Panasonic Viera TH-50PX80U 50-Inch 720p Plasma HDTV

bought from amazon and tv was shipped very quickly. it was damaged during shipping and amazon replaced it right away. I was bloown away by this customer service. As far as the plasma tv, set up was a breeze. I also bought a sony audio system and connected it to the tv. The clarity of the tv is simply amazing. Having looked at other brands and many price ranges for all the tv sets I feel this tv has a excellent picture with no burn in or shadow problems like other people describe. The remote is quite easy to understand. At present I am very satisfied with this product and would discourage anybody from paying twice as much for 1080 and for the new models. Go for last years models,save your money and buy an audio system to get the home theatre feel. Thanks again amazon for good prices and great products.

Forget about 1080p - it just doesn't matter for a screen this size or smaller. The set actually has a 1080p processor, but a 720p display. I saw this one next to the 1080p model running off the same feed and this set looked better. If you see this in the store, do not go by the terrible picture you see. Their feeds are horrible, and the settings on the set are set to vivid (which is totally off for colors/brightnress, etc).

Go to avsforum dot com and search for the thread on this particular model. Several people have posted settings that make this TV pop.

Here's my take on my set with only 50 hours of break in (plasma sets get better with time - 100-200 hours is the break in period)

Pros:
1. Picture - HDTV is outstanding, DVDs are better, and I have yet to get Blu-Ray. Standard def tv is pretty good on this set, though once we added the HD channels to our cable package, we no longer watch any sd programming except the kids, who watch cartoons (and they look good on this set). Out of the box settings are not opimal, check the avsforum for specifics. Once the settings are changed, this set will look better than most twice the price.
2. Sound - Yes, the sound is good. Good as any tube tv, just don't use the bass boost as some distortion can occur. We use the tv speakers for everyday use and a surround system for movies.
3. Reflections - Hardly any that we notice. We upgraded from a tube tv, so this is infinately better. Our room is dark, so that was not an issue.
4. Motion - Zero blur! All (yes even 120Hz) LCDs suffer from this to some extent. This set does not - excellent for sports.
5. Viewing angle - almost 180 degrees - without loss of color (yet another deficit of LCD tvs).
6. Size - Perfect for my seating of 7-13 feet.
7. Asthetics - Nice looking addition to the family room.
8. Gaming - XBOX360 is 100 times better than the tube - blows it away!

Cons:
1. Because of this set, I find myself spending too much time watching shows I would never have watched before - thanks Panasonic...

I am having a hard time finding anything wrong with this set. You cannot find a better set for this price. Those who give this set less than 5 stars have not adjusted their sets properly or are not rating the set, but vendor problems (IMHO).I'm willing to say that this is better than 95% of the sets out there. Calibrated correctly, this set just rocks!

Very happy with the service. Delivery was fine, and I received a refund after the price dropped. Good job Amazon! As far as the TV goes; setup was easy, picture is great, sound is good, 720p is a non issue for me, glare problems are minimal even in my south facing family room, and my HD reception is amazing with my good old attic antenna....I mean AMAZING!!! This is a very good product and I see little reason to spend substantially more money for marginal improvements. BUY IT.

Panasonic's 50" Viera plasma is an astounding hdtv, the picture is excellent with great black levels and rich, realistic colors when calibrated. I have owned a 1080p lcd (which btw cost me twice as much) for the past year and this plasma is superior in every way. Burn-in and image retention only occur when settings are cranked, i.e. vivid mode, and it is pretty much non-existent under the cinema settings which look better anyway. Yes, it is 720p but at this size it is not a problem; the price gap is huge for the full 1080p and I don't recommend the pricier model unless you happen to have the extra cash. Overall I must say this is one of the best deals out there for an hdtv with size and quality. DVD's, Blu-Rays and hi-def games all look great on this Viera and I could not ask for more. In other words, just buy it.

I purchased this plasma from back in Sept of 2007 for $1649.00 Great price at the time but now they are like $1100--which is even better. I also just purchased the 42" TH-C42HD18 for $799.00 this past week. Another great plasma.

Just to keep it simple, Panasonic makes a great plasma for a great price. All the reviews that are out there rank it amoung the best, if not the best, in its class. Is it the best out there? Depending on what you read or who reviews it, its always in the top 3.

I debated between Samsung, Sharp, and Pansonic. I cant stand the shinny black bezel of Samsung because it reflects light. Panasonic has anti glare screens and "flat black" bezel color and I very minimal reflections, which is extremely important because of the windows and lighting where my plasma sits. I think a lot of people overlook that aspect. Price, reviews, and value came into play and I Panasonic came out on top. I also sell LCDs and Plasmas in my business and Panasonic is one of my favorites. I have a customer who has 200 of them over the past 2 years and not one has failed--the commerical version. Its a very solid product. I have the 50" mounted above a fireplace with a tilt mount. Have had it for almost a year now and no complaints. The 1080p flavor is actually the same price I paid for my 720p a year ago. The whole 720 vs. 1080p thing can be debated but Im not a TV junky and happy with the 720p flavor considering the 1080p was $700 more at the time.

If you want a great quality plasma and a good price, this is a good solution.