When husband decided to change our 4 year old Sony Widescreen TV for an LCD from the same company - I told him to wait and look around. I also asked what's wrong with Plasmas. He told me he was unsure but had heard bad things - picture quality etc - so we decided to check it out first before making a mistake.
Off we went to Trafford Centre and looked around - we were given various bits of advice but the best received was in Selfridges. The sales man pointed out 2 TVs next to each other - he asked us to choose the best picture quality - we chose the Panasonic, the picture quality was unbelievably better compared to the LCD and the other plasmas next to it. So we decided to shop around.
Few weeks later we found one - the 50" all new Viera Panasonic Plasma - TH-50PZ70. I was a bit dubious - its huge -will it look out of place in our lounge? Well yes, and yes but who cares!!
We purchased the TV from Cramptons in Sheffield - it was the cheapest by far and we got a 5 year free warranty and a free surround sound system also. (We gave that to my parents as we already have a Sony surround sound and we are happy with it).
After getting it home, we put it on our TV unit, we were going to put it on the chimney breast wall but needed to get the bracket and had yet to order that!
So here goes the technical stuff!
MANUAL: Easy to read, lots of pretty diagrams showing
you what plugs in where if you have Sky/cable, DVD, surround sound system and your aerial. Runs through the set up, viewing guide, how to watch TV/Sky/DVDs, teletext all with easy step by step instructions. No problem - 5 out of 5!
STAND: It comes with its own pedestal stand which is easy to remove if you change your mind to hang it on the wall - and yes, you can hang this model on the wall without any problems! (You don't have to purchase the wall model like some of the other Panasonic TVs, this model is adaptable). You have to fix the pedestal onto the TV as it is separate in the box - but it is easy to fix.
SET UP: The TV has an auto set up and searches and stores the channels automatically. You can even put in your own user ID should you wish to.
PICTURE: WOW - what can I say, its crisp, its clear - the blacks on the picture are unbelievable. We could tell the difference immediately to our old TV. Plus if you are watching a HD/Blu-ray movie - the picture becomes even more clearer - its the best I have seen. (Friends/Family have other manufacturers plasmas/lcd TVs and this knocks the socks off them by miles!)
Tip: We did purchase a few blu-ray DVDs as we have a Playstation 3. Yes they are unbelievably great, picture clarity etc. BUT with the Playstation 3 you can actually upgrade your picture quality on a normal DVD to get the HD quality - and yes it does improve it (Our Panasonic 80gb Hard Drive is only used now to record off TV, we play everything through our Playstation).
FREEVIEW: Built in and autotunes in and updates programmes as and when.
INTERESTING STUFF: You can Freeze/unfreeze your picture (never done it and not sure what its for!) You can display the programme information banner should you so wish, and find out what is on next - basically like sky/cable/freeview.
Aspect Ratio: You can change the viewing picture to its optimum size/aspect. From Automatic (the best ratio chosen and picture will expand to fill the screen); to 15:9; 14:9; 4:3 and then you have 3 zoom options which I think are not really needed unless you use the SD Photo card option and wish to zoom in on some of your images.
PHOTO OPTIONS: Yes, you can put in your SD card from your camera into the RHS of the TV and click on the remote and choose your photos from the thumbnail screen - or even view a slide show from the images stored. You can rotate images if they are not the right way up either!
OTHER PANASONIC EQUIPMENT: Should you have a Panasonic DVD - it will automatically set up/access when you go into the menu on your screen using the remote. You choose Viera Link from the menu and it finds your equipment - cool, quicker and easy to set up!
HDMI: The TV has 2 HDMI sockets at the back - ideal if you have SKY HD and a Playstation 3. We only needed the one, but I think 2 or 3 is definitely required on a TV these days.
SCARTS: There are only 2 scart plugs on the TV. We did have 3 on our old TV and all 3 were used. We had to re-jiggle how everything was set up at the back to overcome this and it did mean buying more, expensive cables - but it was well worth it in the end as we just utilised the other sockets instead.
OTHER CONNECTIONS: It has Headhpone plug to the rear (would never be used in our house). It also has Video or S Video with audio plugs adjacent to the Headphone plug for your Camcorders.
It comes with Component Video/Audio In for the DVD player (we upgraded the cables to get better recording on our DVD - and it has made a difference - invest here!)
It also has PC connection also for your Laptop/PC. Don't think I would use this.
Finally it has the Audio L and R for your speaker/surround sound systems.
SOUND: Unfortunately, I can not really comment on the sound on this TV as we use the surround sound. I did listen to it in the shops though and I must say it was more responsive and 'louder' at the lower end than some of its rivals (Samsung and Sony). So, I would say it was adequate enough. Unfortunately, my husband thinks he should have the surround sound on so that the walls and floors shake in the house when we watch some of our movies! (Feel sorry for the neighbour when we had Saving Private Ryan on the other night, I think he must have thought a tank was coming through his walls!)
REMOTE: Its has big buttons to match the big TV. Very easy to use and you can use the remote to record from also if you have linked using the viera button.
TV: It looks good, its big - no sorry, its not big, its HUGE! Its not bulky and it is surprisingly lighter than what I would have expected. its sleak and sexy!! The on/off button is quick to respond - quicker than our old Sony in fact. It does give off some heat which I wasn't expecting but apparently is the norm with Plasmas and hence why it asks you to have 10cm radius all the way around the TV and 7cm at the back.
This TV does have other features, but unfortunately, I have not used them so can not comment on them - the Q Link functions; you can label your terminals on the back (AV1/2/3), my husband has used this and said it was helpful and has labelled ours up but I didn't seem him do it so can't comment. It has Teletext but not used it and hardly used it on my old TV.
Packaging: It was surprisingly minimal and adequate enough. We had this in the back of my PT Cruiser with the seats out to transport it back from Sheffield to Manchester and I was worried that the TV would be damaged as the packaging looked 'thinner' than I had on my other TVs (even my parents Sony 40" LCD had more packaging). So 10 out of 10 for Panasonic here.
We have now got our Plasma on the wall after approx. 3 weeks of being on its stand. Its better on the wall and it has made the room look bigger now! We purchased the bracket from Amazon for £19.95 plus £11.95 P&P. I was worried that this bracket would not hold at all - it did, it has and its great. Its adjustable and was easy to fix and we even have a lock on it.
We also purchased a unit from A2000 - its great. It hides the cables, it has 2 shelves coming off it and is probably the best £99 I have spent to accompany my TV.
Would I recommend this TV. Yes - all around. Am I upset now that my hubby went for the 50"? Nope, It looks right at home now.
Plus the price has come down considerably - shop around, we saved over £800 from Selfridges to where we purchased it and since then its come down even further - OK, we did get a few freebies but the price was still good and is not unreasonable at all for a TV of this size.
Compared to the others on the market - it knocks the socks off them by a mile.
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Yes, I to was blown away with the picture on the 42" one of these - especially useful is that it takes and makes a slide show out from an SD card, direct from my camera. I had no idea that my photographs were THAT good before.....now I want one! Richard
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