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"Fantastic HDTV!" on by glwalston
Pros: Great picture. Easy to use right out of the box. Good connectivity. 1080p and contrast ratios are stunning.
Cons: Perceived cons are: No THX setting, No PC input, No ethernet connection for Viera Cast, inaccurate color decoding in respect to green.
Summary: For almost 3 months I was completely decided I was going to buy the G10 series until I really started thinking about the major differences. After this went on sale for under $650 at a local retailer on a Black Friday deal, I pulled the trigger on this. I was a bit nervous at first, but let's start off with the "perceived cons" which I think will lead to some "pros" about this set... 1.) No THX/inaccurate color in regard to greens. After some personal calibration and tweaking contrast, tint, color and sharpness, this set looks completely stunning. It renders a picture very very close to the D65 standard. Which is amazing to say the least. No color issues at all.
2.) No PC input. When the input itself isn't a 1080 connection, you are going to lose some of that allure to begin with. However, I have a PC laptop that has a HDMI out connection on it and I have viewed a video from my laptop on the new Panasonic. Problem solved.
3.) No ethernet hookup for Viera Cast. Well if you are going to buy this TV, then you are going to buy a blu ray player, its just that simple. I bought the Panasonic BD 60 blu ray player and it has a LAN connection for... wait for it... Viera Cast.. on my TV. Problem solved. So internet connectivity is there and works well.
4.) There also seems to be folks who knock the sound output on the built in speakers. Let's just say this... if you buy any HDTV and expect to watch tv out of its built in speakers and be amazed then you have another thing coming. For what they are, they sound fine, but I'm not expecting to watch any movie out of these things.
For everything else about this TV I would say this is a fantastic value and after seeing how you can get around all the other features on higher priced sets, I don't see why you would pay more... especially considering the G10 and the S1 share the same display panel. I would definitely recommend trying HDMI cables that work to your liking. You definitely get what you pay for. Cheapo deapo cables just don't cut it.
I am very happy with this set and it replaces an old tube tv that was way too bulky! :) It looks great in the living room and I'm glad I made this purchase. So far, with every football game and movie I have watched so far it looks amazing.
Happy shopping! -
"Best plasma for the $." on by KoiDragon
Pros: Great image quality. 1080p w/ 600hz refresh rate. Plenty of inputs. SD Card slot.
Cons: No analog/RCA audio out. (-1 star for this)
Summary: I bought this tv second-hand from a company that contracts for special events and no longer needed it after only 10 hours of use. Needless to say, it is well worth the $550 I had to pay, but also worth the $800 it currently retails for if you buy it new.
I don't agree with Cnets color temp recommendation though. Maybe its my hd cable signal, or maybe it's the tv, but I find the cool temp to have the best color reproduction for fleshtones. A quick adjustment to the other color and lighting within the settings and the rest of the colors onscreen become vibrant and beautiful.
My only con is that it only has an optical audio output. This won't be a problem when I upgrade my old sony home theatre system, but for now I'm stuck either using the tv speakers for my ps3, or opting for a digital-analog converter for another $100. Otherwise, this would definitely be a 5-star for me.
I think plasmas got a bad rep from the problems of the early models. IMO, the new plasmas are much better than lcd and rival the new led tvs... add the fact the the prices are falling on these sets and you just can't go wrong. My wife usually watches our Vizio lcd in the bedroom and now likes to sit in the living room with me to watch tv. She thinks the colors are much more vibrant and enjoyable to watch than the lcd, and I agree. -
"Almost perfect right out of the box!" on by RickisinVirginia
Pros: Amazing picture, couldn't be happier. Bought it at Sears in Falls Church VA for $899. Easy to set up although procedures seemed a little convoluted. The picture says it all! Remember to purchase HDMI cable separately; one doesn't come with the TV.
Cons: Sound would cut out 1-2 seconds. Known problem and owners can download updated firmware to an SD card to load into TV. Some less savvy owners might have a problem doing that. Panasonic tech support was excellent and the hold time was minimal.
Summary: There are SO many HD TVs "out there" it is hard to know what to buy. Based on good reviews, we choose the Panasonic S1 series and are very glad we did.
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"Stopped working because of a common failure point." on by colleran9
Pros: nothing when it doesn't work
Cons: 16 months after normal use the TV stops turning on because of a bad video board/power source. Apparently this is a common issue. Talking to Panasonic was useless.
Summary: This product has reliability issues and Panasonic will not help...they should issue a recall or extend warranty for this issue. Don't buy this TV.
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"excellent picture quality" on by bigdrummy
Pros: If you set color temperature to normal,the problem with greens goes away!Everything is balanced and natural.
Cons: Absolutely none
Summary:
I have since came to the conclusion that C-net's picture settings are better.I use it exactly as they stated and the picture is great! I really can't tell that there is a green tint at all.Maybe some setting in the back panel for "pro use only" was out of whack.I've had this T.V. for several months now and absolutely love it.One of my friends loved the picture so much,he went out & bought the same model!
Updated on Mar 22, 2010
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