Best Buy Lcd HDTV Blog

Top of the line
I bought this set about 6 months ago. Before buying I did extensive research at avsforum. Great source of information audio and video equipment. I cannot be any happier about my choice.
When it was delivered, the shipper unpacked and did the initial setup to be sure it worked. At first the pic was below expectations until I realized my cable company was not broadcasting in HD. Once I started supplying a HD signal to the set I couldn't believe my eyes. The picture was awesome. Picture setup is a breeze with the optional Avia calibration disc. It was pretty close to perfect right from the factory. All functions are easily attended to thru the OSD menus. Peripheral hookups are adequate and easy. Factory sound is good enough for me. I imagine a home theatre sound system could be a big plus as well.
Size matters........It's a 50 inch set !!! My wife thought I was crazy going this big. It sounds huge I know, but the biggest mistake people can make here is buying too small. She loves it. Buy as big as your budget and/or space will allow. It is worth it.
Absolutely no complaints.......excellent unit.

Beware Panasonic
I bought a Panasonic plasma 2 years ago and it died for no reason. It will now cost 00 for the board just to fix it. The TV repairman said he has never seen such a high cost for a replacement board. Multiple different board tried without luck. Still waiting.

Panasonic TH-50PZ700U 50-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV
Excellent. TV came quickly with no damage, which was a concern because of its size and delicacy!!

top of the line, beware burn in gamers!
straight up, i did my research for about a year while i saved money. this is the best set you will find for your money, everything you've read about it is true, except one thing. Burn-in. Gamers beware. Even if you watch HD-TV with a symbol in the corner like 'TLC' you'll get burn in if the icon doesn't move. I have this set and a good friend does too. what really upsets me is playing my ps3 through this. Sharp as a razor yes. adding a static wallpaper for a custom theme though is a BAD idea. Try it, you'll see. then play some music and turn the visualizer on. if you cant see the burn in, then get your eyes checked. play rock band or guitar hero FOR AN HOUR (which is'nt hard to do), turn any white background on, look for the game icon burn ins (rock meter, etc). Generally they go away after a couple hours, but its frustrating. BOTH my set and my good friend's set do the same thing. even a half hour of a static image will create burn in. Granted its better now a days than it used to be, at least it goes away after some time.... if you're a gamer, pick up the sharp aquos. no burn-in on an lcd set; and the runner up as far as a great picture goes (reds are a little funny at times though). Reviews are slightly lower, but hell, you could at least leave a game system on pause without havening to worry about switching the inputs to avoid burn in. Im serious folks. take heed. great set, bad for gamers and burn-in. sharp as a razor though....

Incredible picture, Incredible HDTV
This Panasonic Plasma HDTV is simply an incredible product. The picture quality stands out as nothing short of impressive. I found this HDTV to strike the perfect balance between excellent quality and price. After months of searching for a quality product to invest my money in, this HDTV does not disappoint.

While there has been some history of people expressing concern about the picture brightness of plasma flat-panels (i.e. being too dim), I have found this Panasonic to provide ample brightness of picture. As a matter of fact, a description in my house of the picture is how the colors "glow." Of course this is referring the the brighter colors. This leads me to another aspect of the picture, the darker colors. This is where this plasma really stands out. The darker colors are well defined with deep blacks. The grays and blacks are well delineated. For someone who likes to view a lot of movies, the strength of it's display of darker colors is something that I have found impressive. Additionally, the plasma is excellent in it's display of motion. For a sports fan, such as myself, this plasma does an excellent job of displaying the motion of sports.

Also of note with this plasma is that the performance of the speakers turned out to be a pleasant surprise. One of my wife's first comments about this Panasonic was the good quality of sound from it's speakers.

After having this Panasonic for about 4 months, I've had no problems with this product and have found it to be free of defects.

While I've spent much time providing a "glowing" review of this set, I'll turn to any perceived weaknesses. They are few, and I almost have to search for them.

One of the main weaknesses that I found is the need for tender, love & care that the plasma requires. Specifically, plasmas can be at danger for screen "burn-in" by leaving a static image on the screen for too long. While I have not had any burn-in problems, I do remain vigilant about not leaving the tv on while unattended. At least this helps me to save on my electricity bill as these HDTVs are known to be energy hogs. As a precaution, I do not leave letterbox shows on the screen for hours uninterrupted. My complaint regarding this weakness is that the manual mentions image retention/screen burn-in, but the manual does not clearly define the length of time before there is danger of burn-in.

One last weakness that I found is that there are only 2 HDMI connection ports. While that is just enough for me, it would be nice to have an extra just in case.

In conclusion, I am extremely impressed with this Panasonic plasma. I am really glad that I choose this set, and my family and I get much enjoyment out of it. I view this set as being worth every penny that I paid for it. Panasonic has won me over.