Inexpensive, large screen TV that doesn't deliver a high end picture.
Written: Mar 13 '05
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Pros: Easy to figure out remote. Good price for the amount of TV you get.
Cons: Unless you run HDTV signals, you won't be satisfied with the result.
The Bottom Line: If you want razor sharp picture and life-like color, save up and purchase an LCD. This TV just won't make you happy.
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| uncle_fuzzy's Full Review: Panasonic PT-47X54 47 in. HDTV-Ready CRT TV |
I initially bought this unit in anticipation of the HDTV revolution coming and to run my large movie collection on. After a few problems with delivery, the unit arrived in good shape and was easy to unbox and set up. Wheels on the unit make moving around easy. There are not a lot of extra bits and pieces to worry about with this TV- even the shelf comes pre-intalled. You just plug it in and go.
The on screen menu is easy to read and fairly logical in layout, although it would have been nice to be able to cycle the cursor from bottom to top rather than have to run up and down the list lengthwise. Hookups were easy to use. The manual because rather convoluted at times, but overall was usable for the basics.
Unfortunately, the picture quality is not up to what I was expecting. Unless you are pumping HDTV signals down monster cables of either component or HDMI, forget it. Pictures are muddy, the color way overdriven (I had to cut my color down into the teens) and the brilliance knocked me for a loop when first turned on. Talk about going blind in a hurry! Even after adjusting the convergence, color spectrum, etc, I was not happy with the result. My Sony Trinitron 27" had better picture clarity that this machine - not to mention more life like colors.
I hooked up a Panasonic S97 DVD player to the TV with the HDMI line and found the picture to be improved, but certainly not good enough for the quality of the player or line technology in use. This was not what I was looking for.
Needless to say, this unit is going back to the store I bought it from. You live, you learn. Next time I'll be better prepared for the expenditures needed to get a LCD flat panel, most likely Sony. You can't miss their picture quality in every store you go into to. I guess the old adage is true. You get what you pay for. A $1500 TV sure isn't a $3000 LCD panel, in any way, shape or form.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 1450
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Epinions.com ID:
uncle_fuzzy
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Reviews written: 1
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