TC-P42G25 3D Plasma TV Customer Reviews
Panasonic new TC-P42G25 VIERA just hit the store shelves and it’s already causing a stir in the Plasma 3D HDTV world of Gynormous TV sets. Read for yourself what others are saying about this television.
Each of these review are from: Amazon.com Panasonic VIERA TC-P42G25 42-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV (Electronics)
1. This is first plasma TV after owning a rear projection TV for 9 years. I like to do a lot of research before buying any electronic goods and it led me to choose plasma over LCD for a television.
One of the drawbacks you hear about plasma TV’s are the energy consumption as well as burn in issues. The Panasonic TV is apparently much lower in energy compared to older plasma's and are not far off LCD’s for energy consumption. Also, the image burn in, although can still be a problem when simple guidelines are not taken, is not really a factor anymore.
I purchased the TV through Amazon and it was delivered in the allocated timeframe that I chose when I purchased the TV. The gentleman unpacked the TV and installed the TV onto the supplied base stand which sat on top of my corner TV stand. The TV is fairly heavy and is actually quite difficult to push over. This was a concern of mine since we have a young daughter but the TV is far enough back that she cannot reach it. There is also a hole in the Panasonic base where you can drill a screw into your own stand and I plan to do this.
The TV picked up our cable channels no problem and the remote and option guide by Panasonic were easy to use. The picture quality of the HD channels through my cable were excellent and considerably sharper and clearer than my old projection TV. We mostly watch all of our cable TV on the available HD channels and we are very happy with the picture quality. We don't have a Blu ray player but hooked up my Ono up-conversion DVD player and when we watched Sherlock Holmes we were blown away. I cannot imagine what Blu ray must look like and we only had our old component cables hooked up (plan to get HDMI cables soon). What was most different from my old TV were the dark scenes. They were so much easier and clearer to see and I guess one of the advantages of plasma over LCD are the black levels. It made the movie so much more of an enjoyable experience. I do not have surround sound but the speakers are adequate and of good sound quality. Like I said we have a young daughter so we cannot have the TV on too loud when she is asleep.
One of the other reasons we bought this TV were the options it has such as Netflix, Youtube and Skype. Skype is not available until some time in the summer and I cannot wait to have videocalls with my family overseas. It does require a LAN adaptor if your internet is not close by to hook up and it would have been nice if this was included in the price of the TV. There is one available that comes with the Panasonic Blu ray player I plan on getting (DMP BD-85) which is wi-fi enabled. However, in the mean time I have Netflix through my Wii and the picture quality was much better than I though it would be for streaming movies. We have Verizon fios so have a fairly fast wi-fi connection.
Overall I am very happy with this Panasonic TC-P42G25 3D plasma TV and am looking forward to many years of TV and movie watching.
2. I returned a 46 inch Samsung 6500 LED TV for this one. The LED had the usual issues: poor viewing angels washed out blacks, and motion blur and judder. This G25 is awesome all around. I am so glad that I switched. Although I am glad to have had the Samsung LED experience for a week, I had to come back to plasma as this is my second one. I sold my 2006 model to a friend. I watched Percy Jackson and the Lighting Thief in Blu-Ray tonight and was blown away. I am in the minority as I like the vivd setting as opposed to THX and the others. I am amazed at how bright and vibrant Panasonic made this plasma. I can't comment o the sound because I use my Bose 321 home theater for sound. This TV is awesome, and it is a must buy.
UPDATE - 07/29/10. I have had this Panasonic TC-P42G25 3D plasma TV for a month now and it has broken in beautifully. I thought the picture was something before, but now it is just gorgeous. Anything in HD, Blu-Ray is out of this world!!!!! I am sure that the Samsung LED suits a lot of peoples viewing needs, but plasma is the one for me.
3. I wanted TV that would fit in a small room. Anything over 42 would have been too big. I also wanted a TV with all the connections (USB, Flashcard, Computer, HDMI,etc). I wanted a high refresh rate. I wanted a TV that made my Blu-ray movies look amazing and my old VHS tapes tolerable (and I wanted standard broadcasts to look good). I wanted a TV with a good viewing angle. I wanted to be able to connect to the internet. This Panasonic TC-P42G25 3D plasma TV does all those things very well. I'm so glad I bought it. But I had my doubts. Frankly I was worried. I'd never bought a TV online. Another issue: I bought plasma. I've never owned plasma. I've never owned LCD, but whenever I went to Best Buy or other stores, the Samsung LCD LED seemed to have the best picture than anything else and the plasma's always looked worse the LCD's. But I did a little research and learned that companies push LCD in the stores because they make more money off the LCD's. I also learned that LCD's have a brighter picture which shows better in store lighting. I really liked the advantages that the plasma seemed to offer (the best refresh rate, true blacks, no picture loss from viewing the screen off center, accurate color reproduction, amazing picture at near half the price of comparable LCD's). I love this TV. I've had no problems. Delivery went smoothly. The picture quality is amazing. I have no regrets. Only one thing to be aware of--this TV needs a wireless USB adapter to connect to the internet. It costs an extra 85$. Didn't know that until after I set it up and realized it wasn't really internet ready out of the box. Luckily I bought the Panasonic Blu Ray player that includes the required USB wireless adapter. Also, sound is acceptable, but I've got this TV hooked up to a surround sound system, so I wasn't worried about sound quality all that much.
4. Did my research and found Amazon had the best deal and Panasonic has the best plasma TV. Low price, free shipping, finance program, etc,etc. Shipping was within the time set. Packing was done very well. The outer box was rough, but with all the inner packing the inner box was pristine. The TV picture is amazing. Black blacks, brilliant colors, sharp contrast, games are much better, can read the small print. Compared to a 26" CRT, a 32"& 24" 720p LCD. Set up was easy. Have not tried all the things it can do, but those are just a bonus to the picture quality I was after. For that, plasma is a better choice. A PS3 and wii are hooked up for games. We get TV programming through directv. Family is very happy. Only had it a month so will see what long term viewing and playing with the bonuses provide.
This is just four reviews for the Panasonic TC-P42G25 3D plasma HDTV. You can read a lot more of them by visiting Amazon.com's review page