Panasonic TH-50PX50U 50-Inch Flat-Panel HD-Ready Plasma TV
Near Perfect
Purchased from Crutchfield in Jan 06 and received b/4 Super Bowl. Set up was a snap, connectivity was easy. Word of warning: prior to getting any HDTV, do some research on cabling-more on that later. <br />Non HD channels look better and 480i channels look really good and full HDTV channels are breath-taking. Watching football or baseball is like really being at the game. Every little feature can be seen, amazing. <br /> <br />The TV has been rock solid-no issues. The TV is light for a 50\\" but its still heavy, and if your lifting it up on a pedestal or high stand, its a two man job-but well worth it. <br /> <br />The remote is OK, not great <br />The speakers are tinny sounding and don't have great stereo seperation but that to be expected. One weird thing, the speakers buzz when on a HD channel-bizarre. Doesn't matter though, the sound is going through 600 watts of Onkyo receiver nirvana. <br /> <br />Be careful cleaning the plasma glass-it smudges easily and is hard to clean right. <br /> <br />Cables: if your going to spend 4 large on a TV at least put some decent $$ into decent cables. <br /> <br />Your going to need an HDMI cable. Don't overspend here-its a digital signal-not analog. So get something sturdy and less-pricy. I use Belkin Pure AV (great) <br /> <br />Component cable (RED, BLUE, GREEN). All DVD players have this connetion and I the TV has 2 inputs for component (I blv). Get something sturdy, well-built and don't overpay for name **cough**Monster**cough** I like Belkin, Philips, and RCA brand <br /> <br />S-Video (2 connections) Many VCR's, satellite boxes, and all DVD players have this. This is where you need to spend the money. This is an analog signal and cheap S-video cables can ghost and make a good signal look terrible. Philips makes a good, cheap cable. But the best are made by Better Cables and Beldin <br /> <br />Composite (2 I blv) These are worthless to the people who care about video fidelity. If you HAVE to use composite, get a high endcompoent cable and take one of the wires off and use it. <br /> <br />Coaxial (1 input) this the signal coming in from the satellite, cable or antenna. For heaven's sake use R6 cable, for that short run. If this is how I got my HD signal (no VCR's or boxes) I'd max out and buy one from Beldin or Monster. I'd probably buy a much more expensive run from the wall connection to wherever its going. <br /> <br />In a nutshell, the Panny is well worth the money. Its going to be reliable and the company will back it up. If you can afford the 60\\"-go for it.