instead.
Bottom line, this is one of the best deals for the money. Go with LCD only if your TV will double as a PC monitor on regular basis and you want to save a litle energy. Plasma screens run hotter and use more power. This one gets warm but still tolerable. There are 3 small PC style fans on the back to keep it cool. In any other way Plasma rules the picture quality department. It's just as good on sharpness and provides better contrast and a much wider viewing angles than the best LCDs out there and does all that for comparably less money for the same screen size, and this one is one of the best plamas out there and the best deals. Panasonic has good thing going here. I would definately recommend it.
Update: Had the TV for 6 months now, still going great. I have seen other LCD HDTV's at friends and I have to say they do not give the same "cinema like" view that this TV has. I have been spoiled. Plasma big screens certainly have that movie theater feel and quality especially in a "darker" room. Blu-ray movies look amazingly good and sports are more fun. I love this thing. I have to admit though I find it hard at times if I can see much difference between a 1080p blu-ray and a 720p one. If you want true 1080p I think this model is the best value as you get a great product. But if you can settle for a 720P you can go with the TH5080X instead.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Panasonic TH-50PZ80U I love this TV
Panasonic TH-50PZ80U TV
Overall, I love this TV. It is fantastic. A few comments:
1. The speakers are great, as far as TV speakers go. Anyone who complains about them are just surround-sound speaker snobs. That's like complaining that your Ferrari won't float in the lake. That's what your boat is for, dummy. Let's compare apples to apples. A TV is not a surround sound system.
2. Most movies are not 16:9 ratio, as all widescreen TVs are. They are 1.33:1, which means you will still have black bars on the top and bottom of the screen, just like you did with your old tube TV. But the bars are much thinner, at least.
3. Regular analog cable TV looks okay, not great, not bad. I think when you get a TV of this size, since there are limitations on the quality of regular cable, a 50" TV will magnify them, simply because it's so big. However, regular DVDs look fantastic. So if you are getting a digital signal, you shouldn't have any problems.
4. I've had no issues as far as burn-in goes. I've had a movie paused for 20 minutes with no ghosting. I've also had the black bars on the top and bottom for 3 hours watching a movie, and light gray bars on the sides watching regular TV for hours, as well, with no problems. It also has a manual burn-in prevention selection, where you can run a white vertical bar slowly across a black screen as a prevention measure. I do that every once a while on my own, just to give myself a warm and fuzzy feeling. When you watch programs made for the old 4:3 tube TV ratio, it shows light gray bars on the sides of the screen. You can change these to black, but the TV likes them to be light gray to help prevent burn in, although it will default to black bars on the top and bottom when playing a DVD.
5. Reflection, the other concern about Plasmas besides burn-in, is no big deal. It's glass on the front of the TV, so it won't reflect any more than your old TV, or the family portrait on the wall. You might have to turn off a lamp, or close the drapes to remove some glare, but even if you didn't, it's not a deal breaker. LCDs don't have glare problems, but then you have to deal with some blurriness on fast movement, so Plasma seems a better choice to me, especially since burn-in seems non-existent.
6. The box says to keep the TV upright, and the manual said that some internal circuitry could be messed up if it was set on it's side, and I've heard from other people that you need to have the TV upright for 24 hours before you turn it on, but after doing research, the true concern is the huge, expensive piece of glass on the front of your TV. Remember when you see glass trucks rolling down the street, and all the glass is vertical on the side of the truck? That's because it's stronger on it's edge, and being horizontal in the back of a bouncing truck could crack it. I think that the TV is firm enough to keep the glass from cracking or the internal circuitry messing up if you drove slowly and cautiously. Besides, you kind of have to put it on it's side just to get it out of the huge box. I drove it in my van on it's side for 30 miles (that's how the store put it in there), and have had no problems.
7. The box was so big, I initially thought that the TV might be too big for my living room. No such thing. The bigger, the better.
8. The black setting was set to off, which keep the blacks from being as black as they could be. I switched it to on, which made everything a little darker, but I like it better. It's not the brightness setting, as this option was "off" or "on". I think this is a default setting they had for display purposes, to try to make the TV seem brighter for display.
9. One last minor issue, there isn't a separate button for closed captioning on the remote control. I know most people never use closed captioning, but sometimes I can't understand what someone says, and I want to quickly read what they are saying, then turn it back off.
Overall, this is a fantastic TV. I am extremely happy with it.
As an aside, don't pay a ton for an HDMI cable. "Category 2" is as high quality as hdmi.org recognizes, and RadioShack sells them for $40. I have found that Mediabridge cables online for $4 are just as good, as well.
Overall, I love this TV. It is fantastic. A few comments:
1. The speakers are great, as far as TV speakers go. Anyone who complains about them are just surround-sound speaker snobs. That's like complaining that your Ferrari won't float in the lake. That's what your boat is for, dummy. Let's compare apples to apples. A TV is not a surround sound system.
2. Most movies are not 16:9 ratio, as all widescreen TVs are. They are 1.33:1, which means you will still have black bars on the top and bottom of the screen, just like you did with your old tube TV. But the bars are much thinner, at least.
3. Regular analog cable TV looks okay, not great, not bad. I think when you get a TV of this size, since there are limitations on the quality of regular cable, a 50" TV will magnify them, simply because it's so big. However, regular DVDs look fantastic. So if you are getting a digital signal, you shouldn't have any problems.
4. I've had no issues as far as burn-in goes. I've had a movie paused for 20 minutes with no ghosting. I've also had the black bars on the top and bottom for 3 hours watching a movie, and light gray bars on the sides watching regular TV for hours, as well, with no problems. It also has a manual burn-in prevention selection, where you can run a white vertical bar slowly across a black screen as a prevention measure. I do that every once a while on my own, just to give myself a warm and fuzzy feeling. When you watch programs made for the old 4:3 tube TV ratio, it shows light gray bars on the sides of the screen. You can change these to black, but the TV likes them to be light gray to help prevent burn in, although it will default to black bars on the top and bottom when playing a DVD.
5. Reflection, the other concern about Plasmas besides burn-in, is no big deal. It's glass on the front of the TV, so it won't reflect any more than your old TV, or the family portrait on the wall. You might have to turn off a lamp, or close the drapes to remove some glare, but even if you didn't, it's not a deal breaker. LCDs don't have glare problems, but then you have to deal with some blurriness on fast movement, so Plasma seems a better choice to me, especially since burn-in seems non-existent.
6. The box says to keep the TV upright, and the manual said that some internal circuitry could be messed up if it was set on it's side, and I've heard from other people that you need to have the TV upright for 24 hours before you turn it on, but after doing research, the true concern is the huge, expensive piece of glass on the front of your TV. Remember when you see glass trucks rolling down the street, and all the glass is vertical on the side of the truck? That's because it's stronger on it's edge, and being horizontal in the back of a bouncing truck could crack it. I think that the TV is firm enough to keep the glass from cracking or the internal circuitry messing up if you drove slowly and cautiously. Besides, you kind of have to put it on it's side just to get it out of the huge box. I drove it in my van on it's side for 30 miles (that's how the store put it in there), and have had no problems.
7. The box was so big, I initially thought that the TV might be too big for my living room. No such thing. The bigger, the better.
8. The black setting was set to off, which keep the blacks from being as black as they could be. I switched it to on, which made everything a little darker, but I like it better. It's not the brightness setting, as this option was "off" or "on". I think this is a default setting they had for display purposes, to try to make the TV seem brighter for display.
9. One last minor issue, there isn't a separate button for closed captioning on the remote control. I know most people never use closed captioning, but sometimes I can't understand what someone says, and I want to quickly read what they are saying, then turn it back off.
Overall, this is a fantastic TV. I am extremely happy with it.
As an aside, don't pay a ton for an HDMI cable. "Category 2" is as high quality as hdmi.org recognizes, and RadioShack sells them for $40. I have found that Mediabridge cables online for $4 are just as good, as well.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Panasonic TH-50PZ80U Definitely Recommend!
We looked at and compared many HDTV's before going with the Panasonic plasma. We compared LCD vs. Plasma and decided the plasma was the best way to go for us. The lives of these new plasmas have increased greatly from where they use to be. We have a den that has a couch 10' - 15' away from the corner TV area. We originally bought the 46" version of this plasma from Best Buy and the price for the 50" on Amazon was the same price plus we didn't have to pay shipping or tax. We ordered this on a Sunday and received it via the White Glove service 10 days later. We returned the 46" to Best Buy with no problems since we only had it for 2 weeks. The 46" had an excellent picture as well and we were very pleased with it. We just decided for the same price to go with the larger. Best Buy does not match prices with Amazon.
The glare some people refer to does not show up on either of these plasmas. This is not a problem at all. We do not have it in a bright bright room but there are still windows on the side of the room that the TV is placed on. There isn't any glare from our room lights either.
Another great feature are the different modes you can set each of your components to view. There is a Standard, Cinema, Game, Vivid and Custom. We prefer Game, Vivid and Custom which you set up your own brightness, tints, sharpness, etc. There are 3 total HDMI connections. Two connections are located in the back in which we hooked up our XBox 360 and the digital cable box. The other connection is located in the front and we hooked up a Sony Up Convert DVD player. All of these provide an excellent picture. We purchased the cables from Monoprice and they worked as well as the high dollar Monster cables we originally purchased and have now returned as well. We also purchased Wii cables for a HDTV from Monoprice that improves the picture on the Wii.
All in all, we are extremely happy with the Panasonic plasma HDTV's. Whether you choose the 46" or 50", either one is an excellent choice. Make your decision on what size will fit the area you have. We are glad we purchased the 50", especially for the price. The 50" price is fluctuating between $[...] which is a pretty big difference. Be sure you look at return policies if you happen to order somewhere and it ends up being defective and you need to return. Some places don't accept returns on TV's over so many inches, etc. Others may have a restocking fee, etc.
We are definitely happy with our Amazon purchase!
The glare some people refer to does not show up on either of these plasmas. This is not a problem at all. We do not have it in a bright bright room but there are still windows on the side of the room that the TV is placed on. There isn't any glare from our room lights either.
Another great feature are the different modes you can set each of your components to view. There is a Standard, Cinema, Game, Vivid and Custom. We prefer Game, Vivid and Custom which you set up your own brightness, tints, sharpness, etc. There are 3 total HDMI connections. Two connections are located in the back in which we hooked up our XBox 360 and the digital cable box. The other connection is located in the front and we hooked up a Sony Up Convert DVD player. All of these provide an excellent picture. We purchased the cables from Monoprice and they worked as well as the high dollar Monster cables we originally purchased and have now returned as well. We also purchased Wii cables for a HDTV from Monoprice that improves the picture on the Wii.
All in all, we are extremely happy with the Panasonic plasma HDTV's. Whether you choose the 46" or 50", either one is an excellent choice. Make your decision on what size will fit the area you have. We are glad we purchased the 50", especially for the price. The 50" price is fluctuating between $[...] which is a pretty big difference. Be sure you look at return policies if you happen to order somewhere and it ends up being defective and you need to return. Some places don't accept returns on TV's over so many inches, etc. Others may have a restocking fee, etc.
We are definitely happy with our Amazon purchase!
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Panasonic TH-50PZ80U Absolutely awesome TV
I have only had this tv for a few days but so far it is awesome. I looked for almost six months before buying this baby and it is everything my wife and I had hoped for. I would recommend this tv to everyone.
I can also recommend buying it from 6ave through Amazon as I did. They were GREAT!! I ordered it on Sunday and it was in my living room on Friday. Even the freight carrier they use (ICAT Transportation) was awesome. The driver was incredibly helpful and would not let me sign until we opened the box and verified there was no physical damage.
Everything about the entire purchase and the product was perfect.
I can also recommend buying it from 6ave through Amazon as I did. They were GREAT!! I ordered it on Sunday and it was in my living room on Friday. Even the freight carrier they use (ICAT Transportation) was awesome. The driver was incredibly helpful and would not let me sign until we opened the box and verified there was no physical damage.
Everything about the entire purchase and the product was perfect.
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