Home > Consumer Reviews > Hitachi UltraVision CineForm 55HDT79 - 55" plasma TV - widescreen - 720p - HDTV - black, silver

Point blank, this is the best plasma on the market today. This model is "middle" of the Hitachi "pro-sumer" line of plasmas. The top of the line (model# 55hdx99) is even more equisite, but rather difficult to find discounted. All of these televisions are consumer models of their professional lines which are world renowned under the Fujitsu brand. The closest competitor in the market is the Pioneer Elite model 5070, however, the 50" will cost you approx. $500 more than the Hitachi and cost you 5 inches of screen. The only downside to the Hitachi's is that they push "heavy red" out of the box, so they often look washed out compared to Pioneers when displayed together in store as they often are. Do youself a favor and sit down with this model, get the remote and dial it in to your eyes....you will love it.

I just got this plasma through Amazon and the transaction could not have gone smoother. The best part is, this Hitachi HDTV is the bomb! I have never seen such a beautiful HD picture. I subscribe to Dish TV and their HD channels are superb on this tv. I highly recommend this plasma to everyone!

I bought this one and the 42" and love both of them. Simply beautiful picture and looks great on the wall. The only cons I have are: (These are differences than the previous Hitachi plasma that I had)

1. The switch between inputs and tuner is no longer automatic. So if you switch to input 2, you can not get back to cable by hitting the channel change button or entering a channel number, you have to go back to the input selector and select "cable". The old set would switch back.

2. Sound is thinner than the previous set. The speaker boxes were and add on to the other set and sound much fuller. The new design is nicer (integrated ) but the speaker cavity is much smaller so the sound is not as full.

3. Lack of separate ant/cable input. My over the air HD signals are much better than what I can receive over cable. It would be nice if it could auto switch between cable and antenna.

Otherwise love it.

I purchased one of these sets in Oct 2006, and it died on June 22,2008. The main power supply failed for unknown reasons. The unit was connected to a high end surge protector but sill managed to trip the circuit breaker it was connected to.

As of June 27,2008 its still in the shop waiting for a new power supply. There is a good possibility that it may have other issues too.

Its a great set, fantastic picture, easy to use.

This huge 55" plasma TV is a Cadillac at a Honda price. The TV's bezel is trimed out with real brushed aluminum and it is fairly thin for how wide it is. The picture is great, and bright, and colorful. But here is a tip. If you hook up to a satalitte or a cable box using an HDMI cable (which you should), inside the setup of the box, change the HDMI settings to output RGB. It makes the picture slightly sharper. Overall this TV is half the price of its competitors and lacks no where.