Panasonic Viera TH-50PZ85U 50" 1080p Plasma HDTV

I purchased a Samsung 630 a short while ago, and have been very happy with it. It's for the living room, which gets a lot of light, and I figured an LCD with a matte screen would be a good choice.

Well, the problem with getting one HDTV is that you'll soon want another one elsewhere in the house. I wanted to put one in a basement rec room. Rather than get another Sammy LCD, I thought I'd go for a plasma since it was a bit cheaper. Plus, the basement is not nearly as well-lit as the LR, so I figured a plasma would work.

After researching a lot of plasmas, I settled on the 85U series. I was torn between this and the 80U, but given that there was just a very minor price difference (less than $25), decided to go for the 85U since it has a higher contrast ratio (although a lot of reviewers say the difference between the 2 models is negligible).

Got the TV and, since the basement was still being remodeled, temporarily put it in the LR so it would not get dusty or damaged. I was very surprised to find that the glare from the screen is not any more significant than I'm seeing on my 630! The colors are wonderful, the motion is smooth, the blacks are black -- love it! I'm still pleased with the 630 and highly recommend it as one of the best LCDs for the money, but I'm now a plasma convert. The 630 went into the basement and the 85U stayed in the LR.

There's a lot of info on the AVS forum about this TV - recommend checking it out for tips on break-in, settings, etc.

So if you're worried about glare, or think your room is too bright for a plasma, don't be. This model performs far better than an LCD when the lighting is moderate (i.e., evening with regular lighting) and equally well as an LCD during the daytime. And, should you ever view it in full darkness or very subdued lighting, you're in for a jaw-dropping treat!!

Glad I bought this TV from Amazon. After you plunk down your money and wonder about all the things that can go wrong with a big screen TV being shipped to your from where, it's worth about another $100 having bought it from Amazon, no worries. White glove delivery is worth at least another $100 on top of that. So glad I didn't try to buy this thing somewhere and try to drag it home myself. Amazon asked me, are you sure you are willing to wait a month or two for us to deliver this tv? I said yeah, I don't want it from the camera shop. Three days later they shipped the TV. Tracking, Pilot. Who's Pilot? Take the tracking number and Google Pilot Freight. I called Pilot as soon my TV hits their destination dock. They'll set up a delivery appointment with you. Gene, the driver called me the morning he was coming out to remind me of the delivery, said he would call me again that afternoon 45 minutes before arrival. He did. When he showed, I asked, hey, no helper? I can't complain. He didn't need one. Gene was a pro. I had the place ready for the TV. Gene unboxed, put the TV on the stand, hooked it up, and made sure it worked. He advise me to keep the box for awhile, so I had him put it in my garage. Before he left, he wiped off any fingerprints left on the gloss bezel with his shirt. I called Bill, Gene's boss and told him, if all your guys are like this, you are going to be very very busy.

Oh yeah, just like the reviews say, the TV is awesome. I considered the 80U and wondered if the 85U would be worth the difference. I wouldn't have sat home crying if I bought the 80U, but I'm very pleased with the 85U. You can't tell at the local TV store, but when you turn that Pani blu ray on, you know it doesn't get better than this short of a Kuro. You can see your reflection when the TV is off, but if you are still trying to see your reflection in something with the TV on, get a mirror.

I will probably never use a 15 pin PC hookup. I'll hook my PC up HDMI through the Onkyo SR606, but I do want the controls and extra input on the sides and not the front of the TV. The pictures don't do this TV justice. The speakers need to be below the TV, much like center channel, and they do sound good, not to be confused with home theater, but excellent for those siutations you aren't looking for 7.1 sound with. The pictures make the speakers look like gray plastic, but they are a gloss black, sits away from the screen bezel, and reflects sound downward. It makes the screen bezel look thinner and a more uniform width, top bottom and sides. This is in keeping with the whole plasma, which is quite a bit thinner in depth this year. I haven't measured it, but it sure looks that way. I am very happy with the look. I plan to hang it on the wall.

It can control the DVD and STB from the TV remote, but I don't know, I may wind up with a Logitech Harmony. We'll see.

I am surprised how good the surround sound is OTA, fed back through the SR606 on the optical cable, better than anything I've heard, tv output. I don't know if that is the TV tuner, or the Onkyo, maybe both.

This is fun. Get one.

Our new Panasonic Viera TH50PZ85U is fantastic. The promptness and professionalism of Amazon's delivery service was excellent. Some of the features of the set will probably never be used, but the pricing from Amazon was so competetive that I decided to get this one vs. the 1 step down model. At least now I will never doubt or question my decision had I purchased the other 1.
The menu and set up procedure was easy and quick, and the HDMI connections enabled hooking all my components so easy. I find the TV sound a bit weak when setting the menu to the built in surround mode. Speech and voices were a bit hard to hear and recognize easily, so I turned that mode off. When I want surround sound, I enable my a/v receiver and use its speakers. Overall, a great value for a high quality set. We do have some daylight glare issue with the plasma screen ,but they are minimal and easily corrected by closing blinds on a window. Night watching is never a problem.

First things first. Open the box and make sure the screen isn't cracked before you let the shipper leave and before you sign anything (shine a flashlight on it and any cracks will show up immediately). I learned that the hard way the first time I purchased this set (from another vendor). Also, I believe Amazon requires the shipper to unpack the TV, plug it in and verify that it is working before they leave although in my case the guy wanted to leave without doing this and I went ahead and let him.

There's not much to say about the set itself except that it looks fantastic. I'm watching movies and playing games in a completely dark room and the black level is excellent. You should do at least a basic calibration of the brightness and picture (contrast) settings using a calibration disk for optimal quality (there is a free one you can find on the AVSforum, or you can buy one).

As with all Plasmas, you have to watch out for image retention, but I haven't found that to be an issue at all. The instructions offer extremely conservative advice on breaking in the screen to avoid image retention (100 hours of full-screen viewing content with no black bars, sports or stock tickers or video games with fixed elements of any kinds, then another 900 hours of limited viewing of such content). Personally, I ran a break in program for 75 hours, started using the set for video games and movies (with black bars) and I just run the break-in program all night after any bad content. I'm now up to 200+ hours now and haven't seen a speck of image retention or burn in.

Highly recommended.

Well, I have been a CRT guy for a long time. I always thought that I would not really care to have HD over normal TV. I mean, yeah, the picture would be better but once engrossed in a show, well, would I really care if it is HD? And the answer is - as I expected - not really. However, that is just me.

As far as this TV goes, its fantastic! Great picture, great features - comes with a VGA type plug so you can run your computer into it easily if you don't want to go HDMI for some reason. Sound is okay - not anything noteworthy. But really, it is an excellent TV.

Also - there is no noticeable glare that people are always concerned about. I have windows behind me so when the TV is off, I can clearly see them. When on - I don't notice them at all so don't worry about the glare.

The bad: Note that the bad is about all Plasma - not this TV. First - I bought this to be a computer monitor more than a TV (I am using it right now as a matter of fact - from my couch - very nice). I did not do my research though - very bad. Plasmas are known to have pixel memory. Although better than it was in past years, when you are on the internet for hours at a time - some parts of your screen never change - X in top right corner, window frame all around. For that reason, I wish I had gotten an LCD and would recommend the same to people looking to use this thing as a humungo sized monitor. I am guessing that I will screw it up being a software guy. Also - it is a power hog of course - also par for Plasmas. I don't have to run the furnace in my house anymore ;-) jk

That said, as a TV, this thing is great - but I always expect that from Panasonic.