Panasonic VIERA 58" Plasma Flat Panel Black HDTV - TH-58PZ800U

Comments about Panasonic VIERA 58" Plasma Flat Panel Black HDTV:

I was not sure how this TV will fit in my family room. I bought the TV about 3 weeks ago but just got it installed (wall mounted over the fireplace) this past week. I LOVE the TV. The picture quality is great and it looks perfect. The only thing I would like to have is a couple of HDMI inputs in the front. I like to connect my Westeren Digital Media Drive and play movies. I bought the Panasonic Blue Ray DVD player and the Viera Link works great.I would recommend this TV. The price was great and Nick and the Sales Staff at ABT were very helpful. They also helped me find a installer which was great. [...]

Comments about Panasonic VIERA 58" Plasma Flat Panel Black HDTV:

Great picture for a TV this size and under [$]. Hook up a Blue Ray player and you will be amazed!

Service and delivery comments:

Unfortunately, the first one I ordered arrived with a cracked screen. Fortunately, when I called ABT they shipped me out a new one the same day. No hassle, just good customer service.

Comments about Panasonic VIERA 58" Plasma Flat Panel Black HDTV:

The best picture I've ever seen, especially with THX blu-ray discs. It's quite heavy and cannot be safely manhandled by one person. Even with two quite strong men it was difficult to haul up a flight of stairs.

The remote is fairly well designed, but I've not seen an easy to use remote on any HDTV. Once you start adding a game console, blu-ray player, home theater, satellite receiver, DVR, etc. it becomes quite overwhelming.

Comments about Panasonic VIERA 58" Plasma Flat Panel Black HDTV:

Customer reviews can be a good thing so let me give you an honest assessment of this set versus what is out there today.

Most obvious about this set is that it is 58". Is that too big? Seems to be a common question, it is a very large set! FYI, THX, which certified this set, says the OPTIMAL viewing distance in 1080p is actually 6.5 feet from the screen! I initially set up my room at that distance, it is amazing! I moved it back to 8' so that I could fit more furniture in the main area. Hopefully that answers your first question, is 58" too big for my room?

So it cost $1000 more for the 58 versus the 50...you probably know that if you are reading this review. Is it worth it? The answer is, if you can afford the extra $1k, you will never regret the larger picture size. You will, instead, start wondering what the 65" set would look like (but is priced much higher, almost double this set).

The 2nd most obvious trait is that it is a plasma, not an LCD which are more common. Why is that and what does it mean to you? Answer: LCD has refresh rate issues. The best LCD refreshes at 120hz, and some still are at 60hz, causing motion blur in moving images...like just about every sports event and movie you will watch! This plasma has a sub-field refresh rate of 480, which as you can see is 4 or 8x the LCDs...there is no motion blur on this plasma...a huge plus for sports and movie fans.

What about the "THX" certification? Good question, who the heck would know! There is a built-in THX mode in this TV which sets the controls to exactly the optimal view for color clarity, etc. When you first turn this on, you will think....hmmmm. Most people are used to a "Vivid" picture, which this set also has. Bright, jumping off the screen color is vivid. THX is more subtle. For darker images, in a dark room, THX is unmatched. Subtle shades you've never seen before are in there, once you get used to it and switch to Vivid you see the flaws in always watching a vivid picture.

What's the downside here?

The biggest one is that all plasmas suffer from issues with daylight. In my case, this TV is in a dark basement, so I have no issues. But in a room with lots of windows, you want an LCD which is not affected as much by sunlight.

On this set, with even one light on in the room, when the screen goes black for a moment, you will see yourself, and a reflection of that light on the screen. This is not particularly important, except if you have lots of windows and the amount of light coming in is significant. DO NOT OVERLOOK THIS. You will be disappointed if you put this TV in a big, bright room.

Compared to LCDs, this TV, in my opinion, has more realistic color (as opposed to almost cartoony colors on LCDs) and the resolution can't be matched as plasmas are pixel perfect. This TV is PLENTY bright, but I would not want a TV that is less bright (earlier models).

Easy to use remote, easy to setup, easy to operate. There are great features on here also, including 2 screen sizes (one allowing you to blow up the screen just slightly if a picture has dot crawl (lines/pixels at top or bottom of screen flashing).

It sucks up a lot of power as it's a big panel and plasmas use more than LCDs...but I didn't buy this thing for efficiency, did I?

Friends will come over and say "WOW!" about 50 times during their first visit, it is hard to grasp how big and awesome this thing is until you see it. Football...amazing, golf, awesome, NBA sweet, etc. Movies are like your own little theater. Video games are stunning.

In short, buy this under any circumstance except if you want something for your sunlit living room.

Service and delivery comments:

If you take the time to learn about online retailers you'll quickly see most have a really unfriendly policy if the TV arrives damaged....most will tell you sorry, call the manufactuer for service...meaning you actually received a new TV and then have to wait for it to be repaired? What the heck is that?

ABT is not like that. If it's wrong they'll send another one. Shipping was free as I am local in Chicago, and it could not have gone better.

It came in about 3 days, two guys took it off the truck and right to my door. I took it from there and set it up myself. Took maybe 30 minutes and anyone can do it. This set is heavy, you cannot lift it yourself (it's too bulky, it's not that you are too weak!) Weight is around 125lbs with the stand I believe.

If you live in Chicago you probably can't beat their price or delivery service.

Comments about Panasonic VIERA 58" Plasma Flat Panel Black HDTV:

I am a firm believer in Plasma technology. I was owning a Maganavox Plasma earlier. It was 42". I moved to a new house. And wanted to upgrade my TV so I sold my old TV (I absolutely loved that one although it got little older technology). I know Panasonic is the best company in Consumer Electronics. I did research on LCD and Plasma TVs. Lately, the Plasma technology over came all of its cons and the Panasonic is investing more into this technology. I was also looking at Samsung Plasma TVs. But after couple of hours research on these I made my mind that I should go for Panasonic. Then the hesitation is 50 or 58 inches. After lot of jugglery I want to spend extra 100s for 58". Bottom line, I bought this 58" plasma from ABT without hesitation. They gave good deal too (free panasonic blue-ray player which is industry best individual blue-ray player).

Picture quality is amazing. I always watch this TV in THX mode. Sound absolutely amazing (like home theater). This TV got builtin sub-woofer and the audio outputs 31W. QAM tuner picks up most of the digital channels from your cable wire. I am watching all the HD programming without off-air antenna. If you are lucky you can get PPV channels also .. extra bonus .. :-). My colleagues bought this TV (one 46" and other one 50") based on recommedation. They thanked me after they got setup. One can buy this TV without hesitation.

This produces natural colors of the picture. Someone reported on other forums that when you put this one in 24p (48Hz) it introduces flicker. I couldn't see any flicker when I used the same 24p. I watched "I am Legend" and "Departed" movies. I couldn't see any flicker.

Comments about Panasonic VIERA 58" Plasma Flat Panel Black HDTV:

Beautiful design
Easy to setup
Great for watching HD sports

Service and delivery comments:

Delivery was faster than I thought it would be, and the delivery guy was so nice and helpful. Product arrived in beautiful condition. I am so pleased that I purchased this product.

Comments about Panasonic VIERA 58" Plasma Flat Panel Black HDTV:

I love this TV. You can't beat the bang for the buck with the combination of screen size and picture quality.

Comments about Panasonic VIERA 58" Plasma Flat Panel Black HDTV:

This plasma has virtually no glare and has some of the best black levels I've seen -- comparable to the Pioneers. The piano black finish is quite stylish. The remote is easy to use. And, it comes with 4 HDMI inputs. Very impressive TV set. For 58", you get a good value considering all of the features.

Comments about Panasonic VIERA 58" Plasma Flat Panel Black HDTV:

Friends, this Panasonic a great TV for anyone looking to go with a 58-60" TV. The black levels are excellent and the brightness is very close to most LCDs even though this is a plasma. If you have more than 10 feet between your sitting area and the wall, its best to go with this 58" as opposed to the 50". You will not regret it.