Panasonic 42" 720p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV
Panasonic
- TH-42PX80U
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Reviews
(21)
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This entry level Panny plasma is just what I needed for my bedroom wall - and without the extra cost of upper tier units. I think the price is right at $799 with free shipping. Awesome. I was also able to find a smokin price on the extended warranty from DTVExpress/XpreServ - which has a great rating and gaurantee. As far as the TV goes the black levels are incredible as well as color and there is a discernable difference in the brightness level from past Panasonic plasma models. Since I dont watch much TV during daytime in my bedroom, ambient light is not an issue so plasma is the obvious choice (better picture than LCD). The one drawback I've noticed is a slight moire' pattern in stairs, blinds or verticle/horizontal lines. It's a challenge for all TVs so tihs is not surprising but it's something I can help but notice.
15 price(s)
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I expected a better picture. I have just watched TV on a tube for years and heard plasmas are great, but maybe I need the 1080 as well. I don't know enough about electronics to really know if the 1080 would help with the picture but up close it's a little spotty. It's great from a distance and it serves it's purpose for me. I am thinking about getting my dad the same one with the 1080. I love the flat screen and the size is perfect!
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This tv has a great picture for the money. Nice remote and good menu options. However, lack of a swivel base and headphones jacks caused me to return this tv and get the Samsung PN42A450, which has both of those features. I would say the pictures are comparable.
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plasma or lcd..the question everyone has to ask and review..i agonized, researched on line and then took a leap of faith...love the plasma...
panasonic or samsung...price had me at these two manufactures..agonized, researched on line then took a leap of faith....love the panasonic...
should i buy now or wait for price to drop: i agonized, i researched, i took a leap of faith and bought now,,,price dropped 3 times so far, BUT if bought from amazon, you have a 30 day price quarentee, i emailed them each time the price dropped and they refunded the difference each time.
delivery was quick, two guys brought it in, set it up and asked to take the box away...
my t.v. worked the first time it was plugged in, looks great and i havent even messed with the settings yet. glare a problem,,,not at all, much better than the 26 inch t.v. we replaced. we have a room with lots of lites, overhead, lamps, outside lite....tried to remember to notice if this was a problem after we turned it on, here we are
panasonic or samsung...price had me at these two manufactures..agonized, researched on line then took a leap of faith....love the panasonic...
should i buy now or wait for price to drop: i agonized, i researched, i took a leap of faith and bought now,,,price dropped 3 times so far, BUT if bought from amazon, you have a 30 day price quarentee, i emailed them each time the price dropped and they refunded the difference each time.
delivery was quick, two guys brought it in, set it up and asked to take the box away...
my t.v. worked the first time it was plugged in, looks great and i havent even messed with the settings yet. glare a problem,,,not at all, much better than the 26 inch t.v. we replaced. we have a room with lots of lites, overhead, lamps, outside lite....tried to remember to notice if this was a problem after we turned it on, here we are
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After two months of comparing models & prices, reading internet reviews, and visiting stores for hours of free viewing, I finally decided on purchasing the Samsung 42" plasma, due to the family's budget.
Sadly my bedroom's 32" Olevia LCD died in about 15 months, so I really did my homework this time. Unfortunately, my decision to buy was during the no-tax weekend, and the local BB was like a human feeding frenzy.
However this particular day turned out to be advantageous. So anyway, I'm standing in front of the Panasonic 42" Viera and absolutely loving the picture quality! The Samsung and the LG both looked great also, but the Panasonic was noticeably better. The store clerk interrupts me and asks if I'm ready to purchase. I said yes, but informed him that since my "out-the-door" budget was under $1K, I wanted the $897 Samsung. The Panasonic's price tag was $998 + 9.9% state tax.
After checking for availability, he returned and sadly said they were out of the Samsung
Sadly my bedroom's 32" Olevia LCD died in about 15 months, so I really did my homework this time. Unfortunately, my decision to buy was during the no-tax weekend, and the local BB was like a human feeding frenzy.
However this particular day turned out to be advantageous. So anyway, I'm standing in front of the Panasonic 42" Viera and absolutely loving the picture quality! The Samsung and the LG both looked great also, but the Panasonic was noticeably better. The store clerk interrupts me and asks if I'm ready to purchase. I said yes, but informed him that since my "out-the-door" budget was under $1K, I wanted the $897 Samsung. The Panasonic's price tag was $998 + 9.9% state tax.
After checking for availability, he returned and sadly said they were out of the Samsung
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This is the 4th Panasonic HDTV that I've purchased in the past 2 years. Always had good luck with them until now. This set worked for about 30 minutes and then the picture and sound were gone. Called Panasonic and waited on hold for over 35 minutes, was put through to the wrong dept. twice (another 15 minutes) and then the person that finally set up an appt. for a repair person to come out was RUDE. The repair was done in less then 48 hrs. and the person who came to the house was terrific. I am, however DONE with Panasonic. The product is good, but when there's poor support it's not worth buying.
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I've had it for only 1 day so far. Whereas the manufacturer recommends about 100hrs break-in period, I have seen a huge improvement in picture quality since just in the last 24hrs. Of course, I put the TV on a channel that doesn't constantly show their logo and left it on the whole day while I was at work. Regular standard signal looks very clean for an HD TV set. Its not too grainy at all. HD signal over the air looks sharper. I matched it with a sony upconverting DVD player hooked via HDMI and the sound and image quality is superb. It upconverts automatically to 1080p. This TV has an optical out so you can get the best digital TV sound to your receiver. The one HD station I received broadcaseted in Dolby digital. I picked this set after weeks of research from which I concluded that for a 42 inch TV, you really won't see a difference between 720p vs 1080p. And an added advantage is that 720p looks nicer if you have standard signal for your tv. For those who are picky - the remote looks
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You really can't go wrong purchasing this TV. Don't base your decision directly on the Cnet review and instead head over to AVSForum. You'll find a 80+ page thread with numerous reviews done by experts in the field. All of which are very positive and explain why CNet's review isn't too reliable.
Unlike Panasonic's earlier model, the 77U, this TV has an excellent picture right out of the box. There's no need for an expensive calibration or messing with service menu's. I've found my favorite settings, thanks to someone on AVSForum, is:
Picture Mode: Cinema
Picture: 84
Brightness: 40
Tint: -2
Sharpness: 50
Color Temp: Warm
Color mgmt: off
x.v.Color: off
Video NR: off
MPEG NR: off
Black Level: light
You'll find a ton of other settings there too so just do a google search.
This TV also seems very reliable. Out of over 3000+ posts I only saw maybe three that were returned due to a serious failure. (All of which were promptly replaced/repaired) Panasonic also has a really cool warranty service
Unlike Panasonic's earlier model, the 77U, this TV has an excellent picture right out of the box. There's no need for an expensive calibration or messing with service menu's. I've found my favorite settings, thanks to someone on AVSForum, is:
Picture Mode: Cinema
Picture: 84
Brightness: 40
Tint: -2
Sharpness: 50
Color Temp: Warm
Color mgmt: off
x.v.Color: off
Video NR: off
MPEG NR: off
Black Level: light
You'll find a ton of other settings there too so just do a google search.
This TV also seems very reliable. Out of over 3000+ posts I only saw maybe three that were returned due to a serious failure. (All of which were promptly replaced/repaired) Panasonic also has a really cool warranty service
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I purchased this TV hoping that it would be live up to the stunning user reviews and put my Samsung DLP to shame. I was afraid I would not want to watch TV on my larger DLP after buying it. Unfortunately, the noise reduction on this unit is really bad (most likely non-existent) and the picture has snow especially with dark scenes and HD content. The review of the TV on CNET.com also points out the bad noise reduction and warns buyers to look elsewhere if they want a crystal clear picture. I wish that they had posted it before I bought the TV . As every other reviewer has mentioned in their reviews, the black levels are excellent. However, in my opinion, the lack of proper noise reduction makes the picture look like a mix between HD and SD at a considerable 9ft distance. Anything less than 9ft should not be considered. When I sit 12-15 ft away, I get a clear picture that's comparable to my DLP but it almost feels like I'm sitting in a different room.
I have contacted Panasonic to
I have contacted Panasonic to
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Can't expand much more than the other 5 star reviews of this TV. It is everything I expected and more. Absolutely stunning audio and video. Best value I found after a good month of looking.
I'm using the TV exclusively as a monitor. It's connected full time to a Mac Mini and HD OTA Antenna. I cancelled my satellite subscription, saved $60/month and am getting 40 HD channels (I live in Long Beach, CA..good antenna reception) and unlimited HD internet content between iTunes and what major networks are posting on their websites.
Would have been nice to have a PC input..but DVI to HDMI cables are pretty cheap. Overall I am extremely happy with this purchase.
I'm using the TV exclusively as a monitor. It's connected full time to a Mac Mini and HD OTA Antenna. I cancelled my satellite subscription, saved $60/month and am getting 40 HD channels (I live in Long Beach, CA..good antenna reception) and unlimited HD internet content between iTunes and what major networks are posting on their websites.
Would have been nice to have a PC input..but DVI to HDMI cables are pretty cheap. Overall I am extremely happy with this purchase.
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First, I can't believe I've bought the hype that it's a good deal to buy a 42-inch TV for 1K (12/2007), even if the prices have stayed about the same.
This TV has a great picture, colors are vivid and blacks are black. We put this one in our bedroom. It's borderline too large for our bedroom. It's close to looking like we have a bed in our TV room. This may be a bit of my envy showing. This TV is far better than my living room TV and even though I'd like a slightly larger set for the living room, this set is so much better than what I currently have. The colors are just so much more vivid. I moved my Xbox back to play Bioshock. The picture was stunning.
The only complaint I have is the sound. It has been tough to manage it, especially after my wife falls asleep. I feel like Goldilocks. The sound is either too loud or too quiet, but never just right.
Digital shows look good, HD shows shine. Just remember if you are watching shows not shown in HD, you lost a lot of the TV screen.
This TV has a great picture, colors are vivid and blacks are black. We put this one in our bedroom. It's borderline too large for our bedroom. It's close to looking like we have a bed in our TV room. This may be a bit of my envy showing. This TV is far better than my living room TV and even though I'd like a slightly larger set for the living room, this set is so much better than what I currently have. The colors are just so much more vivid. I moved my Xbox back to play Bioshock. The picture was stunning.
The only complaint I have is the sound. It has been tough to manage it, especially after my wife falls asleep. I feel like Goldilocks. The sound is either too loud or too quiet, but never just right.
Digital shows look good, HD shows shine. Just remember if you are watching shows not shown in HD, you lost a lot of the TV screen.
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I spent months researching TVs to see what to buy(plasma or LCD)and how to buy it. I purchased this TV and was I surprised. Not only did it arrive 4 days before I thought it would which was great. The delivery service unwrap it and lifted it up on the platform for me (bad back).
The picture is so clear its almost 3D. AMAZON ROCKS !!! I payed $100
less than any discount store could offer and I didn't even have to slep it home myself. The only problems I had were with the cable company turning on my HD cable.
The picture is so clear its almost 3D. AMAZON ROCKS !!! I payed $100
less than any discount store could offer and I didn't even have to slep it home myself. The only problems I had were with the cable company turning on my HD cable.
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I spent a few months reviewing plasmas and lcd's both in the big box stores and online. I watch a lot of sports, and the lcd's still have the motion blurring problem (except the expensive new ones). For me, that narrowed it down to the plasmas. Like others have said, the Panasonic's stood out from the rest of the plasma's (except for Pioneers, but they are almost double the cost). In terms of 1080 and 720 plasmas, I could not tell a difference between the two in 42". Maybe a little in the larger sets, but not in this size. Not worth the extra cost IMHO. So, I finally took the plunge on Panasonic's 720 42" when the price dropped below $1000, no tax, free shipping. A great deal for a TV that has been on the market for less than 2 months.
Delivery on the TV was fast (about 5 days early). They called a day ahead and delivered it within 1/2 hour of their estimated arrival. They made sure that the TV worked, and offered to take away all the packaging material. A+.
The TV was a snap
Delivery on the TV was fast (about 5 days early). They called a day ahead and delivered it within 1/2 hour of their estimated arrival. They made sure that the TV worked, and offered to take away all the packaging material. A+.
The TV was a snap
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I will ditto all of the other responses posted. This is THE BEST TV that I have seen.... for the price. If you are an average person looking for an affordable TV, this is it. I did a lot of research and was hesitant to go plasma because of the overheating, burn in, and glare issues. Not to mention weight. Panasonic has taken care of these issues. This set is not heavy, does not heat up at all, and has very little glare (in my room you can see a reflection if you look for it, but the set is bright enough so it does not interfere with the picture quality).
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I just wanted to add my accolades for this 42 inch plasma television. Have had the Panasonic Viera TH-42px80U for only a few days, but the picture is awesome and the sound is very good. Don't worry about this only being a 720 unit vice the 1080's, it doesn't matter on a set this size. Save the money and get this, you won't be disappointed.
Bruce Allen
Bruce Allen
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I just received this yesterday, ten days after I placed the order. Shipping was free so 10 days was fine. Like many people I researched this purchase for several months, and felt drawn in several directions over size, make, resolution etc. If money wasn't a factor, I'd have gone for a 50" 1080p plasma unit, but as is often the case for most people, money was a consideration. I actually went under my budget by several hundred dollars with this choice, and I'm glad I did. The TV looks far bigger in our living room than it does on a huge expanse of A/V wall in BB/CC, and the picture quality is excellent. Even before I've had a chance to set black levels properly etc, it looks great, and easily has room to get better when I set it up fully. Another thing worth mentioning is that Panasonic must have put almost as much time and thought into the packaging of this product as they did into the TV itself. Buy one and you'll see what I mean. I would definitely recommend this product!
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Got the TV on Friday...plugged it into my HD cable reciever...and was blown away by the factory settings. After small tweaks to color...i was amazed. My wife walked by while I had a spring training baseball game and stopped bc the picture was that good.
Things seem to just pop off the screen...in a good way. The pictures in HD were just eye candy.
What amazed me was the SD picture. I expected the HD pictures to be great, and SD to be so so. SD was much better than so so...it was pretty good. I am sitting about 7-8 feet from the screen and the SD was no worse than my old 32 CRT TV.In fact I thought it was actually better.
My kids videos are also really vivid. My daughter (who is 2) said I fixed the TV when we put Little Einsteins in. Very cute...
Last note on sound. I do not have a surround sound in my Living room. I am sticking to just the TV speakers for now. From what I could tell from over the weekend, the sound was fine for normal TV/movie/Little Einstein watching.
I
Things seem to just pop off the screen...in a good way. The pictures in HD were just eye candy.
What amazed me was the SD picture. I expected the HD pictures to be great, and SD to be so so. SD was much better than so so...it was pretty good. I am sitting about 7-8 feet from the screen and the SD was no worse than my old 32 CRT TV.In fact I thought it was actually better.
My kids videos are also really vivid. My daughter (who is 2) said I fixed the TV when we put Little Einsteins in. Very cute...
Last note on sound. I do not have a surround sound in my Living room. I am sticking to just the TV speakers for now. From what I could tell from over the weekend, the sound was fine for normal TV/movie/Little Einstein watching.
I
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Excellent TV!! This is my first flat screen tv. I've done all kinds of research on plasma vs lcd. Plasma wins out in all areas except for glare (glass), and burn-in. Even with the antiglare, there is still a little bit of glare. However, the picture and color are very bright and deep colors too. As for burn-in, the issue does not exist.
CR has rated the panasonic's plasma tv as either #1 or #2 on their list. If you want lcd, look at sony.
Screen resolution, people can not tell the difference between 720p or 1080p on 42" screens. So, don't waste your money for something that you can't see.
Scaler, HD resolution looks great! Keep in mind that most TV stations are still SD. The good news is that the SD channels look good too. Panasonic has an excellent scaler on this tv.
CR has rated the panasonic's plasma tv as either #1 or #2 on their list. If you want lcd, look at sony.
Screen resolution, people can not tell the difference between 720p or 1080p on 42" screens. So, don't waste your money for something that you can't see.
Scaler, HD resolution looks great! Keep in mind that most TV stations are still SD. The good news is that the SD channels look good too. Panasonic has an excellent scaler on this tv.
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WOW! WOW! WOW! That's the first words that came to mind when I put a Blu-Ray dvd in my Playstation 3 and turned on this awesome plasma tv. I've never seen a better picture and I've been to all those Best Buy/Circuit City stores and seen all there high end tv's in high def and this one stands up against all of them and holds it own and beats many of them all around.
The picture is bright, punchy and very clear. The blacks and reds are deep and rich. To put it in a nutshell, the picture looks surreal! True this is a 720p plasma, but it looks better than some of those 50 inch, 1080p Pioneer plasmas. My friend has a high end Pioneer plasma 50 incher(I forget what the model number is but its the best 50 inch one you can get from Pioneer.....I think its something like Euro or Uro or maybe Kuro in the model number)and I kid you not, this Panasonic Viera TH-42PX80U looks better than his and this one is about a $2000 cheaper.
Don't believe all that hype about 1080p either! With televisions,
The picture is bright, punchy and very clear. The blacks and reds are deep and rich. To put it in a nutshell, the picture looks surreal! True this is a 720p plasma, but it looks better than some of those 50 inch, 1080p Pioneer plasmas. My friend has a high end Pioneer plasma 50 incher(I forget what the model number is but its the best 50 inch one you can get from Pioneer.....I think its something like Euro or Uro or maybe Kuro in the model number)and I kid you not, this Panasonic Viera TH-42PX80U looks better than his and this one is about a $2000 cheaper.
Don't believe all that hype about 1080p either! With televisions,
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Normally I wait a few weeks after I purchase something to write a review, but I was blown away on how great this set was for the money. Sure, we could've purchased a Pioneer 4280 for about $800 more but to us it wasn't worth it.
We replaced a sony kdl-40xbr1. There was nothing wrong with it just wanted a Flat panel that wasn't as deep and bulky. Also wanted additional hdmi inputs since the sony only had one. We set up the new set, turned it on (expecting the sound to be not as good as the sony) changed it to American Chopper, and was in awe on how great the picture and sound were. The picture is definitely better than the sony, and the sound was just as good.
The HD picture on this display is amazing, wish I could say the same about SD channels, they show up average. The other thing that sold me was the sound, amazing! We didn't want to put a surround sound system in the living room so great internal speakers on a Flat panel was a big deal. The fact that it has 3 hdmi inputs, one on
We replaced a sony kdl-40xbr1. There was nothing wrong with it just wanted a Flat panel that wasn't as deep and bulky. Also wanted additional hdmi inputs since the sony only had one. We set up the new set, turned it on (expecting the sound to be not as good as the sony) changed it to American Chopper, and was in awe on how great the picture and sound were. The picture is definitely better than the sony, and the sound was just as good.
The HD picture on this display is amazing, wish I could say the same about SD channels, they show up average. The other thing that sold me was the sound, amazing! We didn't want to put a surround sound system in the living room so great internal speakers on a Flat panel was a big deal. The fact that it has 3 hdmi inputs, one on
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I purchased one of the first sets available. It is a overall great set. Deep black levels similar to Pioneer's pdp-4280. The video processing has also been kicked up a notch it seems since the px75u units or that could be due to the higher level of contrast. Love the new design and the new anti-reflective screen Panny decided to use.
The only con I have right now is that the tuner seems to be damaged. It auto -programed fine but after a day of use it displays a snowy static image from channels 11-64. The source is fine since I have it split to a Media Center PC so from my troubleshooting it seems like the tuner must be defective.
The only con I have right now is that the tuner seems to be damaged. It auto -programed fine but after a day of use it displays a snowy static image from channels 11-64. The source is fine since I have it split to a Media Center PC so from my troubleshooting it seems like the tuner must be defective.
