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| Date Reviewed: 01/14/2004 |
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Strengths: Colors are vivid, blacks are dark, contrast is excellent. DVDs look amazing and you can turn the sharpness all the way up. One of the best EDTVs out there. Expansion slot is a plus.
Weaknesses: Use of BNC connectors is annoying. There's no stand with the display - the panasonic table stand was $300. Digi-cable's true poor quality really shows on this nice display. DVI board is an xtra $250!
Summary: Still can't beat thiws plasma for the price. I looked for three months before buying and nothing in this price rannge can compete... except other panasonics. Color, contrast, and blacks are simply top notch. Colorful DVDs, like finding nemo make the whole room glow. I'm using all monster video2 cables and a stage 2 monster power filter... all well worth it.
Even though the resolution is lower than the HD standard, dvds look better on this plasma because of good image processing and amazing contrast.
(12/21/03) I paid $2700 for the tv, $300 for the stand, $300 for shipping, and $300 for the 3yr waranty. Total : $3600. And I'm more than happy enough to come back and write this review :)
 87% of People (208/240) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 11/24/2003 |
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Strengths: Outstanding contrast ratio, great picture (looks better than EDTV), good I/O options, easy to set up.
Weaknesses: Can't use composite and S-video at the same time, system senses higer res S-video and won't read composite. Can't stretch HDTV signal to fully screen if it isn't in widescreen format.
Summary: - A really great TV. 4001-to-1 contrast ration is overstated but blacks are very black. The picture is outstanding, I would like to see it side-by-side with the High Def version. BNC connectors force RCA-to-BNC adaptors (about $5 each at Radio Shack) or special cables (easy to order--component to BNC cable from Ebay is $30). Card slots allow I/O options (I am going to order the DVI/HDCP card--$200).
- Only real complaint is that the TV locks onto the aspect ration of the content when a HDTV signal is input through the component video connection. This means you can't stretch a 4-3 to a 16-9 when you view HD content. Could cause burn-in. I mainly watch ESPN HD, Monday Night Football or DVDs through the component input and these are wide screen so it is not a big issue (but the commercials come in 4-3).
81% of People (87/108) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 05/20/2004 |
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Strengths: Clear Bright Picture, Good Black Scale, 3:2 Conversion to enhance SDTV, Ease of Set-up, Good Remote. Optional Terminal Boards is key on a professional display like this one. PIP
Weaknesses: None so far - RCA (Phone) to BNC Adapters required with Standard Terminals was no big deal.
Summary: Got this Display from PCVideo - $2,450 plus shipping. 3-4 week truck delivery method showed up at my work in 6 business days from my order date. Recommend this vendor - they called me minutes after on-line purchase to confirm order and accessories. I had researched EDTV Plasma's for several months and in the reviews and comparisions that I had read - the Panasonic rated as the best EDTV in the market. Since most retailers don't carry professional displays, I compared the picture on the consumer model w/ others in it's class and the Pansasonic picture was superior. I didn't required a stand, tuner, or built in speakers and liked the black frame and simplistic look thus I opted for the professional model over the consumer version. It was tough decision to go with an EDVT vs. HDTV but I based this on price and limit of HD content at this time. It didn's seem worth the extra $1400 for an HD display. I have my digital cable box connected to my DVD Recorder and connect from the DVD to the Panasonic via component video (this terminal board is standard with the monitor). Watching DVD's in Progressive is amazing on this dislay. Overall, great TV. The vendor - PC Video On-line - also comes highly recommended.
77% of People (80/104) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 03/12/2004 |
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 plasma broke after 3 months and it took 7 weeks to ... Strengths: picture
Weaknesses: customer service from panasonic.
Summary: plasma broke after 3 months and it took 7 weeks to fix the problem. Panasonic won't anything for 7 weeks down time. I will never purchase another Panasonic plasma again.
74% of People (80/108) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 04/08/2004 |
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Strengths: Excellent picture quality. Compact size. Very wide viewing angle.
Weaknesses: Not true high definition. Must enlarge standard image to avoid "burn-in". Table stand and DVI input cost extra.
Summary: I wanted a 42" plasma TV to fit in a specific limited space above my fireplace. The size, weight, and shape of this TV were perfect. Also, plasma TVs have very wide viewing angles, which was important in my living room. After doing much research on-line, I decided the best TV for the price (around $3000 including table stand and shipping) was this TV, which is fully digital and displays HD (high definition) signals, but is not an HD TV. It is ED (enhanced definition), meaning it displays a maximum resolution of 480P (same as the resolution of a progressive scan DVD player). It does this by down converting 1080i and 720p images to 480p. This TV was also highly recommended for its high contrast ratio and excellent black levels. I have been very satisfied with the TV; pictures from all sources look great. I view this 42" TV from about 10 feet out, so I cannot tell that it does not display at full high definition. Down converted HD pictures via my cable box are fantastic (especially sports events and HBO movies). DVDs look great, too, as does most standard definition TV (although you have to enlarge or stretch standard size TV pictures to fill the wide screen and avoid the black, blue, or gray side bars, which could cause undesirable "burn-in" on a plasma TV). I bought the TV on-line from an out of state company which was highly rated, and that was a good experience (Visual Apex). I especially wanted an "industrial" model (not available in most TV stores) without tuner or speakers built in (because of size and price requirements).
70% of People (61/87) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 03/13/2004 |
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Strengths: Great picture, easy to adjust each input individually. I could not tell the difference between this and the HD models, so it's much lower price is great.
Weaknesses: Have to buy a DVI blade as an extra if you want it.
Summary: Purchased from Visual Apex and they answered all my questions promptly, shipped when they said it would, followed up to make sure everything was ok. A large purchase like this with an on-line vendor did worry me but they were great, I would definitely use them again.
66% of People (37/56) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 12/16/2003 |
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Strengths: 4000 contrast ratio.
Weaknesses: pc input - can't read text at high resolution
Summary: Excellent for plasma TV. The best 42" there is. Stunning pictures. Hook up with DVI for HD viewing of the football games are the best.
56% of People (22/39) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 09/22/2003 |
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Strengths: NA
Weaknesses: NA
Summary: 2003-09-25 06:51:31 Panasonic Plasma is awesome! The only drawback was the component video uses BNC connectors instead of RCA-style--it just means cables have to be ordered online rather than walking into Best Buy. No complaints!
55% of People (23/42) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 02/02/2004 |
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Strengths: NA
Weaknesses: NA
Summary: The set came in perfect condition. The picture itself is fantastic. However, this set needs to be set up with a HD digital cable box in order to get HDTV. Customer service has been great. We are having a problem hooking up our DVD player to the set, but customer service is in the process of helping us out. They respond immediately. I would definitely purchase from Visual Apex again.
53% of People (21/40) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 03/28/2004 |
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Strengths: This TV has outstanding color with great blacks. Picture Clarity is incredible. Outstanding value.
Weaknesses: NA
Summary: Overall, this tv is fantastic in every way. It colors and blacks are as good as Ive seen. It does come with bnc connectors. However, Visual Apex will send the adapters with the plasma if you buy it from them, which I highly recommend. They are fantastic. I waited over a month while the tv was backordered, and when I recieved it, it was shattered! They had another plasma shipped out that day and arranged to have the broken one picked up. Unbelievable customer service from an internet site.
50% of People (22/44) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 08/03/2004 |
- WhyWouldIStop
from CA
- Member Since:
Aug 2002
View Member's:
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Strengths: NA
Weaknesses: NA
Summary: Colors are sharp and beautiful. The TV has a great price and looks great. A great buy. I suggest to anyone who has 2000 dollars to spend.
50% of People (13/26) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 02/24/2004 |
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Strengths: Excellent picture quality. Quiet operation.
Weaknesses: N/A
Summary: I bought this Panasonic plasma display from Visual Apex. I was very pleased with the process of dealing with these professionals. My initial opinion of Visual Apex was confirmed when my new plasma arrived right on schedule and in perfect condition. A few days later they contacted me and verified that the delivery was uneventful. I highly recommend Visual Apex and will buy again from them in the future.
49% of People (20/41) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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