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Date: 2008-07-13 Awesome TV Panasonic Viera TH-42PZ85U 42-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV This TV is perfect. I did alot of research before buying. I wanted to spend a little over $1200. For the money this TV was the best bet. The picture quality is amazing and it was even delivered 4 days early! Definitely recommended. Date: 2008-07-10 Great picture and price. A few small issues, but still a nice TV. I research and stressed about a $1000+ TV for several weeks. I was going to purchase an LCD, but once a salesman educated me on a plasma, I was sold. Plasma is so much better than an LCD. Don't buy an LCD just because they are popular now. There are a ton of them in the stores and online only because it wasn't until recently that manufacturers could make an LCD affordably in large sizes. So they are, but plasma is a better picture for the same price. Better color, high definition, contrast, viewing angle, and nearly indestructible screen. The only advantage of an LCD is that they tend to be lighter. The screen was a big selling point for me. I have a 3-year old that likes to touch the pictures. This can damage an LCD, so too can cleaning off the finger prints. The plasma is just solid glass and has been "wii-proofed", capable of taking a wii-remote that accidently gets thrown at the screen. Also, I stressed over the 120mhz vs. 60 mhz for an LCD. The 120mhz promised less image blue for fast moving objects and sports, but you pay up for it. I saw a little Wimbledon while at best buy and the ball did see fuzzy at times. Well, a Plasma is at 480 mhz image refresh rate, so you don't have to worry about 120 vs. 60. ALso check out the contrast ratios. They are significantly higher on a Plasma. I'm not a huge spec person because they don't mean everything. But there is a difference between 1,000,000:1 vs. 10,000:1 on an LCD. So go with the plasma. I did have some issues with Butterfly photo. The mispriced the extended warranty i also purchased and had to call back to correct it. When the warranty showed up in the mail, it was for an LCD, not plasma. SO I had to call back. Then since I had the item in my Amazon cart, I saw they had lowered the price and Butterfly would not honor their own price reduction just 24 hours after purchasing it. It had not even been shipped yet and they claimed they could not cancel the order and resell it at the lower price. BS. However, I purchased the item over the phone from butterfly, not online. Their phone price was lower than the AMZN price and the extended warranty was on special, which I would not have know about. So I saved about $150 just by calling, so I'm not too upset by the $50 price reduction. They will try to sell you other things, like cables or power units, just say you'll think about it. As for as some small issues with the TV. The channel change button are on the side of the TV, but still tucked several inches behind it. There are a little difficult to see if the TV is in a cabinet, which mine is. Plus my 3-year old can no longer change the channels. She used to be able to switch between the DVD or Leapfrog games, but cannot do it without help now. Also, adding components to the TV requires several different cables. The TV accepts many inputs, but only two or each. I had been connection my with the same blue, red, green, white, and red cables. But after the DVD and PVR, I have to buy different cables to connect the cable box, VRC or game consol. Other than that. A great TV. Definately go with the Plasma. The old burn-in issues of old have been solved and its so much brighter, crisper, and worth the money compared to an LCD. Date: 2008-07-03 LIKE SITTING IN A 3-D ART MUSEUM I've been following this 42 inch Panasonic model through its growth and changes for six years waiting to finish college so I could give tv undivided attention. This is the most exciting piece of electronics I have ever purchased, or ever owned. I put up full-length black, black-out curtains which cut out any glaring from direct sunlight during the day, and provide a theatre atmosphere. The high def channels (Time-Warner) are so life-like and 3-D in appearance, I sometimes forget I am not actually in the scene, wherever it is. The sound is certainly adequate on its own, if one is not an audiophile, but I wanted the Sony home theatre over the Panasonic and was worried they wouldn't be compatible. Much to my delight, the cable DVR and Sony Home Theatre are all controlled by the Panasonic Viera by just simply selecting the HDMI input source (there are three here) and naming the components I wanted to use. There is no hunting for numbers or holding and aiming remotes for a half-hour to find each component setting, as Panasonic Viera does that for you INSTANTLY, even if it is another brand. Push the Panasonic remote power button and the home theatre and DVR are started, vice versa when turning off. I have also connected, by HDMI, a new Playstation 3 (thanks again Amazon) through the game port, and it is UNBELIEVABLE PICTURE QUALITY. Panasonic recognized them immediately and the menus on this tv are one push button drop down and simple to navigate. Likewise, the new Wii Console (from Amazon) is into another input using their video cables and the picture is crisp, clear and stunning. I chose the pre-selected game mode picture quality for the Wii, and custom picture settings for the cable and PS3. As I switch between them, the Panasonic remembers my screen settings for each so I don't have to adjust the brightness, etc. for each program as I switch back and forth. I'm sure I don't know half the things the TV does yet (purchased May 27th), but you cannot go wrong with this tv. I am sitting about twelve feet away in an apartment and it is just the perfect size screen. Next, is connecting my laptop to the PC input and "flying" Microsoft X flight simulator. The delivery took a while about two weeks, but the white glove service was excellent (actually two men who used to work for years delivering Sears tv's) and they were extremely knowledgable, helpful, and professional. If you want state of the art technology, with picture quality that passes for art every time, you want this particular plasma!!!!!!! By the way, I am a 58 year old single, female, and yes, while I am pretty technically literate and experienced, you don't have to be with this TV. Just plug and play!!!! Date: 2008-07-02 Big purchase, but worth it in the end I went to HH Gregg and they quoted a much higher price than Amazon offered, sales tax of 9.5 percent on top of it, with an expensive warranty, here in Tennessee. They even did an "internet search" for me in the store. When I told them I could do better, the sales tactic was to tell me that these sites that were cheaper were "shady". I got the TV for my mother in law, and it was delivered in pristine condition to her house. Overall, cheaper than local vendors. It works great! I would skip Amazon's warranty, unless you can't feasibly replace it (and then you probably shouldn't buy it if that's the case, but that's another story). The warranty doesn't cover a major failure of plasma TVs in general, and from what I hear the service is terrible. They take your money easily, but everything else is a headache. But, I have never bought a TV before on the internet, so I was nervous, but it all worked out well in the end. I'm satisfied with it. The colors/brightness are brilliant, looks great. Works great. Would highly recommend. Date: 2008-06-30 Very pleased The Panasonic Viera was everything I hoped it would be. It worked as soon as we connected it; the HD picture is brilliant, the color accurate (better in plasma than anything I've seen in LCD). My regular DVD's and even my DVD-R's transferred from my own videotapes look great.
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