 Problematic remote control is a deal breaker |
| Review Date: November 3, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Jonukas, Bloomington, IN |
Panasonic seemed to be a good company and we have had good results with their other products, but I'm sorry to say that this is not the case this time.
The problem with this model (as others here have noted) is the remote. Unless you are standing directly in front of the TV, the remote is unresponsive. In my troubleshooting, I've found that this problem is most apparent when the TV has been off for a while. You can turn it on with the remote, but then other controls are unresponsive in as little as 60° and 8 feet away from the TV. After the TV has been on for a while (~15 minutes) the remote will be a bit better, but we still have problems where we find dead zones/angles where the remote will not work. We have to lean over from where we are sitting and wave the remote all around to try to get the TV to respond.
I've called Panasonic about this problem and the first solution was to send me a new remote. That didn't fix it. The second call resulted in the IR board and plastic window being replaced. While this initially appeared to help, I've found the problem is still there on cold starts. On the third call, the repair man came out and replaced the entire back board. Still the problem remained. At this point, since every part that could fail has been replaced and given that others here are reporting the same problem, I've come to the conclusion that this is a design issue with the TV.
The warranty on this TV has now expired, but before it did, I asked Panasonic Support to take back this TV or give me another model that will work. They told me that a field rep would contact me. I'm still waiting to hear from them. |
No expert here
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| Review Date: April 15, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Bonita Kale, Cleveland, OH, USA |
No expert here, but we like this TV set. No problem viewing from the side. The controller works well, and works on our VCR and DVD player too, although they're different brands. Somewhere in the years since we bought a TV set, things have improved a lot.
Our TV is opposite a picture window, which is still a problem, but much less of a problem with this LCD model than with our old, fat TV.
If we were in the habit of buying new electronics every couple of years, I might not have wanted to spend so much (totaled about $880), but since I know it's going to be a loooong time before we replace it, I wanted to get something I could live with for a decade or two. |
Great TV
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| Review Date: April 9, 2009 |
| Reviewer: David Bonner, SoCal |
| My parents had a Samsung before this and say the Panasonic has much better picture, sound and overall quality. They love it. |
Goin' digital
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| Review Date: April 9, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Thomas E. Wacha, |
| Perfect size. Could have a brighter picture. Remote seems to need to warm-up before it works perfectly. Otherwise a quality set at a good price. |
Best In Class
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| Review Date: February 18, 2009 |
| Reviewer: elixxxer, Bay Area, CA |
| This television delivers where it really counts: picture quality. Color accuracy is as close to perfect as can be straight out of the box. Tones are not oversaturated like many LCDs and contrast is good. The A-IPS panel makes this set have the best viewing angles of any LCD on the market with absolutely no color shift and extremely minimal brightness disparity even at the most extreme angles. The black levels are great, but some of the competing sets with VA panels are better in this regard. The only real fault with this unit is the remote, and not the remote itself, but the receiver in the TV. You have to be pointing the remote directly at the IR receiver for it to function properly. Otherwise, this TV is fantastic for use as an HD media center and a computer monitor. I shopped extensively before deciding, and it came down to this and the Samsung LNA650. Both sets are superlative, but the Panasonic is just that much better. |
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