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Panasonic Viera TH-42PZ81 Freesat Plasma - Full HD 1080p TH42PZ81B
See it at Amazon.co.uk for £699.00Average Customer Rating
(5.0 out of 5)
Amazon Customer Reviews
Most Helpful First | Newest First | + Share20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
Best Blacks
(5 out of 5) by Mr. S. D. Cox on Dec 23, 2008 (UK)I would highly recommend this TV, it may look similar to many other tv's currently available however this is where the similarity ends. The picture quality is outstandingly good with black levels comparable to the Kuro without the price premium. The built in FreeSAT allows access to free HD programmes and is a facility not offered by any other manufacturer at the moment.
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
Simply the best?
(5 out of 5) by jon test on Jan 27, 2009 (uk)I have had this TV for 2 months now and I am so pleased I researched and then bought it.
With Sky+ I simply plugged into a spare LNB socket (four in total, not using sky multiroom!) then straight into the TV for full HD, BBC and ITV,wow and free!. Although Freesat is great the full hd range from BBC and ITV is limited but seems to cover all Football!
The picture is quite simply superb. Whether using sky or freesat/freeview the picture is crisp blur free and very,very watchable. I had a sony 29" CRT before so was reluctant to upgrade, hearing and seeing horror stories and pictures from mainly larger LCD TVs. Plasma means no blurry football or movement, very very important to sports lovers. DVDs are also truly excellent.
My honest advice, and I am very picky, is pay a little more, sit back and enjoy for years! ( a 5 year waraanty was free from a local shop and negotiate hard on price). I hope freesat hd takes off, but it is great having such a good bit of kit. My last piece of advice is that 42'' seemed huge at first but it was amazing how quickly you get used to it so go as big as you dare!! Good luck!!
With Sky+ I simply plugged into a spare LNB socket (four in total, not using sky multiroom!) then straight into the TV for full HD, BBC and ITV,wow and free!. Although Freesat is great the full hd range from BBC and ITV is limited but seems to cover all Football!
The picture is quite simply superb. Whether using sky or freesat/freeview the picture is crisp blur free and very,very watchable. I had a sony 29" CRT before so was reluctant to upgrade, hearing and seeing horror stories and pictures from mainly larger LCD TVs. Plasma means no blurry football or movement, very very important to sports lovers. DVDs are also truly excellent.
My honest advice, and I am very picky, is pay a little more, sit back and enjoy for years! ( a 5 year waraanty was free from a local shop and negotiate hard on price). I hope freesat hd takes off, but it is great having such a good bit of kit. My last piece of advice is that 42'' seemed huge at first but it was amazing how quickly you get used to it so go as big as you dare!! Good luck!!
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
Stunning
(5 out of 5) by mackem on Jan 14, 2009 (Staffordshire UK)I bought one of these a week ago and have partnered it up with a Panasonic SC-PT 460 home cinema system. I really recommend this as the sound from the TV is OK, but as the picture quality is so good you really need top quality sound to do it justice.
I read loads of reviews before choosing the Panasonic. It seems to come out top just about everywhere and what clinched it for me was the Freesat facility. Only the BBC seem to be outputting any content presently, but what they do produce is breathtaking. The wildlife stuff (Swarm) and out-door productions (Coast) are just unbelievable. And of course with having the Freesat tuner built in, that's one less set of cabling to clutter up the back of your room.
Set up is a breeze. I was looking forward to a good couple of hours playing about with it to get it up and running and was majorly disappointed to have the whole thing going within 10 minutes of getting it out of the box.
Image quality is the thing though. Last night I watched the DVD of 'The Merchant of Venice' with Al Pacino. It was an absolute delight and by playing it through the cinema system with all of the upscaling etc. I really do wonder if blu-ray could produce any kind of a better image.
In summary this is a superb bit of kit. You can buy cheaper brands, but for this level of convenience and performance I'd defy anyone to come up with better value for money. (do invest in some decent sounds, though, it really is worth it)
I read loads of reviews before choosing the Panasonic. It seems to come out top just about everywhere and what clinched it for me was the Freesat facility. Only the BBC seem to be outputting any content presently, but what they do produce is breathtaking. The wildlife stuff (Swarm) and out-door productions (Coast) are just unbelievable. And of course with having the Freesat tuner built in, that's one less set of cabling to clutter up the back of your room.
Set up is a breeze. I was looking forward to a good couple of hours playing about with it to get it up and running and was majorly disappointed to have the whole thing going within 10 minutes of getting it out of the box.
Image quality is the thing though. Last night I watched the DVD of 'The Merchant of Venice' with Al Pacino. It was an absolute delight and by playing it through the cinema system with all of the upscaling etc. I really do wonder if blu-ray could produce any kind of a better image.
In summary this is a superb bit of kit. You can buy cheaper brands, but for this level of convenience and performance I'd defy anyone to come up with better value for money. (do invest in some decent sounds, though, it really is worth it)
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
Pansonic Viera Th-42PZ81 Plasma TV
(5 out of 5) by Harshad K. Rami on Dec 31, 2008 (United Kingdom)We bought this TV in the post xmas sale to replace our old Panasonic CRT TV and it is brilliant. Prior to the purchase I looked at other brands and LCD but this kept coming up (on various review websites) as one of the best money can buy. The picture quality is fantastic even without the HD Sky box and with the surround sound system (Panasonic SA-PT560, purchased together with the TV)the overall package is superb. It has built in freeview as well as freesat though for the latter you will need an additional dish besides sky dish.
The front panel has a built in SD card reader and this will read not just your digital photos but also HD video (AVCHD format)from any camcorder that suports this format. I tried my Canon HF10 camcorder SD card and the picture quality is excellent, no need to plug in your camcorder etc. My children play their X box 360 and Wii and the enjoyment is enhanced with the picture quality. To summarise a qulaity product but sadly because this is still a premier product was not discounted in the sales. A word of caution....you may find the product cheaper from other dealers so verify if this is a UK spec TV or an import as it will need the software to be amended and hence incur an installation charge.
The front panel has a built in SD card reader and this will read not just your digital photos but also HD video (AVCHD format)from any camcorder that suports this format. I tried my Canon HF10 camcorder SD card and the picture quality is excellent, no need to plug in your camcorder etc. My children play their X box 360 and Wii and the enjoyment is enhanced with the picture quality. To summarise a qulaity product but sadly because this is still a premier product was not discounted in the sales. A word of caution....you may find the product cheaper from other dealers so verify if this is a UK spec TV or an import as it will need the software to be amended and hence incur an installation charge.