 Outstanding TV |
| Review Date: September 6, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Tom D., Chicago, IL USA |
Before making my purchase I had narrowed down my choices to the Sony 52XBR9 LCD, the Samsung LN52B750 LCD, the Samsung PN50B860 plasma, and the Panasonic TC-P50V10 plasma. All had a superior picture, but I chose the Panasonic because:
1. The Sony & the Samsung LCDs' both had viewing angle issues. The pictures were superb from head-on, but definitely deteriorated as you moved to the side. The Sony was worse than the Samsung in this respect.
2. The LCDs' both had some motion artifact to my eye even with 240 Hz. The 240 Hz feature is after all an attempt to catch up to the plasmas, which have no motion problem at all.
3. Several online owner reviews on the Samsung plasma mentioned problems with buzzing and problems with Samsung's customer service. Also, several reviewers complained of the Samsung sound quality. There were no similar complaints with Panasonic. This steered me away from the Samsung plasma.
4. [..] and [...] both rated the Panasonic #1.
Now that I have the TV in my home, I can say that I am completely blown away by the picture quality. It is stunning. The sound is more than adequate. The TV itself looks great. You can see some reflection from the glass screen from certain angles, but only if you're looking for it. Panasonic's anti-glare screen seems to work fine. There is no motion artifact even with fast-moving sports like baseball and tennis. If you watch from an angle, there is no deterioration in the picture. I might mention that I put the TV on a BDI #9634 table, and the two look great together. I did a lot of shopping for tables too, and I thought the BDI tables were the best-looking and the best quality. |
The hype is right - this is Panasonic's best plasma yet!
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| Review Date: July 31, 2009 |
| Reviewer: D. Bouley, Hartford, CT |
I'm writing this as the former owner of Panasonic's 46" 800U plasma.
This tv is fantastic. The picture quality is nothing short of amazing; [post break-in] image retention has been decreased significantly from last year's models; 96Hz 1080p/24 mode has eliminated flicker, and 48Hz mode is still selectable for those who prefer the cinematic look; MANY more settings to be adjusted (even though some whine about what they're called); energy-star compliant. I am surprised at just how much better the picture quality got from the 800u to the V10 series. My only complaint is that the speakers are not as good as the 800u...not that it matters, as I have other equipment to handle my audio.
The software is fine. The picture is the best you'll get now that the Kuro is dead. Unless you can afford Panasonic's Z1, buy THIS TV!!
ETA: HD Guru has just deemed the V10 the King of HDTVs. Long live the King! |
Phenomenal Picture out of the Box, Wish it had Netflix and wasn't so ugly . . .
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| Review Date: October 31, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Nick da Scholar, The Middle of Nowhere, NY |
I've owned the TV for about a week and a half now and I can't wait any longer to write a review. The bottom line is that the picture quality looks absolutely amazing out of the box. HD content looks absolutely incredible. I'd give it six stars if it streamed Netflix (or maybe even if VieraCast had another interesting option) and if it looked a little sharper on Standard Definition content (oh, yeah, and if Amazon let me give it six stars :-). But at the end of the day, if you're dropping this kind of money on a TV, you probably have a Blu Ray player and HD cable and you're going to be blown away by the experience. And I do mean experience -- because watching high definition content on this TV is tantamount to a religious experience.
Let me first mention that this is not the TV that I wanted. I wanted the Samsung PN50B860. It is less expensive, it has better streaming options (important for me because I only have Internet service, no cable TV) and it looks a hell of a lot cooler. But I couldn't get past one review after another that lamented the horrible buzz of the Samsungs and the fact that every independent comparison that I read more or less said that the Samsung's picture quality was not quite awesome and that this TV was more or less the 2009 king of HDTV. After spending a good deal of time sifting through reviews and staring at screens in the electronics stores, I couldn't get away from the fact that the picture on the Panasonic TC-P50V10 was not disputed. No one claimed it was less than the best. I should say that I think the styling on this TV is almost downright ugly. It doesn't hold a candle to the way the Samsung looks. The "one sheet of glass" thing doesn't do it for me at all. But, my girlfriend gave me the push I needed when she asked me one rhetorical question: Which is going to matter more -- the way it looks when it is turned off, or the way it looks when it's turned on? Sold.
As I don't have cable television or a Blu-Ray player, my first move was to use VieraCast to watch an HD movie or two (or 7 or 8) via Amazon on Demand. Contrary to the one negative review on here, I found the content to load quickly and the menus to be simple to navigate. I may suggest some changes on Amazon's end -- but nothing I would change on Panasonic's end. I take that back -- there are TWO things I would change on Panasonic's end. The reason I just decided to change "ease of use" to 4 stars is because of the fact that they grey out some menu options in some playback modes. Why is there not a timer available when the TV is in VieraCast mode?!?? I really want to speed up this first 100 or 200 hour break-in period and it would be really helpful if I could rent a movie and leave it to play and use a timer so it will go off. I'd also like to be able to fall asleep watching a movie now and then as this TV is currently in my bedroom. That is probably my only major complaint about this TV. But that problem is likely not something that will concern most people thinking about buying this set. The other small grievance I have is that when you spend almost seveteen hundred smackers on a TV, can't it just come wireless out of the box? I still haven't picked up a wireless access point, so I'm running a stupid ethernet cable up the wall and upstairs to where the TV is. Dumb. But in no way a dealbreaker.
More importantly -- picture quality is absolutely superb. I don't know if I can say enough about it. When I first looked at TVs in a store, the pop of the colors on an LED screen looked really cool to me. Once someone pointed out the terrible exaggeration of the colors (blue smoke coming from a volcano....and pink lava), I realized that the constant brightness might get old after a while. Now that I have this TV, I absolutely realize that this was a correct analysis. I like looking at a bright LCD in the store....but you absolutely can not beat the cinematic quality of the picture on this screen. The colors are rich and deep and it gives a depth to the picture that you just won't get if the screen is blinding you with light. I actually feel like I'm in a movie theater when I watch this television....and personally, I don't think you can beat having a movie theater experience at home. I literally order snowcaps by the case here in Amazon and I can sit at home and feel like a king watching this set. And that is keeping it on low settings to break it in -- I can't wait until I am a couple hundred hours in and I tweak the settings. My only picture quality complaint is a small amount of blotchiness in the blacks that I've noticed in some dark backgrounds (Gothika and Law & Order). I've chalked it up to not being broken in and not being on the top settings (and to the fact that I was streaming those things on the Internet). We'll see if that improves - and I'll be sure to come back and update either way. But by and large, you can't beat the way that the colors in general seem to pop into your lap and make you feel like you are actually inside the movie.
All that said, I have been a little unimpressed with the picture quality when watching some standard-definition content (from Amazon on Demand and from a laptop via HDMI connection). I still haven't hooked up my regular old DVD player, but my hopes aren't real high for my old DVDs until I get a good Blu-Ray player that will upconvert them nicely. I look forward to that day . . . because I own more than 500 movies on DVD and a lot of seasons. I definitely do want to enjoy them on my new big screen, and I hope that works out well when I decide on a Blu-Ray player. When I do, I'll be back to update this.
A note on value -- do some shopping around. As I write this on 10/31/09, I can say that I got this TV at a more than twenty-one percent discount from the Amazon price or the price of other big name brick and motar stores. Take a look at some of the retailers who sell on Amazon.....they have their own sites and their own deals. The TV arrived via UPS (sure, no white glove delivery service....but my girlfriend and I were able to carry the TV in and set it up ourselves...it wasn't worth the extra cost....and even if I had chosen the white-glove service, it still would have been significantly cheaper). Don't be afraid to call a dealer and ask how much better they can do.....most of them have price-match programs and so on. I did very very little haggling to get the price into the range I wanted. In fact, I really just named the price I wanted to pay and I paid it. Keep that in mind.
Changing gears, I have read a number of complaints about the sound quality of this television. My first thought every time I read this type of comment is "Who drops anywhere near two G's on a TV and doesn't either already have or plan to buy a home theater setup? Do these people honestly use the TV's speakers? Do they expect a TV that is 3 or 4 inches thick to sound like the IMAX?" That said, I don't have mine hooked up to any type of sound system right now and I have to report that it sounds awesome. As a former DJ who owns a surround system for both home theater and one for a computer (and the necessary pieces to run my computer through the home theater), I have to say that the TV speakers sound pretty darn good to me. Granted, I have the TV in a bedroom at the moment (and not a huge bedroom at that) and my expectations were not IMAX sound. This TV's built-in sound exceeds my expectations....but I don't plan to use it for very long -- and seriously, neither should you. Buy some sound equipment.
Last, but not least, burn-in/image retention. So far, it's nonexistent. My girlfriend has driven me a little batty a couple of times by watching YouTube videos without fullscreening them (thereby keeping a static menu on the left for a while). We have slid through hundreds of movies on the Amazon on Demand menus with static images on the top and bottom. We rented one movie from Amazon that was in High Def but was letterboxed (why?!?!? -- and why can't I change the setting and zoom it to get rid of the letterbox when I'm using VieraCast?!?!?). Neither has caused even a HINT of a problem. I'm still being overly cautious whenever I can be.....but I have not had the slightest hint of image retention/burn-in. This seems to be the quality product that one would expect when one spends this kind of money.
All in all, I give the Panasonic TC-P50V10 an emphatic stamp of approval. I'm thrilled with my purchase. I went to the mall last night and cheated on my baby a bit looking at how pretty the Samsungs look....but at the end of the day, my girlfriend was right - I want the TV that knocks my socks off when it's on. I have heard ZERO sound from the V10 (no buzz) and I have noticed no heat (supposedly all plasmas produce it?). The picture is gorgeous and VieraCast is OK. I look forward to VierCast updates -- and if they don't come, I'll get a Netflix-enabled Blu-Ray player. You should buy this TV, just don't pay full price. I know I won't regret it any time soon. |
Excellent
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| Review Date: September 8, 2009 |
| Reviewer: K. Mir, Toronto, Canada |
I have been looking around for a tv for a long time and googled best tv. This brought me to Cnet's review of tv's where this tv was an editors choice. I will be honest with you, I would have been happy and impressed with pretty much any of the sony's or samsungs as well, but I am very happy with this tv for the last 2 months. The picture quality, as expected, is phenomenal.
I live in a one bedroom apt and the tv and its sound is perfect for the living room despite some people worrying about it. I tried listening for the fans, I couldnt hear them. The ability to purchase amazon dvd's and bluerays online from the tv and access to youtube is cool although I use the latter rarely.
I also just bought a ps3 slim and you can control it using this tv's controller using the viera link button and allowing for the link in the slim. That for me is probably the best thing about either the slim or this tv...not having to worry about that awful ps3 remote. I bought from wholesale av and they were good without any complaints, but any of the online sites are probably comprable. I wouldnt buy from best buy or any bricks and mortar store as you pay so much for nothing extra.
I was worried about spending [...] bucks on this but I am glad I did. I am not a tech junkie so I will likely have this for another 5 years or so and right now I am very happy with that. My only worry is that my electricity bill went from [...] dollars a month to [...]. Small price to pay for this excellent tv. |
Just awesome
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| Review Date: November 7, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Benjamin Keselowsky, |
| The Panasonic V10 50" is just awesome. This was my first HD tv so maybe I'm easy to impress, but all the reviews ([...] and Amazon) agreed that this is an incredible plasma tv. My concern about everyone's advice saying that LCD's may be better for a bright room had me a little worried about choosing a plasma. But after having it for a little over a month now, it's been great. Glare has not been a problem at all. I have it set up next to a wall with windows - only slight glare if trying to watch with full sun through the window. I purchased through Electronics Experience (~$1,700), for a great price and they proved very reliable sellers. |
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