Panasonic PT-47WX53 47" Widescreen HD-Ready Projection TV

Rating:
Summary: Awesome TV
Review: This tv is a GREAT tv. The picture quality is great. It has nice zoom modes ( say your watching a letterboxed tv show < broadcast in 4:3 but letterboxed on top and bottom > you can zoom it with the tv and it will cut off the top and bottom black bars and have a perfect AR! ) the stretch mode is ok as well takes a bit getting used to at first. Xbox Games are great on this TV ( using an component video cable to get HDTV ) widescreen and very live colors. I used the avia calibration disc and the colors are amazing. This TV also has a Svideo input on the front and has DVI on the back. IF i didnt already have a very nice sound system i wouldnt really need one soo bad with this tv. The tv's speakers are very nice and very clear. The tv also is big enough with the speakers so you dont need to buy a tv stand. This tv only got 4 out of 5 stars because it doesnt support 720p. 1080 is nice. When hooked up to an external hdtv reciever ( samsung ts151 ) the quality and detail is absolutly amazing! each hair is shown clearly. WB/CBS/NBC all broadcast 1080i ABC/FOX broadcast different formats ( ABC 720p not supported by this tv but with that samsung tuner it will convert it to 1080i no worries ) fox is 480p ( progressive dvd quality ) Overall this is a great TV! you wont be sorry.

Rating:
Summary: great tv
Review: this tv took me about 20 minutes to set everything up, convergence of the colors was probably the hardest part but even that wasn't too bad. the size is perfect for a small living room or even a good sized bedroom (which is where i have mine). the functions on the remote are very clear. and all the picture modes work great. watching a t.v. show in 4:3 format just seems stupid. full screen or zoom mode is by far the way to go. distortion or not it is still a great picture and after watching it a few times you get used to it. with a progressive scan dvd player, s-video and component cables the picture is almost unbeatable.

Rating:
Summary: Don't Make this Mistake!
Review: This TV, and ALL wide-screen projection TV's must be watched in wide-screen mode or you risk burning out the picture tube at HUGE costs to you. This is NOT covered by warranty. 90% of what you watch will NOT be in wide-screen format. If you put a regular TV show in wide-screen, the picture is distorted. If you watch in 4:3 mode, you will burn out the tube. Ours burned out in 1 year at avg 5 hours of use per WEEK, NOT DAY! Panasonic will do NOTHING to help you out. Best-Buy did not warn us of this problem and in fact, said it was fine to watch in 4:3 mode. Do yourself a favor - until more shows are broadcast in widescreen, get a standard TV.

Rating:
Summary: Don't Make this Mistake!
Review: This TV, and ALL wide-screen projection TV's must be watched in wide-screen mode or you risk burning out the picture tube at HUGE costs to you. This is NOT covered by warranty. 90% of what you watch will NOT be in wide-screen format. If you put a regular TV show in wide-screen, the picture is distorted. If you watch in 4:3 mode, you will burn out the tube. Ours burned out in 1 year at avg 5 hours of use per WEEK, NOT DAY! Panasonic will do NOTHING to help you out. Best-Buy did not warn us of this problem and in fact, said it was fine to watch in 4:3 mode. Do yourself a favor - until more shows are broadcast in widescreen, get a standard TV.

Rating:
Summary: Great value
Review: When I bought this TV in fall '03 it was by far the best value for an HDTV. Value is very subjective. I moved up from a fairly low end 27" tube to this. Compared to that, the picture is great. Compared to plasmas and LCD (direct not projection), it is certainly flawed. From 10 feet away the difference is noticable but unimportant. The only time I am aware of picture flaws is during credits. For some people that might be important and if it is I suggest spending the big dollars for a plasma or direct view LCD (or wait).
For the rest of you, TV viewing habits are important. We do not watch TV (no cable, no antenna), just DVDs via a progressive scan player. 3 to 5 every week. If most of my viewing was regular (non-HD) TV, I don't think the widescreen would make sense (nor can I tell you anything about the built in tuner or PIP because we don't have a use for them).
I have yet to see another name brand HDTV of this size in the just under eleven hundred dollar range.
I'd recommend this set for those who plan to use it mainly for DVDs and/or get HD programming (cable/sat.) and are not videophiles. As an analogy, we moved from a used Ford Fiesta (or old 27") to this Honda Accord V6 but if you currently own a Corvette, you probably should look into a Ferrari. Makes sense?

Rating:
Summary: Great value
Review: When I bought this TV in fall '03 it was by far the best value for an HDTV. Value is very subjective. I moved up from a fairly low end 27" tube to this. Compared to that, the picture is great. Compared to plasmas and LCD (direct not projection), it is certainly flawed. From 10 feet away the difference is noticable but unimportant. The only time I am aware of picture flaws is during credits. For some people that might be important and if it is I suggest spending the big dollars for a plasma or direct view LCD (or wait).
For the rest of you, TV viewing habits are important. We do not watch TV (no cable, no antenna), just DVDs via a progressive scan player. 3 to 5 every week. If most of my viewing was regular (non-HD) TV, I don't think the widescreen would make sense (nor can I tell you anything about the built in tuner or PIP because we don't have a use for them).
I have yet to see another name brand HDTV of this size in the just under eleven hundred dollar range.
I'd recommend this set for those who plan to use it mainly for DVDs and/or get HD programming (cable/sat.) and are not videophiles. As an analogy, we moved from a used Ford Fiesta (or old 27") to this Honda Accord V6 but if you currently own a Corvette, you probably should look into a Ferrari. Makes sense?