Panasonic TH-42PZ700U 42-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV Review

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(More customer reviews)This TV has the best picture of any TV I have ever seen.
I build homes for multi-millionaires and I have seen some incredible
TV's, theater rooms, with $50K audio systems wired in; and I have never
seen a TV with a better picture.
I bought this TV within a week of Consumer Reports rating it as the best
picture they had ever tested, and I was still surprised at how breathtaking the picture was.
You cannot overrate this TV and its capabilities to deliver a picture like none you've seen before.
I do implore you, however, to invest in a blu-ray DVD player and a high quality HDMI cable for the full effect. The picture, when playing a blu-ray DVD on the new Panasonic blu-ray DVD player, along with a high quality HDMI cable (Panasonic makes maybe the best available for only $25)
is unbelievable. The definition is so amazing that your opinions of beautiful big screen actresses may come back down to earth after seeing the the blemishes in their complexion that you never would have seen on a
regular TV.
This TV is the pinnacle. There is no TV better.

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The Panasonic TH-42PZ700U 1080p Plasma HDTV sports a 42-inch plasma screen with 1080p resolution for a crystal clear viewing experience. It will feel right at home as the centerpiece of a home theater setup.
An Understated Beauty The TH-42PZ700U does not look like it's trying too hard. Instead, it lets the big screen speak for itself. The glass is surrounded by a thick glossy black bezel on all sides, with a door on the bottom to keep controls out of sight. Another hatch hides a slot for SD memory cards. Speakers--matching in color and barely noticeable--are set on both sides of the display. The understated look would be an elegant addition to any decor.
Outstanding Performance The TH-42PZ700U is 1080p, meaning it has a full 1920 x 1080 resolution, the highest HD resolution available for the clearest and sharpest picture. Because of its plasma display, the black levels are deep and the uniformity of brightness is superb. The unit has 4096 shades of gradation and has up to a 5000:1 contrast ratio. Video noise reduction circuitry and a digital comb filter make sure the picture on screen is always optimal. The TH-42PZ700U will upconvert any signal you feed it and display it at 1080p.
Connections On the back, the TH-42PZ700U features two HDMI inputs, two component inputs, two composite inputs, and two S-Video inputs. Hidden beneath panels in front is another composite and S-Video input, a component video input, and a slot for SD cards. Insert an SD card filled with photos and you can watch a slide show with the built-in Photo Viewer software.
TV as an Art Gallery The TH-42PZ700U includes GalleryPlayer software you can use to display high-definition art and photography on your TV. A free collection of images is included so your television can display art even when it's not on.
One-Touch Convenience When you use the Panasonic EZ-Sync technology to connect to other compatible EZ-Sync devices via the HDMI connector, you get one-touch control over all your home theater components. For example, with one touch of a button, you can turn on the DVD player, turn on the receiver, and set the DVD player as the source while also adjusting the sound level, turn on the TV--which will accept the input signal--and play the DVD. Instead of fumbling to find all the right buttons, you can watch your movies without wondering how to set everything up.
The TH-42PZ700U is backed by a 1-year limited warranty for parts and labor.
What's in the Box TH-42PZ700U plasma HDTV, remote control (with batteries), AC cord, pedestal, two cable clamper, and antenna adapter.

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Panasonic DMP-BD10AK 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player Review

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(More customer reviews)This player will start the movie from where you stopped it or even if you power it off unlike other players where if you press stop or power off will go back to the very beginning. Excellent picture and menu controls. Comes with 5 Blu-Ray Discs in the box and you also can mail a rebate form in for 5 more discs.

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Panasonic VIERA TC-P46X3 46-Inch 720p Plasma HDTV Review

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(More customer reviews)The Panasonic Plasma TC-P46X3 is a great entry level Plasma HDTV. You will be extremely hard pressed to find anything close to the picture quality of this set for the money (the only real contender is the Samsung D450 series). Coming from LCD's, I was a bit nervous about moving to Plasma due to stories of burn-in. Overall, I am very happy with my decision to go with the Panasonic TC-P46X3.
Pros:
1. Great contrast ratio, nice deep blacks and rich colors. The screen is never too dark or too bright or washed out.
2. Great panel response time, little to no ghosting.
3. Price!
Cons:
1. Reflective screen (if you have a lot of light in the room while you're watching, it can be distracting as it reflects off of the darker areas of the picture).
2. Image retention (NOT burn-in) does occur, but disappears when you use the screen wipe white bar feature. I'm also still in the first few hundred hours of pixel life, so this may become less and less of an issue as the phosphors age.

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Panasonic TY-EW3D10U 3D Active Shutter Eyewear for Panasonic 3D HTDVs, Black and Silver Review

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(More customer reviews)After considerable research I focused in on the shutter-based 3D glasses solution. The result was extremely satisfying, matching the other reviews and reports from similar customers. The fixed polarized solutions fail with any head tilt or angle of viewing outside the sweet spot. These glasses were in perfect condition, functioned as advertised, and are demonstrating a longer than expected battery life. The supplier was prompt, careful in shipping and offered an excellent price. The glasses were part of a combined purchase with the Panasonic TC-P65VT25 65 inch 3D Viera Plasma TV and the Panasonic DMP-BDT350 3D Blu-ray player. All the purchases work together as expected and have met all expectations.

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Panasonic VIERA TC-P65ST30 65-Inch 1080p 3D Plasma HDTV Review

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(More customer reviews)Let me start off by saying 4 things first:
1) I LOVE Panasonic products. I have had their phones/shavers/Digital Cameras/and now a Blu-ray player and I love them ALL.
2) I even absolutely love the PQ on this TV as well (barring fluctuating brightness of course).
3) I'm giving it a 1-star rating with a heavy heart but with a firm observant mind.
4) I wish I never had to write this review.
The deal breaker??? - Fluctuating brightness!!!
I have read rave reviews for this TV here/other places and I agree with them PQ-wise. But IF and only IF your set has this and you've noticed this you're done. I hope this is not the case with you but it IS the case with me and few others. Not sure how many "few" people it takes to get the attention of a major manufacturer but here is my viewing experience so far. I've had this TV for 3.5 weeks now.
This TV tries to adjust its brightness A LOT. Majority of the time a scene changes between a dark scene to a (much) lighter scene/area - you can see the changing brightness - especially on the face, it'll go wayyyy brighter, then back to normal. Eventually the light will be perfect/even great hue but the "switching" drives me nuts. While dark scenes themselves look great overall - I also noticed some dark/darkness adjustment even in a night scene where the light in the scene/room was off. It happens much less often but it does. The adjustment in dark scenes are not that distracting as they are less frequent/apparent. Daylight/bright scenes - another story.
I even tried to "ignore" this by telling myself - oh well no TV is perfect and let me just "live" with it but I just couldn't. Besides - for a $2K TV to do what my $250 seven year old Sharp (CRT) TV does NOT do is simply unacceptable.
I have tried Blue ray/SD content/HD contect/netflix/regular DVDs and they all display fluctuating brightness. I grant it's not there ALL the time but boy when it rears its ugly head (which is often) - that is ALL I watch and well that is ALL I'm watching right now - not willingly I must add. I've gotten the latest firmware as well.
So why just a 1-star when the PQ/blacks are great. The brightness problem is so glaring that it handily undoes the MANY good/great/outstanding qualities of this TV. Speaking of outstanding - another great thing about the TV is skin tones - oh so natural. When I was TV hunting/doing "eye test" in stores - LED always seemed to have an edge. But man - this colors/skin tones are so realistic in this TV. I do not want to take away the great PQ of this TV - in all fairness, yet at the same time I do not want to take away the undeniably distracting viewing this TV presents to me. In fact I feel like I've been relegated to "watching" the fluctuating brightness instead of actually enjoying the experience of this otherwise great TV. I even tried telling myself - maybe I'm "looking" for this brightness fluctuation issue but no no no - it's THERE.
I'm at a loss to explain why Panasonic did not/does not notice this - that is - if they don't. They need to fix it and fix it now. I BELIEVE Panasonic can and should make it right. And I still maintain it's a great TV. I do not know if others have had the same issue or to this degree but this has been my experience. I don't know the technical details but they *should* be able to fix this with a firmware fix. I have NOT given up on them and hence have requested Amazon for another ST30. It is a great TV otherwise but you buy a TV to enjoy the programming content, NOT distractions. Panasonic - you are the top plasma maker in the market. You guys even have the entire (former) Pioneer/Kuro team working for you. Will you please make it right!!!
When I get the new TV - I will re-evaluate and post my findings. Oh by the way Amazon was 100% helpful/quick in sending a replacement. Thanks Amazon!!!

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Panasonic TC P58V10 - 58" plasma TV - widescreen - 1080p (FullHD) - HDTV Review

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(More customer reviews)I've been looking to upgrade my old 42" plasma for over a year, and was tempted to get a current generation LCD because their images seem to "pop" in stores, whereas the latest plasmas appear dim by comparison. But after more than a year of research, viewing, and waiting, I decided to buy this set based on all the reviews I read online, especially on CNET and the AVS forums, which is where very knowledgeable audio-video consumers hang out. I could not be happier.
1. Before I get to my personal experience with this set, let me share a bit of my online and field research, which I hope is helpful. First of all, the general consensus on the AVS forums is that the the Panasonic V10 plasmas are among the top HDTVs--if not the top--in overall image quality and value of this generation, and that includes LCDs. Other online reviews, like that of CNET (for the 54V10) give them very high marks as well.
The alternatives I was seriously considering, including the latest and flashiest Samsung "LED" LCDs, were generating lots of complaints online about quality control and image problems. For much more money, the higher-end LCDs offer features like 240Hz processing and local backlighting or LED edge-lighting that try to catch up to the smooth motion and beautiful blacks of plasmas. But they can create other visual problems. 240Hz processing gives movies a "soap opera" look to them. I saw this in store on several expensive Samsung LCDs. Transformers did not look epic; it looked like it was filmed with a camcorder on a studio set. Local backlighting can lead to "clouding," where dark scenes are not evenly lit but have splotches of white (for the regions that are not locally dimmed in the scene). LED edge-lighting can led to a "flashlight" effect in dark scenes, where the sources of the edge lights appear from the corners of the the screen like flashlights. These lighting defects may not be visible in store lighting, but many purchasers have expressed dismay at seeing them in a darkened room at home.
So, for much less money, I got a plasma without any of these problems, and with beautiful colors and fluid motion that even the most expensive LCDs of this generation cannot match. The picture is gorgeous. Food Network HD looks so savory, and sports and gaming are amazing. Everything looks natural and pleasing, not plastic, too bright, or over saturated like many LCDs.
With blu-rays, the V10s can play movies at their native speed of 24 frames per second, which gives the same cinematic look that you see in theaters. As I mentioned, the higher-end LCDs, with their 240Hz rendering turned on, instead produce a "soap opera" look. In fact, many AVS forum posters recommend turning off this "premium" feature as a result. Watching Slumdog Millionaire on my 58V10 at times made me forget that I was at home rather than at the movies. Pixar films look amazing.
(Note: if you have a blu-ray player like a Playstation 3, be sure to allow it to output at 1080p/24Hz, and in the advanced picture menu on the V10 allow it to play at 96Hz (4x24Hz) and HD Size 2 to see blu-rays in true cinematic glory and 1080p resolution.)
2. A few words of advice about plasmas for first-time owners. First of all, don't be scared about burn-in or image retention. Burn-in is largely a thing of the past. However, on the safe side, you should turn down the contrast and brightness to 50 or below for the first 100 hours or so, when the phosphors are newer and more prone to image retention. The "standard" setting out of the box is fine for this, and looks quite nice, if a bit understated. You can find advice about how to "break-in" a plasma on the AVS forums. Basically, for the first 100 hours or so, dial down the settings, watch full screen HD, stretch standard definition (4:3) to fill the screen, vary your content, and avoid leaving on static images (e.g. CNN or ESPN logos, game stats, etc.) for too long.
Second, CNET has settings for the 50V10 that some swear by for bringing out the set's beautiful picture quality. You can start with those and adjust to your liking if you don't want to pay for calibration. For my part, after trying and tweaking the CNET settings, as well as some posted by other owners on the AVS forums, I returned to the standard settings and simply raised the contrast from 50 to 85. The result, in terms of color, contrast, and brightness, is very pleasing to my eyes.
Third, don't judge HDTVs based on what you see in stores. As noted, they crank up the settings like crazy to lure consumers, and LCDs cranked up have a lot more "pop" to them. But the lighting in your home is much different, and what may pop out at you in stores may burn your eyes over extended viewing at home. This is my second plasma, and I have a smaller Panasonic LCD at home as well. The plasmas look bright enough and plenty beautiful at home, and I prefer their natural colors and motions over the LCD. Think Venus de Milo versus Pamela Anderson. The latter certainly has more "pop," but the former has more staying power.
Fourth, read up on plasmas (and LCDs) on the AVS forums. It'll help you make a more informed decision, as well as point you to other reputable online retailers and deals.
Finally, don't worry about 58" being too large. My couch is 10.5 feet away, and it's just about the right size for that distance. The set is viewable (and indeed awesome) from 7-9 feet. 65" would have given me an even more impressive "home theater" feel from my couch. But then, it's much more expensive, and because it is bigger, has a lower "wife acceptability factor."
Of course, there are other good HDTVs out there, including the Samsung PN63B590 63-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV, which I seriously considered. To some AVS folks, the Samsung has slightly better colors, while the Panasonic has better blacks. The Samsung is bigger and the bezel is sleek like a picture frame. However, many report an audible buzzing from the Samsung during viewing (all plasmas buzz slightly, but the sound is usually audible only within a few feet in a quiet room). To me, that's typical of the difference between Samsung and Panasonic: the former is flashier, but the latter is better quality.
So, in the end, I bought this HDTV, and am enjoying it immensely. For the great price and quality, you can't go wrong with this set.

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Philips BDP5010/F7 Blu-ray Disc Player Review

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(More customer reviews)
I purchased this BluRay player this morning at a local retail store. The price was reasonable and it had the Phillips name. At first I thought it may have been a Funai with Phillips branding, but after a little net research I have found it is an authentic Phillips manufactured BluRay player.
The player itself is smaller than the cheaper boxes by about 25%, which is nice as it fits snugly on my dresser with my flat screen HDTV. Out of box setup was a piece of cake, startup and BluRay setup was simple. Speaking of startup, it's quite sprightly, taking about 5 seconds to go from power on to BluRay ready mode. In other words, I can hit the power, take a BluRay disc from the case (in this instance it's "Wall-E"), and it's ready to go right in the tray. After that it's 2, maybe 3 seconds and we're off! I was impressed by it's response time right off the bat.
Now, as to the quality. Wow. BluRay really opens up the world of high definition and takes it to a totally different level. Before this player I had a DVD upconverter, and it looked fairly good on my HDTV. It of course plays at 1080p, but is perfect for any HDTV whether it be 720 or 1080. So back to the movie I used as an example: "Wall-E" on BluRay and in this player, was enough to take my breath away. Gorgeous colors, clear, crisp image and sharp, precision audio. To say I was impressed is an understatement.Everything just flowed together beautifully.
I removed Wall-E from the player and grabbed my "Finding Nemo" DVD. I wanted to see what it could do for regular DVDs. I put the disc in the drive and waited a few moments, and when the menu popped up, I was surprised. The quality was excellent. Obviously not BluRay quality, but far superior to my old DVD upconverter. Richer colors, great looking picture.
So, to sum it up:
* Smaller design than cheaper models
* Easy Setup
* Quick Startup and Load times
* Incredible picture quality
* Plays DVDs with far superior quality to DVD Upconverter
I give it 5 out of 5 stars, with a wholehearted recommendation.
This Phillips BluRay player gives you the most bang for your buck.~J.W.

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Panasonic VIERA TC-P50GT25 50-inch 1080p 3D Plasma HDTV, Black Review

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(More customer reviews)Disclaimer: First I'd like to say that I do not have the equipment to view this set's 3-D picture yet. I bought it as a hedge against 3-D. I'm not sure if 3-D is going to take off, but if it does I know I'm ready for it. I thought I would get that out of the way so while you will know I cannot review that feature of the TV, I still have a lot to tell. Now on with the show...
The Panasonic comes shipped in a conveniently designed box where you simply punch out four inserts and lift the box top off of the base. Sort of like when you get a cake from the bakery in a plastic container. Inside's the TV, the stand, the remote (and batteries), the power cord, and the owner's manual. Attaching the swiveling base is very simple and involves screwing a metal fork onto the base then slipping the TV onto the fork and screwing it down. The whole process takes 5 minutes and I was able to do it without any assistance. Also, I'd like to mention that Amazon shipped the TV through a company called HomeDirectUSA. They were very professional and opened the box for me to make sure the TV was undamaged.
Looks wise the Panasonic isn't much. It's framed in a piano black trim and is about 3 inches deep. The base is also done in piano black with a chrome band around the edge. At the bottom of the TV's frame is a bronze colored streak. Overall it's a classy look, but also nothing special. On the lower edge of the TV are the 3-D glasses' transmitters and the remote sensor. On the left side of the TV are various buttons (channel, volume, menu, input, and power) along with a few inputs (HDMI, composite video, and an SD card slot) and two USB ports (for hooking up the wireless dongle amongst other things). On the back of the set (on the set's left side viewed from the front) are two HDMI, two components, one composite, one RF/coaxial, and a PC input. There is also an optical audio out. The TV's build quality is very good, the materials are nice, and it feels sturdy overall. Lastly, the included remote is long and narrow, but well laid out with large buttons that light up.
Using TV is straightforward and easy. It guides you through the set-up, scans for channels, sets up the network, and sets the clock. The menu system is logically laid out and easy to use. The picture controls are many and allow you to fine tune precisely, although the pro-setting are only available in Custom picture mode. Besides Custom mode there is Vivid, Standard, THX, and Game modes. Each mode can be tweaked individually and set up differently for each input. Some of the features included with the Panasonic are 5 individual timers to turn the TV on and off and a sleep timer. There is also VieraLink that, if the TV is connected to the Internet, allows you to view YouTube or Netflix among other services (I have not used this feature since I stream that content through my Blu-ray player). You can insert an SD card or a USB jump drive into the set and view photos, videos, or listen to MP3 files as well. This feature worked well when I inserted an SD card from my Canon camera and the photos looked very nice on the screen. Another nice feature is being able to set channels as your favorites so you can jump to them more quickly, or have the channel only scan favorites when you go up and down channels. Features to reduce burn-in include a pixel orbiter (which very slightly shifts the picture to prevent burn-in) and a scrolling bar pattern that wipes a white bar over a black screen for 15 minutes. While burn-in is much less of an issues with plasma sets then it used to be, if you like to watch non-high definition TV with the bars on the side, or play video games and pause them for a long time, plasma may not be the best bet for you. Finally, there are light sensors on the front of the TV to allow the set to adjust its brightness based on ambient light conditions.
Picture quality on the Panasonic is where this TV shows it mettle. I have the set hooked up in the following manner. My LG Blu-ray player and Nintendo Wii are hooked up to my Onkyo receiver, which is in turn hooked into the Panasonic via HDMI. The Blu-ray is hooked into the receiver using HDMI and the Wii using composite video. For cable, I use the RF/coaxial input. I am not a videophile and tweaked the picture menu myself where I settled on the Vivid setting with some adjustments to make it considerably less vivid (usually I hate vivid mode but I like it on this set). I find the picture looks best when I leave the automatic adjustment for ambient light on. I also have the TV set-up to show 95% of the image where the edges are cropped off so I don't view any image breakdown at the picture's edge. Watching any high definition content, be it Blu-ray, cable TV, or streaming Netflix, the picture looks its best with great detail and clarity (this is especially true when watching Blu-ray discs). Watching standard definition content doesn't look bad either, obviously it doesn't look great stretched out to 50", but the details hold up well and it's more than acceptable. Regardless of the source, the colors are accurate, the dynamic range is great with deep and detailed shadows, and there is no motion blur even when playing video games or watching animated content. My previous television was a 32" 720p LCD and compared to the LCD the plasma Panasonic looks more "fluid" and "film-like". The details don't jump out at you like they do on a high end LCD set (sometimes obnoxiously), but the picture is clear and sharp none the less. The screen has an anti-reflective coating that seems to work well. I have the set in a room with two big windows on the west side and I adjust the blinds when necessary to keep the sun's reflections off the screen. In the end, a plasma is no worse in this regard than a traditional tube television. Overall, I am very pleased with the picture and am a plasma convert.
The TV's built-in speakers are fine for casual viewing, but if you want a true big-screen experience you're going to want to hook this set up to at least a 2.1 system, if not a full blown 7.2 system. Mine is hooked up to a 5.1 system.
Speaking of sounds, I don't notice any humming from the set. Occasionally, if I have muted the sound and a bright white scene comes on I hear a slight hum, but it's barely noticeable and goes away as soon as the scene changes. Also, the set does not give off much heat as far as I can tell.
There are only a few negatives I have about the set and they are as follows: 1) The piano black trim on the set shows reflections much worse than the screen itself. 2) The set only has 3 HDMI inputs, most have 4. 3) The remote sensor is very low on the set and I have my center speaker in front of the TV so I have to angle the remote upward in order for the signal to reach the TV.
All in all... a great plasma set, with tons of inputs, features, and adjustability, but an especially great picture quality.
P.S.: Sorry for the long review. There is a lot to cover. If you'd like to know anything else leave a comment and I'll do my best to answer.
11/24/2010 Update: Hitting the sub-menu button on the remote allows you to quickly change the behavior of the channel up/down button. For instance you can have it scan only your favorites, or just the digital channels. This is a nice touch, and a nice shortcut.
02/26/2011 Update: The television is still going strong and has maintained its excellent picture quality. I left a menu from my DVD player paused on the screen for about a half hour by accident, and after about a minute the retained image was gone. No issues with burn-in, humming, or anything. Great set.

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Panasonic VIERA U1 Series TC-P42U1 42-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV Review

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(More customer reviews)I previously owned a bulky 46" DLP but decided I needed a new and smaller TV due to moving into a smaller place. I researched for a while and decided on this television, the deciding factors being 1080p, contrast, and refresh rate. I have to say, I'm very pleased.
This is the first full HD television I've ever owned. After tweaking with the picture I stuck in Wall-E on Blu-Ray and was amazed by the clarity. I realized just how much I'd been missing out on HD with my other TV.
I wish it has a PC input, but you can get HDMI adapters for that. The picture quality of an HDMI connected device looks awesome, but I've noticed it's a little dark with component devices like game consoles as well as cable and HD signal channels. Games look good though, even the Wii looks pretty good. I wish I could have tested out my XBox360 more on this set but it unfortunately broke two days after getting the TV. Figures...
I bought this TV with hopes of getting the best Blu-Ray picture at this price range and I think I got it. At under $900 this TV is a steal.


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42" Plasma, 1080p, 3 HDMI, Native contrast ratio 30,000:1, Infinite Black Dynamic contrast, 600 Hz Subfield Drive

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Panasonic PT-AX200U 720p 3LCD Home Theater Projector Review

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(More customer reviews)Didn't think buying a projector would take as long as it did. I've been researching projectors off and on for the past 2 and a half years and have enjoyed the process of testing a virtually endless onslaught of manufacturers and different image quality. Finally decided on a Panasonic PT-AX200U due to a special running through HTmarket.com that had a mail in rebate for an additional 1 year warranty on the purchase of a Panasonic projector. I bought my projector for $1299 and have had about a month to play with the projector.
Initial highlights - good projector for the money if you have a good source (HD DVD/Blu Ray/upconverting DVD player). Very easy setup with image adjustments. I was up and running in 5 minutes.
Friends and family are stunned at the size of the screen images capable with this projector (I'm running a 110 inch screen). Clearly capable of more than that.
Good image for old format DVDs IF you have a DVD upconverter to 720p/1080i/1080p. I initially ran a couple of DVDs, the Incredibles, Lord of the Rings, the Matrix, Blade, into through my Denon DVD 2900 (originally a $1000 DVD player) and was somewhat disappointed by the pixelation and some noticeable Screen Door Effect (SDE).
My brother came over the following weekend with his Sony Playstation 3 and we ran one of his videogames through the HDMI cable into the projector to see if we could tell a difference - whoa, noticeable difference in image detail and elimination of the pixelation and SDE.
Went out to Best Buy the following weekend to buy a cheap RCA dvd up converter for $30 and now run all my DVDs through it.
Would recommend this projector if pairing to a high gain screen - the bulb brightness, while bright for stock, definitely requires a high gain (+1.3) screen to maximize some of the darker image films (Blade/Matrix/Lord of the Rings/Aliens).


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Panasonic DVD-S54K 1080p Upconverting DVD Player Review

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(More customer reviews)There are DVD players out there in the same price range that offer a better picture. But what the Panasonic has going for it is rugged construction, a good remote, quick loading, easy set up and it plays everything (not multi-region though). I bought the S54 to replace my S47 which has given me six years of good service and is still running (the motor is getting tired though). I have tried other brands, including a Philips, which gave me just six months of service. So six years of intense use for this price is excellent (My friend's S47 is still going strong after six years). I watch my quality DVDs on a Denon or Marantz, but like all good DVD players, they can't handle shoddy media. They stick, skip or refuse to load. Which is why I always have a cheap DVD player on hand for less than perfect media. The S54 does that job in style, none of that dreaded 'disc error'. Simply put, this Panasonic range is the AK47 of DVD players. If it had better picture quality it would rate five stars.

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Panasonic SC-ZT2 Wireless Home Theater System with Full HD 3D Pass for Panasonic 3D HDTVs Review

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(More customer reviews)Bought this item directly from Panasonic (mistake #1 - no free return shipping and 15% restocking fee) earlier this year and returned it within 30 days.
The sound from the unit, when there is no interference from other sources, is pretty good. Bass output is not exceptional, but will certainly get the job done in a low-volume setting (i.e don't use these as a professional DJ). Watching episodes of Galactica with these puppies certainly went fine; the sound from the ZT2 fills up a small/medium space like my living room somewhat satisfyingly.
However, 5.1 audio emulation is a bit of a joke; there is no way speakers like these can mimic the full sound of a properly installed 5.1 system.
The real issue here is that these speakers, while easy to set up (just push a button on the remote, tell the system which pylon is the left- and which is the right-channel and bingo) are very interference-sensitive. In my apartment, I would get great sound so long as my neighbors weren't home. When they did return home and switched on their various electrical gadgets: interference overload. The sound would cut in and out in an unpleasant way and the experience would be ruined.
Consider this a warning for you apartment dwellers; those in a more suburban setting may have better luck, but if you live in a house/condo you might as well wire up a proper 5 or 7 speaker system, no?

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BD-HP80U Blu-ray Disc Player - 1 Disc(s) - Dolby TrueHD, DTS HD, Dolby Digital, DTS, Dolby Digital Plus Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought the BD-HP80U Blu -ray to sync up with my Sharp 52" Quattron 3d LED TV. I gave this unit 4 star in stability because of the initial set up. I highly recommend breaking out the book to set this unit up. My remote appeared not to work because I had no activity when pressing the buttons toward the unit. The IR remote sensor setting on the unit was set to wall. The default IR set up is suppose to be on the side of the player, but after checking the manual mine came out of the box set to the top IR sensor. There is a switch on the bottom of the unit and depending how you mount it will determine which sensor to use. On the wall the top and on the shelf the side. Then my Blu-ray kept black screening before the initial set up screen. After looking in the trouble shooting section of the manual it guided me to resetting and rebooting the unit to factory specifications. This fixed the black screen problem and I was then able to complete the setup by using the Blu-ray remote and the TV. After this I was able to configure the wireless setting to my home network. Sharp has a walk through menu in how to set up your blu-ray player to you home network. You will need to know your router's IP address, admin user ID, password, and what kind of security you have on your home network. Follow the menu screens and enter the information in the box and you shouldn't have any trouble setting this Blu-ray up to your home network. The first things I after I got my blu-ray connected to my home network was down load and install the latest firmware. I had no problems and udating the firmware will take about 3 to 5 minutes. I was able to set up a Netflix account with one month free access with Sharps website. The first movie I downloaded kept freezing up. Netflix gave me a survey and I received one day extension. I won't take a star away for this because of all the other variables that are involved streaming movies: internet speed, location of Blu-ray player, speakers, and amp, to name a few. Since the 1st day I have not had any problems down loading and streaming movies. This unit replaced my Panasonic Blu-ray player and Panasonics are some of the fastest loading Blu-ray players on the market. This Sharp Blu-ray is a little slower in loading than the Panasonic but not enough for me change my mind and not keep this Blu-ray player. It is much faster loading Blu-ray discs than Sony or Samsung Blu-ray players. I have played regular DVDs and this upgrades them to almost Blu-ray quality and the Blu-ray movies are great. I haven't bought my 3d glasses or a movie yet but I know the quality will be awesome. All in all I am happy with the purchase from Amazon.com. My order was processed and shipped and delivered within Amazon's guidelines. I would recommend this Blu-ray player especially if you have a Sharp LC52LE835U Quattron 52" or a 60" 3d LED TV.

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Onkyo BD-SP309 Blu-Ray Disc Player - Black Review

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(More customer reviews)Upon seeing marketing illustrations of the rather spartan new blu ray player from onkyo, i was hopeful it would be based upon an LG design like the BD SP308. Upon initial powering on, i was taken aback by two things - very slow power-on times and quirkiness that was eerily similar to the maligned sharp-based pioneer bdps (330 and 430). For example, i twice lost video signals when connected to my panasonic plasma.
If you compare the rear panel to the entry level sharp bd- hp25u, you quickly realize fell into the same trap pioneer did some two and a half years ago in going cheap with a poor sharp design that is slow, buggy, and offers mediocre dvd playback with no picture adjustments.
Spending the same money with panasonic or sony is definitely the way to go.

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Panasonic SC-BT330 5.1 Channel Cinema Surround Home Entertainment System Review

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(More customer reviews)I have been in the market to get streaming content on my TV for a while now. I compared this unit against the LG-LHB535. The LG has some added features.
1. Built in Wifi
2. Streaming software... which means you can stream from your computer.
3. HDMI inputs.
Otherwise the Panasonic works awesome. It's fast and responsive, easy to setup, small and sleek, and it's cheaper than the comparable LG unit.
It includes the following features.
1. Amazon video rentals... Awesome.. However it's $3 for most regular rentals and then more for HD. I'm still a bigger fan of RedBox $1 for anything... Amazon I might be holding out on your steep prices.
2. Netflix the same as everything else... other than the interface is really simple and ugly like the PS3 interface. It's not as easy to navigate and search like the X Box 360 or on your computer.
3. Youtube which is cool.
4. Picas pictures which is neat but almost useless in some cases.
5. iPhone/iPod doc that allows audio and video playback. Very cool, it charges and doesn't display the "this accessory is not made to work with your device" message.
6. Blue ray, DVD, burned DVD's etc.
7. Two fiber optic inputs that allow you to plug in your infamous HD DVD player or some other audio sources. Would have liked to see HDMI here... LG has it.
8. Viera Link which is cool if you have a Panasonic TV like I do. It turns the stuff on off etc by communicating over the HDMI cable.
9. The sound is AMAZING for as cheap as this unit is. The speakers are crisp and clear. Very nice surround sound. I had a Sony STR-K750P, and this Panasonic system is way better.Overall the packaging was slick with everything well packaged for shipment. I couldn't find the electronic version of the manual online anywhere. The specs say it's wireless ready, which means it has a USB port on the back that you have to pay $100 to get the $5 Panasonic WIFI dongle. Total rip off. I just hard wired.
The menus are not quite as elegant as the Apple TV, it also has this hard switch thing.. Basically if you need to adjust any settings, it unloads the web content dashboard thing, then takes you back to the DVD menu. So there is a bit of a lag making adjustments. I don't understand why they just didn't layer the menus and then reload if your settings require it. It also has some sort of quick on feature. Basically if you start it up from scratch, AKA no power supplied, it takes about 30 seconds to boot.. So they added this quick boot thing which makes the unit run in some kind of a standby. It tells you it will consume slightly more power while in this mode. I did have a couple times where the web interface streaming thing had garbled text, I tried powering on off, but it doesn't fully reboot if you use the quick boot. In order to get it to fully reboot, you have to turn it off, then unplug the power and re-connect.
The manual isn't very descriptive and there is a lot of technical jargon as you wade deeper into the settings. Lots of color control, bit level, sound stuff, display stuff etc.
It does have the capability to adjust the surround and EQ levels while playing. It's not entirely intuitive, and the manual is wrong, but it works. When you use the buttons on the bottom of the remote to adjust the surround, it displays on little screen on the unit, the levels. In the manual it tells you to use up and down to adjust these. I must have wasted 20 minutes on this part before I tried left and right and then it worked. Looks like Panasonic needs an updated manual. The firmware on the unit is 1.0 which hopefully means there will be some software updates sooner than later. It would be nice to see layered settings menus, and they have some room on the dash board for new content.
The unit is so new that if you use a Logitec Harmony remote, it won't detect your unit yet. I had to use the older model Bt-300 or something to get my Logitec remote to work.
anyhow.. thats my review... Enjoy!

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Get your home theater going right out of the box with the Panasonic SC-BT330 home entertainment system, which includes a Blu-ray Disc player/amplifier plus a complete 5.1-channel surround sound speaker system. The Kelton subwoofer adds impact to your movies and music with dramatic deep bass, while the two tallboy front speakers add dramatic visual impact to your home theater.

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Panasonic VIERA X1 Series TC-P50X1 50-Inch 720p Plasma HDTV Review

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(More customer reviews)Purchased for our master bedroom, the Panasonic TC-P50X1 50" 720p has true brilliant color, impressive blacks, great resolution (looks like a 1080p to me and I am a picky engineer), surprisingly good sound and great looks. It sports the lowest price per square inch of screen area and beats LCDs hands down with its 600Hz refresh rate (absolutely no motion blur) and looks the same no matter where you are in the room. After considerable research, the TC-P50X1 was the clear choice due to its price, performance and appearance. A super buy.

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50" Plasma, 720p, 3 HDMI, Native contrast ratio 30,000:1, Dynamic contrast infinite black 2,000,000:1, Game Mode, Anti Reflective Filter, 600 Hz Subfield Drive

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Panasonic VIERA G10 Series TC-P50G10 50-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV Review

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(More customer reviews)The P50G10 is my second HD Plasma experience, the first being a 2004 Panasonic, which still looks and works quite well. It has found another spot in our home to make room for the new G10 in our family room. When searching for and finally selecting the new Panasonic G10, I was comparing choices against this first experience considering both the manufacturer and the plasma technology. While I have a few smaller sized LCD's, mostly in the 20-32" range, I have never been overly impressed with the picture. The seem a bit cartoonish, even in HD mode, so I quickly settled on a plasma as my technology choice. Having made that decision the alternatives in terms of manufacturers narrowed quickly. Wh Pioneer exiting the Plasma business, and considering my experience with my original Panasonic plasma the brand decision was made. Selecting which model from Panasonic boiled down to scouring the 2009 product announcements and available reviews (CNET), and making the trade-offs on size, cost and availability. This all led me to the P50G10, which was a good fit on all points.
I have had the unit installed and working for 4 weeks now, and must say its been an extremely satisfying time. The G10 is a major step up, from my previous plasma, in terms of picture, inputs i.e. 3 HDMI vs 1, and ability to control each picture setting independently. I have tweaked the picture setting on the Standard and THX settings a bit to sharpen and brighten the picture a bit, but most of the other settings are very good out of the box. As the unit is stand mounted, and in a room with mostly indirect and overhead lighting there are no issues with glare or light reflection, from the main glass or its glossy black bezel.
In the process I also moved up to a Panasonic BMP-BD60 (will write a separate review on it) Blu Ray player and the 1080P picture is nothing short of amazing. As these are both Panasonic units they inter-operate with VieraLink which simplifies and automates the way the two units operate together, a nice but not essential feature. I setup a Wireless ethernet bridge (Linksys WET54G) to feed the VieraCast function on the G10, and it works flawlessly. At this time the amount of content available is limited, but one can see the potential, if Panasonic can bring more content services to this function. The G10 does employ a set of power consumption controls. There are both Input Idle and In-Activity based auto-power off modes to save on power consumption, which is good as plasma's are a bit power hungry.
To be balanced the G10 does have a few shortcomings. The sound from the onboard speakers is a bit thin. You can mitigate this some by pumping up the Bass control and turning on the Bass Boost, but its just not a rich sound experience. I think Panasonic can do better with some higher quality speakers and a small sub-woofer. I, and I suspect most others, have a surround system connected and utilize it for a better sound experience.
I also preferred when Panasonic placed the additional inputs into a trap door on the front of the plasma, the G10 has these on the left (facing) edge. To me it was more convenient and accessible to have these set of inputs up-front.
All in all, the G10 is a high quality Plasma with terrific features and future expandability. If offers a near perfect picture across multiple inputs and types of content.


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50" Plasma, 1080p, THX, Viera Cast, H.264, IP Camera Ready, PC Input, NEO PDP Panel which is brighter, Full-time 1080p TV lines of moving picture resolution, 3 HDMI, Native contrast ratio 40,000:1, Dynamic contrast infinite black 2,000,000:1, Game Mode, Anti Reflective Filter, 600 Hz Subfield Drive

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