Panasonic TH-42PX50U 42 in. HDTV TV

Bought on sale for 2,100. For plasma I was expecting more. I wanted HDTV for the best fidelity, only to find out just a handful of programs broadcast in HD.

There are 300+ channels on the dish, all premiums like showtime and HBO and not 5% of shows are broadcast in HDTV. I had to upgrade the satellite dish AND receiver to get HD which resulted in equipment and installation fees of over 300$. While the remote is the best around, and the TV is sleek and stylish, what they fail to mention is that just because you have a WIDESCREEN doesn't mean the picture will look great.

Even if you have it tuned to top resolution, about 1/2 of the programs broadcast are incapable of rendering in high res. If the movie was filmed for 400dpi, guess what - thats the max you get.

If you love old cable reruns, you will be disappointed. Also nearly nothing and I do mean nothing, less then 1% of channels, programs broadcast natively in widescreen. Even movies dont adhere to this TVS natural widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio.

Literally with every program that comes on, the aspect/format must be adjusted. Full screen clips the edges off, wide screen shrinks some programs to the point it is no longer a "big tv" effect, or squished heads. I mostly just suffer in full screen mode.

If you are buying this for the big screen for sports, you might be ok because many of the games do broadcast in HD and often in widescreen and they look good.But remember, you can buy a non HMDI/HDTV and add HD antennaes to pick up local HD for FREE!

If you want this for movies and everyday watching...you are better off to go with a letterbox (square TV) or you will just find yourself very frustrated because none of the programs adhere to the widescreen "YET".

I wish I had been educated about the screens and aspects and HDTV before being suckered into a lot of technology I can't use. So for the price, I really don't find this television to be anything special.

If you have never owned a big screen or plasma before and are considering HD or widescreen, please do your homework so you do not end up like me staring at a 2000 TV that cant braodcast in the dimensions it was built for. Its very unnerving. The TVs themselves are far far ahead of broadcastng technologies.

So now I get to address the broadcasting issues with HD and antennae fixes...

To all of those looking to get a HD plasma tv. This Panasonic is the BOMB! I am a new comer to HDTV but the results thus far have been out of this world. I will confess that spending 3500USD was an ouchie that I do not want to experience again. However the picture and colors and clarity is out of the world. Even when watching media that is not HD in nature has a brilliance that is hard to describe! Again, this was money well spent!

This is a great TV! Price - perfect as the quality of the picture. I got it for under 1800. I have it with Time Warner Cable HD box and can't beleive that this kind of quality can be achieved! I use universal remote from the box to control DVD, Audio, TV and box itself. Adjust the picture according with the light you have in the room and you get it perfect. And why should I worry about how long it will work? It's good for the next 60000 hours! I think it's a lot. After that there will be some new technologies! Enjoy it! If you can't (I mean enjoy it) then don't buy it.

Dude, I never sold u anything, u got me mixed up with somebody who took u. if u look under my rating I only sold three items and everybody got what I sold them. I ask u please dont tarnish my name if u dont know me.

I bought this set in Oct 05 for 2999 plus tax and ALL the darn accessories you need. I also switched to DirecTV from Adelphia Cable and got the DVR for another Tube TV and the HD box for this unit. At the end of the day, I spent around 4500 bucks and as other reviewrs have stated, some analog channels are reallt bad. But most network, even ananlog looks fabulous. I think it's a stunning set and I'm glad i did NOT go with the samsung. I like the graphic lines of this model, and I think for a asmaller room, the speakers are great. I just walked into Sam's sclub the other day and saw the same model but with a Grey border instead of black for 1689 plus tax. Ouch. A year makes a huge difference. But hye, I did 18 months free fianancing at best buy and it was worth it. 60000 hours? I bet the 350 dollar warranty will kick in cuase this thing is one 24/7. And I can't wait to see PS3 on it. XBox 360 with Call of Duty 2 is outstanding. Panasonic is the best!