Panasonic CT-30WX15 30 In HD Tv
A steal for the price with HDCP-HDMI!
Wow! So I've had the tv for a few weeks now and I love it! As mentioned in my previous review, I am still not at a loss for the lack of 720p and the tv has exceeded my expectations in every way! The biggest con to the tv (if I really had to nitpick here) would be the tv menu system which is required to activate the sleep timer (useful for those of us using this in a bedroom!) but it's only a few more button clicks and you DO get used to it. The quality of this tv is exceptional from the AMAZING sound to the image quality in DVDs, Xbox and HDTV! It is also HDCP compliant so you will be able to use your digital output on the cable boxes (DVI/HDMI) unlike the Sony that is similarly priced (but does offer 720p). Without HDCP compliance, you will NOT be able to use the HDMI/DVI output on your cable box (how kind of Sony not to inform you of this flaw before purchasing the tv!).     For an official breakdown:    Xbox -- This is where the tv shines the most. I always thought my Xbox looked great until I played it for the first time in widescreen! Everything is so much more vivid and clear.    DVDs -- ... and then there was widescreen.... I always liked dvds because they were so compact which saved from hauling the gigantic VHS tapes around for viewing but to TRULY appreciate them, you MUST get a widescreen tv. Also, don't cheap out on cables because without good cables, you are sticking a gigantic bottleneck onto the quality of your image/audio and wasting money on the tv.    HDTV -- While the selection is still limited to HBO, Showtime, CBS, Fox, NBC, TNT and Discovery HD for me (Time Warner), the shows are absolutely gorgeous! One note is that there is still a fair amount of programming out there even in HD format that is 4:3 so don't expect EVERYTHING in HD to be in widescreen too!    Sound -- I honestly didn't have high expectations but I -AM- impressed by the quality of Panasonic's tv speakers... I imagine one day I will see fit to put a home theater system in the bedroom but for now, this tv's sound is more than adequate.    Build Quality -- The tv is very solidly built and the remote doesn't feel flimsy at all. I can definitely tell that it will outlive the extended warranty but it's not a bad idea to have one just in case. With my old (as in 6 months) Toshiba, you would turn on the tv and you could hear a very audible noise that I couldn't really describe verbally and with this tv, there is no such problem! Also, the black frame around the screen makes you forget that you are even watching tv sometimes!    So is it worth it?    Absolutely! But do keep in mind that this is one HUGE tv. I have a 36\\" oak tv stand and this fits on it with very little, if any, room to spare on all four sides. I would say this tv is best suited to a room where you will be ten to twelve feet away maximum. If you are going to be five feet or closer to the tv, I would go LCD and get a much smaller (23\\"-26\\") tv to reduce eye strain. I will definitely be buying this model again once the living room tv decides to pedal it's way into a death bed but for now, this remains the perfect beauty for the bedroom!    ----- Original Review Below ------    Although this tv does lack 720p (sucks, I know!), the Xbox 360 will make the games 1080i. I spoke to one of my friends about it who works closely with the Xbox 360. For the price, this tv cannot be beat. I sat in Circuit City for an hour hitting the output changes and this tv looks amazing, even with an analog signal and in the end, I wasn't traumatized over the loss of 720p.