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- My rating: 0 stars
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17 out of 17 people found this review helpful
4.0 stars
"Pretty damn giddy! I love this baby!"
Pros: 50", 2 HDMI, vibrant, safe buy
Cons: No tuner, wont turn on all the time, no support
Summary: I own the P50 for about 3 months now, and I had a Maxent 42", and a Panasonic 32" HDTV DVI CRT side by side in our den.
I had the Pana 32 CRT for 2 years, paid $400 for it (floor demo) and was pretty happy with the CRT HDTV images, a news.com article said (http://tinyurl.com/gpaa6) CRTs still had the best picture. I also refused to pay thousands for a 42 plasma or LCD.
But when I saw the P50 drop in price a few times in a few months, from $2500 to $2100 to $1900 now at sam's, I had to bite.
I first bought the Maxent 42 for $1399 and then enjoyed that for a few weeks. But then I quickly found 1 HDMI input to be a challenge.
Then my wife said "dont they make bigger ones?" Yeah. But they cost more.
"How much more?" About $700 more.
"Why dont you do that? I'll pay the extra $700" So I borrowed my friend's Tacoma pickup and I got the Vizio P50.
Now I dont even turn on the Pana anymore and will probably sell it.
The Maxent was greenish, poor sound, and just looked to small and crappy next to the P50. So it went back to the warehouse.
I would have probably kept the Maxent as my first Plasma if I hadn't brought home a P50.
Pros:
- 50 inches
- 2 HDMI inputs
- Friendly remote
- Nice external appearance
- Faroujda built-in, but not sure when it works or not.
- easy and safe buy at local warehouses.
Cons:
- sometimes powers on with no image, just green power light, have to flip inputs HD1->HD2 and back to 'wake it up.' HDMI CP issue?
- read that some expreience loud fan noise issues, but I can't tell.
- emailed tech support and never heard back.
- need a pickup truck to bring it home, but still easier to transport than my heavy Pana 32" CRT.
- no tuner. This is a HDTV Monitor. Not a problem since my cable provider requires a box anyway.
- runs pretty warm, and eats electric.
I was originally worried that SD programming would look worse than on my CRT, but its not too bad. But I also watch less of it, as its hard to watch once you see HD.
You do have to subscribe the the HD package from your local Time Warner or other cable provider, as SD is too boring now.
I'm using a number of devices with it, including a Explorer 8300HD DVR, DVD upscaling players from Panasonic, LG, Oppo, Zenith, Samsung, Toshiba and Phillips.
I just got the RCA HDV5000 HD-DVD player yesterday, and so will have to checkout Last Samurai on this tonight.
Gave it a score of 8 as I dont think I'm qualified to give 10, since its only my 2nd Plasma. I suspect Pana, Pioneer, Sony, LG or Samsung may be better if I put them side by side? But I've been watching the ads for them and they are all averaging about $1k more, for the same 50". So I'm pretty happy, even with $2k missing from my wallet.
I almost went for the Vizio 42" LCD on sale with coupon last week for $1399 for our bedroom, but I saw it on display, and its not as bright and crisp, and didnt like the screen door effect. For $600 more, the P50 is
waaaay better buy. But that I even considered another Vizio means I'm pretty happy with the P50.
I showed my brother in law INHD and HDnet In Theaters and Bikini Destinations, and now he's talking about how to drill the wall mount in his living room.
All I want now is to get NGC, PBS, and TVjapan to broadcast HD. Just watching NBC and ABC HD programming gets tiring fast.
- 1 reply to this review
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You are commenting on the P50HDM, and not the P50HDTV. The difference being the HDM is in fact a monitor with no tuner, while the P50HDTV (which is the TV being judged here) does in fact have a tuner and therefore is listed as a TV.
