Panasonic HDTV Review

Archive for November, 2009

Sharp LC 19SK24U – 19″ LCD TV – widescreen – 720p – HDTV – black User Review

I’ve owned my Sharp LC19SK24U for almost 2 years and used it primarily for a PC monitor at first and now it is a 2nd TV. I bought it on sale for about 0 in Nov 2007, which was about the same price as a stand-alone PC monitor at the time. As a PC monitor, it has an acceptable picture… nothing great.

What I love is being able to switch to the TV with a simple button click on the main remote. (There are 2 remotes.) This saved me from buying a TV tuner for my PC. All you have to do is attach a video cable to it and you’re all set. The TV picture is adequate, but not exceptional. Obviously, you can’t be too far away from a 19-inch screen to see, but if you do watch from across a room, the tiny speakers must be turned up to max, which isn’t very loud at all. There is some distortion at higher levels, which is expected from a small TV. However, if you want better sound, hook auxiliary speakers to the rear jacks. There is a nice feature that automatically adjusts the brightness according to the ambient light in the room, which is handy at night.

There are 2 remotes. One full-featured one and a small basic one that magnetically attaches to the base, (or your refrigerator for that matter if you use it in the kitchen.) The basic remote has a built-in LCD clock & timer, on/off, volume and channel up/down. There are two sets of input RCAs on the back, S-video, HDMI, an analog PC jack, and a small ?mm headphone jack.

Overall, it’s a good small TV.
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Reviews Sharp LC 19SK24U – 19″ LCD TV – widescreen – 720p – HDTV – black

Products by : Sharp
Top Model : 19SK24U

Rating Reviews : 4.0

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Proscan 37LB45Q 37-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV, Black User Review

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Reviews Proscan 37LB45Q 37-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV, Black

Products by : Proscan
Top Model : 37LB45Q

Rating Reviews :

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Panasonic PT-53WX52 53-Inch 16:9 HDTV-Ready Projection TV User Review

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Reviews Panasonic PT-53WX52 53-Inch 16:9 HDTV-Ready Projection TV

Products by : Panasonic
Top Model : PT-53WX52

Rating Reviews :

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Sharp LC-32SH12U 32-inch Flat Panel LCD Television HDTV with HDMI and PC Input (Black) User Review

I bought this item as a store demo for use in our master bedroom. It seemed okay with some slight wear, but it was the right choice. With a DVR from our cable company, the picture quality is outstanding, with at least good sound quality. It does take a little while to turn on and to change functions, such as between inputs, but it’s not a big deal. With plenty of analogue inputs, and 2 HDMI inputs, it should be versatile enough for most needs, including a high-def source such as satellite TV or high-def cable, and of course a home theater system with an upscaling DVD player. Sharp has an excellent reputation for high-quality products with low rate of repair needs, so I would recommend this TV to anyone looking for a really fine quality 720p 32″ LCD HDTV. The remote control is also very user-friendly.
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Reviews Sharp LC-32SH12U 32-inch Flat Panel LCD Television HDTV with HDMI and PC Input (Black)

Products by : Sharp
Top Model : 32SH12U

Rating Reviews : 5.0

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Panasonic TC-P42G10 HDTV + Hook-up Kit + Power Protection + Calibration + Tilt Mount User Review

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Reviews Panasonic TC-P42G10 HDTV + Hook-up Kit + Power Protection + Calibration + Tilt Mount

Products by : Panasonic
Top Model :

Rating Reviews :

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Panasonic TC P50G15 – 49.9″ plasma TV – widescreen – 1080p (FullHD) – HDTV User Review

We were originally going to purchase the G10, but when the G15 became the most affordable option, we jumped on the chance to join the high-def community. We were amazed at the picture quality of this device! We upgraded from a CRT TV, and were not aware of how far-behind in technology we were. I put a lot of research into what kind of TV to buy (LCD v. Plasma; LED are too pricey) and finally decided Plasma was the one for us: we watch mainly movies and play video games, and we have always darkened the room prior to “serous” watching. I have always thought that blacks are what make a picture, and having read that LCDs cannot achieve a true, deep black (without completely turning off), plasmas were the obvious choice. Panny has certainly done their research, and has developed a plasma TV without the issues of previous generations: the pixel orbiting and screen wash eliminate screen burn-in, the AR filter has reduced glare (we only have issues when light is directly on the screen, but it still delivers a stunning, glare-free picture when the blinds and curtains are open letting tons of sunlight into the room), and the 600 Hz subfield drive creates flawless screen movements without any drag–what more could we ask for?
The EXTRA benefits include:
-Energy-Star rating. Although this is always a priority to us for large appliances, I never really thought about applying to it to electronics. I was unaware of how power-hungry plasmas are, and am relieved that Panny has produced one that is Energy Star approved.
-an SD card reader on the left side (looking at the TV) to watch videos or pictures as a slide-show (although I did not think I would use this feature much, I am looking forward to displaying family photos this holiday season while family and guests are over, and it’s fun to go snap a few dozen shots and pop the card from the camera directly into the TV to view them in stunning color on such a large screen!)
-Internet capabilities (the VIERA link still needs lots of work, but I am grateful that the TV has the capability of getting online which should makes firmware upgrades easy; watching youtube videos on the TV is a lot of fun)
-THX certification; although a little ‘dark,’ the image’s colors are very realistic. I think we are used to watching more vivid colors, but after getting past the first initial “color shock,” watching the rest of the movie becomes natural and easy on the eye.
-Inputs: I love being able to easily access the input screen while continuing to watch something on the screen (no “cycling”). The inputs’ labels are customizable, so the options aren’t HDMI 1,2,3 but instead PS3, XBox, BluRay Player, etc. One of the conveniences that are truly appreciated on this TV!
-The TV itself lends itself to being more than just a TV. I feel we have purchased a piece of advanced technology (at an AMAZING price from 6th Ave. electronics) than just another TV. For instance, it has synced with the other HDMI devices, and responds to any of them being turned on by automatically changing the input and picture-setting (to Game mode, which is also great!, it also makes the TV controller work with the other devices, too.
-We do not have a surround system yet, and I was worried about the sound quality of the TV (G10 reviews) but have been pleasantly surprised. No, it is not anything outstanding and a little tinny, but we can hear dialog and music and explosives just fine without adjusting the volume constantly. If this is going directly on the wall, I would stress the use of an alternative sound system (the speakers are on the back of the TV).
-Great viewing angles! I can even see what is on the screen when I walk into the room from the side entrance (unlike the old CRT or LCDs)
-It is also eye candy! The slim design and stylish base creates a gorgeous focal-point in the room, and the bevel fades away into the background which watching TV so it doesn’t detract from the viewing experience.

Overall, we are VERY satisfied with this device!
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Reviews Panasonic TC P50G15 – 49.9″ plasma TV – widescreen – 1080p (FullHD) – HDTV

Products by : Panasonic
Top Model : P50G15

Rating Reviews : 4.5

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Panasonic VIERA X1 Series TC-L37X1 37-Inch 720p LCD HDTV User Review

Picture quality is frequently a function of the source signal and the source associated with this TV is far from great, but at that, the picture is quite acceptible.
The main feature that impresses me in this unit is the sound quality. I am quite pleased with its clarity. I have a Samsung which I most often augment with earphones or external speakers. With the sound quality of the Panasonic I have not felt it necessary to use either.
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Reviews Panasonic VIERA X1 Series TC-L37X1 37-Inch 720p LCD HDTV

Products by : Panasonic
Top Model : TC-L37X1

Rating Reviews : 5.0

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Vizio VECO320L 32 inch Eco Friendly 720P/1080I HDTV White LCD TV With ATSC/QAM Tuner User Review

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Reviews Vizio VECO320L 32 inch Eco Friendly 720P/1080I HDTV White LCD TV With ATSC/QAM Tuner

Products by : Vizio
Top Model : VECO320L

Rating Reviews :

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Brand New Panasonic VIERA TC-P65S1 65″ 600Hz 1080p Plasma HDTV With Essential Viera Accessory Kit Includes 2 Pack of Hi Speed HDMI Cables + LCD Screen Cleaner + Free Ship User Review

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Reviews Brand New Panasonic VIERA TC-P65S1 65″ 600Hz 1080p Plasma HDTV With Essential Viera Accessory Kit Includes 2 Pack of Hi Speed HDMI Cables + LCD Screen Cleaner + Free Ship

Products by : Panasonic
Top Model :

Rating Reviews :

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*** Product Information and Prices Stored : Nov 21, 2009 03:48:41 ***

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Panasonic TC P50V10 – 50″ plasma TV – widescreen – 1080p (FullHD) – HDTV User Review

I’ve owned the TV for about a week and a half now and I can’t wait any longer to write a review. The bottom line is that the picture quality looks absolutely amazing out of the box. HD content looks absolutely incredible. I’d give it six stars if it streamed Netflix (or maybe even if VieraCast had another interesting option) and if it looked a little sharper on Standard Definition content (oh, yeah, and if Amazon let me give it six stars . But at the end of the day, if you’re dropping this kind of money on a TV, you probably have a Blu Ray player and HD cable and you’re going to be blown away by the experience. And I do mean experience — because watching high definition content on this TV is tantamount to a religious experience.

Let me first mention that this is not the TV that I wanted. I wanted the Samsung PN50B860. It is less expensive, it has better streaming options (important for me because I only have Internet service, no cable TV) and it looks a hell of a lot cooler. But I couldn’t get past one review after another that lamented the horrible buzz of the Samsungs and the fact that every independent comparison that I read more or less said that the Samsung’s picture quality was not quite awesome and that this TV was more or less the 2009 king of HDTV. After spending a good deal of time sifting through reviews and staring at screens in the electronics stores, I couldn’t get away from the fact that the picture on the Panasonic TC-P50V10 was not disputed. No one claimed it was less than the best. I should say that I think the styling on this TV is almost downright ugly. It doesn’t hold a candle to the way the Samsung looks. The “one sheet of glass” thing doesn’t do it for me at all. But, my girlfriend gave me the push I needed when she asked me one rhetorical question: Which is going to matter more — the way it looks when it is turned off, or the way it looks when it’s turned on? Sold.

As I don’t have cable television or a Blu-Ray player, my first move was to use VieraCast to watch an HD movie or two (or 7 or via Amazon on Demand. Contrary to the one negative review on here, I found the content to load quickly and the menus to be simple to navigate. I may suggest some changes on Amazon’s end — but nothing I would change on Panasonic’s end. I take that back — there are TWO things I would change on Panasonic’s end. The reason I just decided to change “ease of use” to 4 stars is because of the fact that they grey out some menu options in some playback modes. Why is there not a timer available when the TV is in VieraCast mode?!?? I really want to speed up this first 100 or 200 hour break-in period and it would be really helpful if I could rent a movie and leave it to play and use a timer so it will go off. I’d also like to be able to fall asleep watching a movie now and then as this TV is currently in my bedroom. That is probably my only major complaint about this TV. But that problem is likely not something that will concern most people thinking about buying this set. The other small grievance I have is that when you spend almost seveteen hundred smackers on a TV, can’t it just come wireless out of the box? I still haven’t picked up a wireless access point, so I’m running a stupid ethernet cable up the wall and upstairs to where the TV is. Dumb. But in no way a dealbreaker.

More importantly — picture quality is absolutely superb. I don’t know if I can say enough about it. When I first looked at TVs in a store, the pop of the colors on an LED screen looked really cool to me. Once someone pointed out the terrible exaggeration of the colors (blue smoke coming from a volcano….and pink lava), I realized that the constant brightness might get old after a while. Now that I have this TV, I absolutely realize that this was a correct analysis. I like looking at a bright LCD in the store….but you absolutely can not beat the cinematic quality of the picture on this screen. The colors are rich and deep and it gives a depth to the picture that you just won’t get if the screen is blinding you with light. I actually feel like I’m in a movie theater when I watch this television….and personally, I don’t think you can beat having a movie theater experience at home. I literally order snowcaps by the case here in Amazon and I can sit at home and feel like a king watching this set. And that is keeping it on low settings to break it in — I can’t wait until I am a couple hundred hours in and I tweak the settings. My only picture quality complaint is a small amount of blotchiness in the blacks that I’ve noticed in some dark backgrounds (Gothika and Law & Order). I’ve chalked it up to not being broken in and not being on the top settings (and to the fact that I was streaming those things on the Internet). We’ll see if that improves – and I’ll be sure to come back and update either way. But by and large, you can’t beat the way that the colors in general seem to pop into your lap and make you feel like you are actually inside the movie.

All that said, I have been a little unimpressed with the picture quality when watching some standard-definition content (from Amazon on Demand and from a laptop via HDMI connection). I still haven’t hooked up my regular old DVD player, but my hopes aren’t real high for my old DVDs until I get a good Blu-Ray player that will upconvert them nicely. I look forward to that day . . . because I own more than 500 movies on DVD and a lot of seasons. I definitely do want to enjoy them on my new big screen, and I hope that works out well when I decide on a Blu-Ray player. When I do, I’ll be back to update this.

A note on value — do some shopping around. As I write this on 10/31/09, I can say that I got this TV at a more than twenty-one percent discount from the Amazon price or the price of other big name brick and motar stores. Take a look at some of the retailers who sell on Amazon…..they have their own sites and their own deals. The TV arrived via UPS (sure, no white glove delivery service….but my girlfriend and I were able to carry the TV in and set it up ourselves…it wasn’t worth the extra cost….and even if I had chosen the white-glove service, it still would have been significantly cheaper). Don’t be afraid to call a dealer and ask how much better they can do…..most of them have price-match programs and so on. I did very very little haggling to get the price into the range I wanted. In fact, I really just named the price I wanted to pay and I paid it. Keep that in mind.

Changing gears, I have read a number of complaints about the sound quality of this television. My first thought every time I read this type of comment is “Who drops anywhere near two G’s on a TV and doesn’t either already have or plan to buy a home theater setup? Do these people honestly use the TV’s speakers? Do they expect a TV that is 3 or 4 inches thick to sound like the IMAX?” That said, I don’t have mine hooked up to any type of sound system right now and I have to report that it sounds awesome. As a former DJ who owns a surround system for both home theater and one for a computer (and the necessary pieces to run my computer through the home theater), I have to say that the TV speakers sound pretty darn good to me. Granted, I have the TV in a bedroom at the moment (and not a huge bedroom at that) and my expectations were not IMAX sound. This TV’s built-in sound exceeds my expectations….but I don’t plan to use it for very long — and seriously, neither should you. Buy some sound equipment.

Last, but not least, burn-in/image retention. So far, it’s nonexistent. My girlfriend has driven me a little batty a couple of times by watching YouTube videos without fullscreening them (thereby keeping a static menu on the left for a while). We have slid through hundreds of movies on the Amazon on Demand menus with static images on the top and bottom. We rented one movie from Amazon that was in High Def but was letterboxed (why?!?!? — and why can’t I change the setting and zoom it to get rid of the letterbox when I’m using VieraCast?!?!?). Neither has caused even a HINT of a problem. I’m still being overly cautious whenever I can be…..but I have not had the slightest hint of image retention/burn-in. This seems to be the quality product that one would expect when one spends this kind of money.

All in all, I give the Panasonic TC-P50V10 an emphatic stamp of approval. I’m thrilled with my purchase. I went to the mall last night and cheated on my baby a bit looking at how pretty the Samsungs look….but at the end of the day, my girlfriend was right – I want the TV that knocks my socks off when it’s on. I have heard ZERO sound from the V10 (no buzz) and I have noticed no heat (supposedly all plasmas produce it?). The picture is gorgeous and VieraCast is OK. I look forward to VierCast updates — and if they don’t come, I’ll get a Netflix-enabled Blu-Ray player. You should buy this TV, just don’t pay full price. I know I won’t regret it any time soon.
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Reviews Panasonic TC P50V10 – 50″ plasma TV – widescreen – 1080p (FullHD) – HDTV

Products by : Panasonic
Top Model : P50V10

Rating Reviews : 4.5

More Info. Click to See Now! at amazon.com

*** Product Information and Prices Stored : Nov 20, 2009 01:52:31 ***

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