Panasonic VIERA TC-P42X3 42-Inch 720p 600 Hz Plasma HDTV

previous RexTV employee, April 24, 2011

By 

J. Roach –

  

Disclaimer: This is all personal opinion.

There was Beta vs VHS…
There is Mac vs Windows…
And there is Plasma vs LCD/LED…

Like Beta and Mac, Plasma is the higher quality technology. Like VHS and Windows, LCD/LED is the user-friendly norm. To each his/her own.

I prefer Plasma.

PROS:
Less pixelation, faster refresh rate, less action-blur, 30 yrs life at 8 hours a day viewing, “image burn-in” almost nonexistent in newer models (would require MAJOR user-negligence, and it’s a temporary effect anyway), on the average the sound quality is better/resonance, a more durable screen surface (better for people with pets who throw toys around and children who might push at the screen—ask your local dealer to knock his knuckles against a plasma screen and an LCD one, he won’t knock on the LCD screen!), and unlike Macs though…”plasmas” are also the better technology BUT at the cheaper price. Life usually isn’t that kind! The better product for the better price:-) Take advantage of it!

NEUTRALS:
Some might see the “higher quality but cheaper price” is a precursor to a technology that is being phased out of service (like the Beta tapes, or even Toshiba’s HD-DVDs that eventually lost to Sony’s Blu-Ray). That’s understandable! But keep in mind, to my knowledge there are no LCD tv’s beyond 65″ as the technology can’t support it. Those “enormo-screens” like Jerry Jones’ “Everything is Bigger in Texas” boob tubes are Plasmas! Plasmas aren’t going away…

CONS:
Glare. Period. It IS an issue! The only issue. Personally, I think LCDs show their fair share of washed-out, hazy-glare at various angles anyway, but they still reign supreme in high light. Being a former glass-screen, tube-tv viewer…I don’t find it any worse, but the “glare is there” so to speak. Can be “mirror-like” in the very worst cases. Blinds can solve the problem and setting the tv at a height of 4′ or higher in room makes most sitting-angles, couches/tablechairs fine from window light. Still, it IS an issue.

“Plasma tvs run at a hot temperature and drain more energy.” That’s kind of out-dated. And the energy-draw is probably like $2 more a month. (Interesting sidenote…when choosing between the Panasonic and the Samsung, noticed the Samsung plasma screen felt rather warm whereas the Panasonic felt room temp.)

CLOSING STATEMENT: Panasonic is/has been Plasma-industry leader since day 1…they’ve always focused on plasmas unlike Samsung, LG etc (not saying they’re bad). Despite selling HDTV’s a few years ago at a major chain, I just got my first HDTV a few weeks ago! Couldn’t afford one until now. Always kept my eye on the Panasonic plasmas though and the Panasonic TC-P42X3 was worth the wait. I sit (using the old walking-foot count) ~12′ away from my tv in an apartment living room w/ 2 larger windows. I’ll take the better picture with some “glare-issues” in the morning then the lower quality picture with “little glare” issues anyday!

ANY HDtv is better than the old CRTs (even though I loved them–“pixelation”?!? Who ever heard of “pixelation”?!!!), but I must confess this is a really good tv. I debated b/w a 1080p 32″ LCD and a 42″ 720p Pan plasma. Wanted great picture. Was afraid I was sitting too close to a 42″ at 12′. Not so. An old worker-associate steered me back in the right direction that was my gut instinct to begin with…a 42″ Panasonic Viera Plasma! Alvin at hhGregg, Dayton Ohio (sorry Amazon)! His commission was a pittance but his advice priceless.

Hope this review helped…

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 Comments (8)

Beautiful, April 8, 2011

I ordered this from Amazon for $694 and I got $10 off with a coupon I had plus the shipping was free and they brought it right up into my apartment so all I had to do was install it. The install is very simple just screw it into the stand, plug in all the wires and then there is an automated setup process so you just pick your options along the way.

The stand feels very secure, it’s a big black platform about 2’x1.5′ with steal rods that go up inside the TV and screw in, there are 3 screws in each rod that connect it to the platform and 2 in each that connect it to the TV. I was able to do all that by myself but just barely and I’m a pretty big guy so considering the size and weight of the TV it should be at least a 2 man job.

If you get the version with the built in Ethernet adapter you can connect to your Netflix, Pandora, Napster and a number of other sites to watch or listen to whatever you want.

Then of course the inputs, 2 HDMI, an SD Card reader, 1xRCA and 1xRCAHD, of course read the specs carefully because there are different versions of this same TV (i.e. one version with an Ethernet adapter and 1 without and there might be one that is also 3D ready but it might be more expensive then the one I’m reviewing)

The color and picture are beautiful, I play a lot of video games so picture quality was important to me, if you’re a gamer this TV is for you. I play halo on Xbox 360 and one of my biggest issues was ghosting (when you look around too quickly and everything blurs) with this TV that issue is almost completely taken care of, there is still some blur but it’s extremely mild.

As for the picture quality being 720p…well there a lot of people who will say a lot of stuff when it comes to the differences between 720p, 1080p, 720i and 1080i and I can only speak from experience but I do have a 23″ computer monitor that is 1080p and I tried to play the same things on there that I did on the TV (and I have a very good computer with a high end graphics card) and yes I know it isn’t a perfect test but it’s the best I could do and from what I could tell there was very little difference. So in my opinion for the size, quality and price it’s a very good deal.

The only real problem with it that I’ve noticed so far is that if you get too close things look…grainy almost like you can see black spots everywhere on it however if you are even 1ft away you can’t see them at all and considering it’s 50″ I hope you’re sitting at least 1ft away lol.

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