Panasonic Viera TH-42PX80U 42-Inch 720p Plasma HDTV

Review by S. Dator for Panasonic Viera TH-42PX80U 42-Inch 720p Plasma HDTV
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Price was a significant contributor to my decision to buy this TV. Conversations with tv-guys made me think that I needed to pony up for a 1080, but I just could not justify the premium over the 720p. Now that I have it, I am glad I saved my money. The picture quality is great, both in high def and for normal (low def?) viewing. Whenever I have guests and the TV is on, they are blown away by the quality and ask my questions about it.

I also like the anti-glare screen. At first I was a little concerned that the anti-glare picture would look “dull” compared to your average plasma, but that is no longer a concern – it looks great.

Another big plus for me was the appearance of the TV. Like other Panasonic models, this TV is sleek. Vizio and other manufacturers seem to incorporate larger speakers that look clunky in comparison. The size of the tv relative to the picture size is great – looks nice on the wall, and doesn’t take up any more room than it needs to.

In fact, the reason why I am writing this review is because I am going to buy another one for a different room in the house. Panasonic has definitely won my repeat business with this one – I think that says it all.

Review by Steve R for Panasonic Viera TH-42PX80U 42-Inch 720p Plasma HDTV
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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 called “Panasonic Concierge”. You can schedule service calls online and you’ll be contacted within 24 hours. You can also call or chat online with a rep if you’ve got any questions. Another great thing about them is that if your TV fails and they have to take it away for repair they give you a loaner TV! I sure wish I had that option with my old Philips.

I was first considering purchasing a Samsung LCD but decided to see both first hand in the store. After adjusting the settings on both TV’s the Samsung had a very unnatural and bright image while the Panasonic looked as if you were looking out the window. While this sort of thing boils down to what type of picture you prefer I personally was sold on the Panasonic.

Off topic, Amazon rocks too. After buying the TV their price dropped by a lot. I requested a refund for the difference and they did it no questions asked. I got the money back within 3 days! I couldn’t be happier with not only the TV, but also Amazon.

Review by M. Cobb for Panasonic Viera TH-42PX80U 42-Inch 720p Plasma HDTV
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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 to set up–10 minutes. The first thing that I noticed was that the color contrast is excellent, even on SD- much better then our 6-year-old Toshiba 27″ tube TV. The clarity varies by station- a function of the channels, not the TV. SD = A-

The picture quality really excels while playing DVDs through component video. Deep rich blacks, vivid colors. The “Planet Earth” series looks incredible. We have not hooked it up to HD yet, but I’m sure it will be even better. A+.

A nice feature is that the TV remembers your settings for each video input. I.e.–we programmed a different color contrast for broadcast TV and DVDs and it stores each separately. There are more than enough ways to adjust picture quality to really fine tune it.

The audio is better than other sets, but not great. We don’t use it though, since the TV is hooked up through a 5.1 receiver.

Overall, I am very happy with my purchase, both the TV and Amazon’s delivery service. Definitely would buy it again.

FOLLOW UP: I just got HD, and it is even better than I could have imagined. I don’t even like NBA basketball, but I found myself glued to the playoff game just to see the clarity. UFC was almost TOO clear for comfort. The only problem– I can’t go back to SD now…

Review by DLH for Panasonic Viera TH-42PX80U 42-Inch 720p Plasma HDTV
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I bought the prior year’s model, delivered in December of 2007. The picture is now flickering and going completely black for about half the time. I’m in contact with Panasonic to have this resolved, under the one-year warranty, and I will follow with an update on how well this goes.

Regardless, it is annoying to have what otherwise is a splendid product apparently needing replacement in less than a year.

****

I promised a follow-up. Panasonic was *very* responsive. I filed a request for service at their online site. Within 24 hours, they contacted me to arrange a service appointment. The service person arrived when arranged, replaced one of the video boards quickly and without charge. It is possible that the problem was not with the board at all, but simply a cable connector that had not been seated properly at the factory. So, in all, a very good experience with Panasonic — prompt response, no hassles or arguments for this repair service under the one-year warranty.

Review by The Gunny for Panasonic Viera TH-42PX80U 42-Inch 720p Plasma HDTV
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I drive my wife crazy when I decided to buy something of substantial value. I will research every possible source until I am satisfied with my decision to purchase. I originally set out to purchase an LCD and gave little thought to Plasma as I considered it an aged technology, but after researching and listening to plasma owners, former LCD owners and many high end reviews i couldn’t ignore it. In my final stage I made 5 trips to the store and watched TV for a couple hours bouncing back & forth between various sets. In the end the Panasonic won out for a few reasons. First of all the store puts everything on vivid and this drives me nuts! I reached up and set the Panasonic to standard setting and it was beautiful. I then noticed how soothing and rich the picture looked compared to some of the harshly lit, overly bright LCDs. I already knew that Panasonic has had many generations of plasma and were good at it so I brought it home. Once in the home it was sweet out of the box. It was important that it display standard definition programming well as that isn’t going away to soon. I am a sports buff and motion blur on some of the LCDs is annoying. This plasma does it all good. I don’t know if CNET and a couple other reviewers got bad sets or what, but I find that it has NO noise problem? I sit 8 feet from the TV and it seems almost perfect.

LCDs are getting better sure, but they are still a couple years from these plasma sets!