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

Just purchased this product at HH Gregg for $1,000 and love it. I have a 50" Sony 1080p LCD and prefer this 720p so much better. The contrasts are amazing! The remote is wonderful and the JUST feature makes the screen size always fit the screen (no annoying black bars beside and above like on the Sony). Would definately recommend to anyone.

I've had this TV for a little over a week and it's been great. I replaced an HD CRT (Sony 36" XBR) and was nervous that I wouldn't see the same picture quality. I chose plasma over LCD b/c I believe it provides a better picture (not so harsh or sterile - more lifelike) and I haven't been disappointed. DVDs and HD content are stunning, and, surprisingly, the SD content I watch (from Dish Network) ain't too bad, either.

I decided to save money by going 720p instead of 1080p and, at least until I have a Blu-Ray player, I am 100% satisfied with that decision: the 720p looks just great over a wide variety of sources (Dish, DVD, OTA HD).

The anti-reflective coating works, at least for me in my family room, as promised. In fact, we have a white ottoman about 8 feet from the TV and I noticed I could see its reflection in the bezel *around* the TV (shiny black plastic) but not on the TV itself.

Availability on this TV from Amazon comes and goes - I made sure to buy from them and wasn't disappointed. The free delivery was professional and on-time and they took it out of the box, plugged it in, made sure it worked, and offered to take the box.

If you buy from Amazon, be sure to keep an eye out on the price for a full 30 days after you buy it. I got mine on 3/31/08 for $1496 and it has dropped in price twice since then (now $1436). Amazon promptly refunded me both times - the second time within *five* minutes of my request.

How do I feel about my new Panasonic 50px80u? I know the title of this review leaves that a little ambiguous, so let me clarify... I love it. This is my first big screen (moving from an Aquos 32") and I researched the heck out of this thing before I pulled the trigger.

I looked at Samsung, Sony, Sharp, Pioneer, and Vizio before settling on Panasonic as the perfect blend of performance and price. I wanted to go 50" or above, and I needed to spend somewhere between $1,500 and $2,000. Normally, I do most of my electronics shopping at Costco because they have the best return policy and their prices are normally competitive with online stores such as Amazon. But unfortunately, Costco is still selling the 50px77u and hasn't begun to sell the 50px80u, and I wasn't about to wait for months to get the big screen.

After looking online and trying to get reviews (cnet has been excruciatingly slow with this model) and seeing it in person at Circuit City, I decided that I had seen enough positive reviews to make my decision. Finally, I went to Vanns and ordered it for $1,499.98 (Amazon's prices are like a yo-yo - $1420 one day, $1520 the next). A week later, it shows up at my house, and I put it together. YES!

So the picture looks great. The SD card slot in the front is convenient and pretty sweet. High def from Directv looks great and even standard def isn't bad. I popped in the complementary copy of 300 into my HD-DVD player and sat back transfixed by the picture. I'm not sure what more can be gained by 1080p because 720p looks absolutely fantastic and I see no pixelation whatsoever. I'd rather have a 720p set with accurate colors than some 1080p set with strange blues, greens, and reds, and this Panasonic set looks as true as can be.

In short, I'd definitely recommend the TH-50PX80U to anyone looking for a great picture at a reasonable price. You can pay more, but I doubt you'll get more. If you enjoy the prestige of hanging and paying for a Sony, then by all means, do it. But if you want a great set at a great price, look no further.

I picked this set up from Video Only about two weeks ago and I'm really loving it. It's my first big flat panel TV and I also upgraded to a new receiver and BluRay player as well. I purchased a nice 3 shelf stand the TV actually bolts onto, so it's mounted in the air, but not to the wall.

Everything is black and really looks sharp!

But one thing I noticed, especially today when it's hot, is that my tv is cranking out heat like crazy. The top along the back is so hot I can hardly touch it and you can stand back about 5 feet and literally feel the heat coming off this thing.

I'm going back to the store tomorrow to check the tv on display, but either way I think this one's going back. Do all plasmas run this hot or just the Panasonics?

Would appreciate anyone else posting here if there's runs really hot as well. Other than that, I love it.

Thanks for reading.

Greg

Few models I considered before purchasing this one were

Samsung 50 inch plasmas HT 5054 (1299 $), 5064 (1400$) the 56 inch LED DLP (1499$) and LG 5PCD 50 inch plasma( 1249$).

I am glad I chose this model as in terms of look and clarity , I doubt if any model in the market can beat this. My uncle has Sony XBR 52 inch LCD and this PLASMAS is as good as that. Even a microscope would find it hard to decipher the difference.

This is as good as it gets ! I bought mine for 1419 from Amazon. They raised the price to 1519 the next day :)

Pros :- Excellent picture , SD card slot , Not too heavy ( I had Philips 42 inch Plasma which was twice as heavy), great looks (black glossy frame), very good set of inputs , nice intuitive remote, Excellent SD picture as well infact some channels look as good as HD !!

Cons :- No PIP , No glow on the remote buttons.

In spite of these minor cons, I am very very happy. I would end up buying it again given a choice. :)