Panasonic Viera TC-P42X1 42" 720p Plasma TV

Comments about Panasonic Viera TC-P42X1 42" 720p Plasma TV:

Attractive Design, Fast Setup, Simple Controls, Great Picture Quality, and Super Price!![...]Highly recommend. Enjoying the T.V. very much!

Comments about Panasonic Viera TC-P42X1 42" 720p Plasma TV:

This was a great buy [...] Panasonic seems to make nice products. The TV was easy to setup and use right out of the box. The picture quality is good although not the best I've ever seen even from DVD through component cables, but then again, I don't have HD cable. One downside is that the tv seems to take a long time to turn on when power is pushed on the remote. Not a huge issue though.

Comments about Panasonic Viera TC-P42X1 42" 720p Plasma TV:

I researched every TV I could find, and making the decision between 1080p, 720p, plasma or LCD, 42, 46 or 50" wasn't easy. What It ultimately came down to, is this TV was the best bang for my buck. 50" 1080p would have been nice, sure, but it wasn't worth the extra cost _for me_. [...]After hooking it up I was really impressed with the contrast ratio and it reaffirmed my decision to wait one more round on LCD. The picture is great, and since I talked myself out of 50", 720p doesn't feel underwhelming. The blacks are so dark it makes me want to update my other 4 year old plasma as well. Ultimately if you're looking for a 42" its going to be hard to beat this one. If you have the extra couple hundred dollars, you should take a good hard look at 1080p to extend the life you'll get out of your purchase. Lastly, I used the on-board speakers for about 20 seconds. I highly recommend not relying on them, but not many people do.

Comments about Panasonic Viera TC-P42X1 42" 720p Plasma TV:

This tv has great picture. It is exactly what I was looking for. The only thing I wish it had was volume control from show to commercials. Gaming is also good.

Comments about Panasonic Viera TC-P42X1 42" 720p Plasma TV:

This is great TV. Price is a givaway. Buy two!!!

Comments about Panasonic Viera TC-P42X1 42" 720p Plasma TV:

I bought this TV a few weeks ago and am still getting accustomed to its features and quirks. It is a second large screen TV in my home, placed in the bedroom. Granted, it is large for a bedroom, but our viewing distance to the TV warrants a larger image. This TV came home with me because of the combination of reviews here and on Consumer Reports, and the price point. Despite these good things going for it, rather than elation at my purchase, my experience thus far has been somewhat on the disappointing side. My setup is very basic: standard def cable TV and DVD player. At first the cable TV hookup was via coax cable. The picture was nothing to write home about, less sharp than on my old 27 inch conventional TV. The first program I watched was "The Wizard of Oz" on TBS. The image was extremely dark, annoyingly so. Colors were very good, but I could not get around the degree of darkness in the dark scenes. Attempts to improve the brightness/ lower the black level were met with frustration; I couldn't. Reading info online subsequently pointed out you can only access the black level when "external devices" are plugged in. That means bump the connections up to S-video or component. (I would of course go to HDMI if I could, but my current cable box does not support it). Once I connected the cable via S-video, I was able to adjust and reduce the black level. That helped, but it is important to note the limited adjustment of black levels on this set: is either dark or light. That's it; there are no gradations, nothing in between. That level of inflexibility is not adequate. Compared to the flexibility of settings on my 46" Samsung LCD, this unit falls far short in that area.Sound on the unit is fine. I had no expectations that the TV's audio would compare to that from even modest external speakers or home theatre setup. If I need oomph I need only move to my living room where a decent home theatre setup awaits. To its credit, there is the capability to ratchet the volume range a few notches beyond normal. This is valuable with my cable setup, as there are programs or times of day when the sound inexplicably drops and I have to crank it close to the max to hear it.I watched a standard DVD on an older DVD player hooked to the TV via component cable. The image was fine, no complaints. After rearranging DVD players to hook a newer, up-converting player to the plasma via HDMI cable, the picture it produced was as good as I could have hoped for: clear, sharp, good color rendition and good black levels. Without a 1080P set side by side, direct comparisons are difficult. I do feel, however, that the image is much richer and more alive on my LCD. Despite my favoring the LCD image in the first place, I went for the plasma due to screen size and lower price. It was a stretch to convince my wife we "needed" this set; explaining an additional $250 expenditure given how little we watch TV in the bedroom would have been my undoing.The specs for this set show it to have an anti-reflective screen filter. I find this helpful. However, the glossy black bezel surrounding the screen is highly reflective, so whatever reflections are not caught on the screen are bounced back from the bezel; disconcertingly so. The stand is also gloss black, and any specks of dust that land on it show very clearly.Overall, and so far, the set meets my minimum criteria. It is a lower-end unit in Panasonic's line, provides very good standard picture and sound, but there are important adjustment capabilities missing. While my situation did not warrant it, if this is going to be your main TV, spring for the extra $250 or so and buy the next level 1080P plasma or LCD set. The cost difference to bump up in quality and features will long have been forgotten in a few months' time, and you will indeed have a better set.

Comments about Panasonic Viera TC-P42X1 42" 720p Plasma TV:

eazy to use, crisp picture, great price

Comments about Panasonic Viera TC-P42X1 42" 720p Plasma TV:

Basic TV watching in NYC apartment living room. No complaints but haven't really watched much TV since getting TV. A little big for my living room but great picture quality.

Comments about Panasonic Viera TC-P42X1 42" 720p Plasma TV:

This TV rocks and for the price you will not find a better deal and B and H is the place to shop if you want a great deal!! Will shop here again!!

Comments about Panasonic Viera TC-P42X1 42" 720p Plasma TV:

The tv [...] color is terrific. For the price, this tv can't be beat. I can't see much difference from a plasma I had 2 years ago that was twice as expensive. I only wish it had a serial port.