» Panasonic Viera TH-42PZ80U 42" 1080p Plasma HDTV

Panasonic Viera TH-42PZ80U 42" 1080p Plasma HDTV Reviews

Customer Rating:
Summary: great tv so far
Comment: This is my fourth HDTV that I kept since they came out ( I have returned more than you would believe) so I've had a chance to evaluate a few sets and I know what is and is not acceptable. I have hdtv in most of my house now and have utilized technologies which are better for different applications and locations. The quest for a 40-42 inch den tv began last year in the summer. I bought a top brand 42" lcd from a local best buy. The tv did not perform as it was susposed to- it had terrible vertical and horizontal banding. I took it back and got another tv of another brand which was worse. After a few rounds of this nonsense and arguing with the store manager who was not nice at all I got my money back and decided to wait a while. I simply could not understand why I got multiple bum sets in a row and was very nervous about buying any tv again. We are talking serious mura defects (uneven brightness caused from unequal dispersion of the liquid crystal or uneven pressure when pressing glass layers together during manufacturing) and one even would only make green snow on the screen. These tv's were either abused in transit or should have gone to the trash heap and never left the factory. I only wanted a decent tv.

A friend recently told me plasma HDTV was much better now than in the past. I had previously stayed away from plasma because of the short lifespan and the horror stories about image burn in. I researched and he was very right. This tv is rated for 100,000 hrs they say 8 hrs a day for 30 years right on the box and burn in is not much of a problem anymore on this brand of plasma as long as you use common sense and allow a reasonable break in period at moderate settings- and don't be stupid and pause a game for hours and leave it on the tv screen. I honestly don't expect to use it 30 years before getting whatever is newer at the time but if it lasts me 10- 15 years I would be thrilled.

So I went to a local store and bought one of these after looking at everything they had. Everything about this tv is better than lcd. The viewing angles are very good on this. The picture quality is not often matched- especially in this price range. The specs on this tv are almost too good to be true, especially at this price point.

I play ps3 on this and have no problems. If burn in was such a risk you could not game do you really think they would give the tv a game mode?

I found I had to tweak the factory settings quite a bit to get the ideal picture out of this, I know how so if you don't get a pro or a guide of some type.

I would highly reccomend this tv to anyone else who is very picky about their electronics. I took back many tv's to the store and sold a couple to friends before I found this wonderful tv. Best buy told me to go shop somewhere else since I brought back one too many I guess last year. I'm glad I did listen to them. This tv was the real deal on the first try. Consistent picture from corner to corner. And it just works like it is susposed to.

Lcd is ok if you play nothing but games or have a super bright room. However if you watch movies some nights, game others, watch broadcasts on others, or just want the best all around picture this plasma is it. The picture really is very good. All colors,even blacks just are so real. Never will I look at tv the same way. Now that I have stepped up to this level I simply must stay here. I thought lcd had a good picture in the past now I find them inferior.
As long as it continues to work as good as it does now I will be very happy. At least I can just sit back and enjoy finally!!

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Customer Rating:
Summary: volume control
Comment: volume control on external speakers is fixed.. chat help with tech rep was no help. volume only controls unit's volume not external receiver and speakers. audio w/fiber optic installed correct. have to use another remote to control volume which is a pain....

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Stunning HDTV, great value, low power consumption
Comment: We bought this as an upgrade from a Sharp Aquos 32" LCD HDTV --- an excellent television, but a bit too small for our new, larger living space. I first looked at 46" and 50" sets, but they use a lot more power, and after looking at units in the store decided the 42" was quite large enough (70% more viewing area than our old TV). For environmental reasons we wanted low power consumption --- usually plasmas lose out there, but Panasonic comes through --- only 170 watts, as measured by an independent test, which is less even than some of the similar-sized LCD TVs tested by that same outfit!

The picture is stunning --- though our old Aquos looks great, this Panasonic blows it away in terms of contrast, black levels, and overall picture quality. Properly adjusted, the DirecTV HD channels look fantastic --- much better than they do on the Sharp or most other TVs I have seen. (DirecTV tends to compress its HD channels quite a bit --- yet on this Panasonic, after adjusting it, the image looks very clean and cinematic.)

Blu-Ray discs are unbelievable --- Planet Earth on this set is tremendous. Another thing I really like about the set is it passes through Dolby 5.1 sound from the HDMI connector to the optical digital out --- which I then pass into my Logitech Z-5500 THX speakers (an inexpensive way to get surprisingly good home theater sound) --- the Sharp didn't pass through the signal from our PS3 Blu-Ray player.

As others have noted burn-in and ghosting are mostly non-issues with the new plasma sets --- some basic precautions will prevent any problems, and this Panasonic set comes with some display "reset" patterns to cure any burn-in issues you might face.

The number of connections is extremely handy --- with 3 HDMI connectors I have enough for my DirecTV box, my PS3, and a front connector for the occasional times when I hook up my MacBook Pro via a DVI-HDMI cable.

There's not much to say about the built-in speakers --- serviceable but not great --- but who uses the built-in speakers on their HDTV? I certainly don't...

The picture out of the box definitely needs adjustment for optimal results --- I set the black levels to dark, turned up the Picture (contrast) and brightness, lowered the color and sharpness, in Standard mode. Fiddle with it a bit and you can get a stunning picture.

This set is cheaper than most LCD sets of the same size, and the picture quality is better. Definitely recommended.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Great tv!
Comment: After a few weeks of online research, visiting big box retailers, and talking to friends, I took the plunge and bought the Panasonic 42PZ80U. I've had previous experience with Panasonic and so I went with what I knew. Since I got it last week, I've been amazed at the quality. The picture is excellent, the build feel is excellent, the menus are intuitive, and I've had no problems with burn in, etc. Even on break in settings, my xbox 360 (with HDMI cable) is astoundingly clear and beautiful.

What I've learned from the experience:

First, don't trust what you see on the floor at big box retailers. All the settings get screwed up, so you can't make good comparisons. Instead, go with reviews by professionals and peers; there's a really useful AV forum out there that you can find if you type in your top product models.

Second, the GalleryPlayer feature, which I was really into as an added perk, has some hitches. GalleryPlayer (GP) is an independent company contracted with Panasonic and other manufactures. Distributing the images requires downloading GPs software and buying images. No problem, right? Well, you also need to buy a specialized Panasonic SD card reader that protects the copyright of the images and runs $50. You can get deals online, of course, but i just want to put it out there.

In sum, I got an AWESOME plasma at 1080p for under twelve hundred - While you can get even better TVs if you drop more than $2000, I definitely recommend the 42PZ80U as a great buy.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A Great TV for the Price
Comment: I have had this TV for a month and I'm very happy with it. As another reviewer mentioned, I don't think burn-in is an issue and haven't seen any on my set. I saw on one of the AV sites that image retention, which is one of the concerns with plasmas, is as likely on the new plasmas as it was on the old school CRTs.

I did use one of those break-in DVDs for the first 100 hours or so, using it to watch some TV (with those logos) and my PS3 for no more than an hour at a time, but again I did not have any issues, which was a relief since I was playing mainly sports games, which have those tickers. Some people say the burn-in DVD is a waste and it seems like that might be true, though I'd rather not roll the dice. I would also suggest forcing the pixel orbiter on 4, which prevents burn-in and image retention.

As for picture quality, it's great on this TV, which is the main advantage of plasmas over LCDs. The blacks are great and it's much closer to a CRT for SD television, and HD TV looks great, even upscaled DVDs. If you like to tinker a lot with the settings, this TV probably isn't for you, as there isn't much you can play with, but it does the job.

The one thing this TV does not have is 24p (the specs say it has it, but it's 2:3, not full 24p), which you have to pay $500 bucks or so more for; I have never seen any of the ghosting or jagged edges though on anything, so it hasn't been any issue. Still if you want that feature it's something to consider.

The 85z model does come with a 30k contrast ratio, however, I don't think I could see the difference. The price is closer now then when I got the TV, however, so for $50 bucks it might get you piece of mind. It will also get you a PC input, though I just use one of those $2 HDMI-to-DVI converters to get around this, but I don't really connect the PC to my TV much anyway; if I do, I use the PS3, which can do it wirelessly.

I actually got this TV for $1,155 thanks to the price guarantee from Amazon, though I'd still get it at the $1,250 it's selling at now.

Finally, Amazon's delivery service was great; they were scheduled to delivery the TV two weeks from the order date but were actually ready to come by the 3rd day. They also were on the earlier part of the delivery window (~10am), took out the TV, assembled the stand, and make sure it was setup before they left. I'm pretty lazy so it was nice to not deal with unpacking it and lugging it from the store.

Overall, I'd say you can't get a better TV for this price and I am very happy that I went plasma and got it on Amazon. Even if there are burn-in issues 5 years down the line this TV probably won't be worth anything, so I'm not too worried, especially now that I am past the 200-hour mark and haven't noticed anything.

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