The Official Panasonic TC-P50X1 and TC-P42X1 Owner's Discussion & Information Thread - Page 2

From the 12G thread: X1 vs PX80U

--The X1 is thicker and wider than the PX but a little shorter as well.
--About the same weight for the 42 with the 50 4 lbs lighter.
--The X1 dumps color management and ,as you pointed out ,adds (useless)cats.
--The X1 gets a better remote.
--The X1 loses the front access s-video connection.
--The panel controls and front inputs are moved to the sides.
--And perhaps most notable is the 100w drop in max. power usage.

I also notice that they've discontinued the analog PROG OUT jacks on the X1. These were handy for sending analog audio to a Sound Bar or an older A/V receiver that does not have an Optical Input.

Yes, But remember the one on the right is also a 2007 model, looks like a PZ700 to me.

I just setup the 50X1 next to the pioneer 5020 and the 50X1 is impressive.

whats the downside of using the 768,what issues would i expect.

Riiiiiiiiight. Comparing the entry level 720p to one of the best tvs ever made...

Do you work for Panasonic?

In what way, exactly?

anyone have any ideas on why i should not get a 768p set to use with my pc?

i would be using a dvi-hdmi cable and my gfx card can set to the exact resolution as the tv's 1366x768, would mostly be used to watch movies and play eve online once and awhile.

The conventional wisdom is that a two-megapixel display is better for resolving text than a one-megapixel display. Though technically accurate, the difference is barely noticeable. After all, for years we lived with 19" XGA computer monitors running at 1024x768. Now it seems everyone has to have a 24-inch widescreen computer monitor, even though most printed pages display vertically, not horizontally.

The other gotcha with using 768 displays for monitors is the boogeyman, stated or unstated, of burned-in desktop images, as they tend to be relatively static. It's probably even more of a concern with displays reported to be particularly sensitive to this (e.g., Samsung and LG).

If you're really serious about using your flatpanel as a computer monitor, you really should consider eschewing plasma and taking another look at LCDs.

A quick question?

Why are alot of the people in here looking into this Television and not a 1080P set?

Is it Money or you just don't see the difference in 720P to 1080P at this point? I'm a big plasma fan and the TC50 looked good and the picture quality looked awesome at Best Buy. I've been trying to talk myself into a LCD but I just don't think they compare. But anyway, just a quick question for you all. I may purchase this with my EPP from where I work. I may plug computer into to it but only to watch movies "digital copies" that I have. Everything is Football, ESPN, xbox 360 and PS3

AHHHHHHHH Do I need 720? I know extra detail but its more to me about what people are saying! LOL! They got on my friend because he bought a Samsung LCD 52" that was only 60Hz! LOL!

I got the 42 inch one a few days ago, haven't opened it yet tho. I plan on doing so real soon... I'll let you guys know what I think of it when I take it out of the box and set it up.

1080P won't make a difference on a 42 inch screen. 720P is where it's at.

Well -- this is a thread dedicated to the new Panasonic 768p televisions. So that's what people are discussing here.
Money is a bigger deal these days than it was last year, don't you think?

And yes, most of us here don't see the difference between 768p and 1080. If we did, we wouldn't be interested in this thread and would be awaiting next week's arrivals of the 1080 displays. (Like D-Nice.)

Not fact, just your opinion.

That's just your opinion, not a fact.

Touche!!

Wow...no Pioneer that trumps the Panasonic comparison. LOL...

That is good to hear.

Chris

Really price driven here. I'm considering getting the 50X1 or a 1080p display. Does the 50X1 rival the low end 50 inch 1080p westinghouse? Both are priced similarly.

Cree,

Go easy on Franco. It's his first post. The reserved style suggests that he's not a troll.

Besides, who else has gone to the trouble of comparing the two? Apparently not D-Nice.

Remember, it was Pioneer who made a big deal about how superior a 720p set could be.

Franco said it was impressive, he didn't say it was better.

Panasonic has been making plasmas for over ten years now; their entry-level set had BETTER be impressive.

Exactly. The Panasonic name, combined with all those years of experience, equals a quality product. Just because some guys here went to some crappy best buy and weren't floored by the set doesn't mean it's a letdown or Panasonic messed it up somehow. Remember, we're talking Panasonic here, not Sylvania.

I think you got him wrong. The Panasonic name, combined with all those years of experience means its a double shame when (if) it releases a dud (and even the best companies make stupid mistakes like thinking they can treat buyers of their entry-level models without the same attention as the buyers of their premium products. Of course only a review will tell us what X1 really is, but as for now it seems there isnt the same level of excitement as it was when PX80 was released.

That seems like something Sony would do. In fact, they're doing that right now with their upcoming bravias. I have a 42 inch X1 which has not been opened yet. We'll get answers soon enough tho. I feel real confident in my purchase.

Thats the spirit, I really hope that your X1 will look great at home (after all store impressions with its excessive lighting can be misleading), cause I'm also hoping to have an X1 in my near future (in fact I'd be OK with X1 being smth like PX80 with newer videoprocessor, though of course it would be really nice to see smth more than that)

If by "review" you mean the whole measurements magilla, I think all we need is for a few guys like "Franco" who have one (along with a reference), in captivity.

I think we may look back on the PX80 as the high-water mark of plasmas. The PX80 didn't really generate a lot of excitement until its street price dropped under a grand. That's a lot of performance punch.

The so-called "tipping point" for plasmas may be true. You have the shaky economy, burn-in concerns and brightness limitatios all conspiring against plasmas. And then the coup-de-grace: California (and, by extension, the EPA) announces that they may indeed ban the sales of plasmas if they do not reduce their power consumption. It's all too much for Pioneer, LG and Vizio to deal with.

Panasonic hears this and, intelligently, thinks they can maybe finesse the issue by ramping down the power usage (and brightness) of their entry-level display, waves their hands -- "greater efficiency," "infinite blacks" -- and hopes no one will notice (and maybe save a few bucks in the process). But there's no free lunch. Marketing aside, you can't have it both ways.

I am new here so please don't beat me up too much. My problem is this - I was set to purchase the Pn50A450 Friday for $899.00. In the morning it was available for pickup in 7-10 days so I purchased Gift cards from Sears for this transaction ($950.00 + I get rewards buying the cards). After going to Sears to buy this they said it was no longer available. Now being committed to sears I see the Panny 50X1 which looks really nice! but the salesman says Sammy's new one will be out in 2 weeks about the same price and the 50X1 should go on sale. Any Thoughts on the 2 TV's? Thanks, Mark.

lucky,

To my knowledge, no one has seen the PN50B450 yet.

Did your Sears have the P50X1 on display right below the Samsung PN50A450, like mine did? If so, what did you think about the two of them?

You might still be able to find the A450 at another Sears store.

Sears offers 36-month free financing today (Saturday) on the P50X1 (on their Sears card).

Alternatively, Sears also offers (today, at least) 18-month free financing if your A/V purchase is over $1,000 (you could add something to the Sammy to get there).

Might be a good idea to "rewrite" your sales ticket to take advantage of these deals.

They didn't have the 50a450 there. I searched the local stores online but no luck.
BB has them available but I already got the sears cards.

BB has the picture and info on the 50B450 at $1,199.99 and say it is coming soon.

The TC-50X1 is $ 1099.99

Thanks!

BB also has 11 user reviews on the 50x1.

Since you didn't get to see it, I would offer my take on the two -- which is: the Samsung is definitely brighter, and looks better overall.

You might also consider looking around for the older Panasonic TH-50PX80U if you can find any. I would take that set over the other two.

(Oh, that's right -- you're already committed to Sears...)

I work at a large Sears store in central CA. We've had the new Pannies on display for about a week now. We no longer have even the display model PX80 sets up for comparison, but our 50" PX1 is just below last year's PZ80 1080p set, brightness is about the same between the two. Keep in mind that Sears corporate requires the ambient light in the electronics dept. to be sunporch-bright, as if we were selling refrigerators, so most of the plasmas look a bit dim compared to the lcds. If you're in a Sears store electronics dept. check out the Soundstage promotional endcap--you'll probably see the Soundstage logo burned into the 50" Samsung plasma there if you put the set on the store feed.

As for the 720 vs 1080 controversy, it's been handy having the 1080 set just above the new 720--I can back the customer up 9 feet from the screens and the difference disappears except for the higher price on the 1080 set.

The fact remains that the PX1 plasma offers a much higher quality set reliability-wise and better pq in all regards other than raw resolution than any comparably sized lcd within a thousand dollars of it's price. The protection agreement is also two thirds of the price it is on any of the comparably sized lcds, probably due to Panasonic's inherent quality.

BTW, all of last years Panny's were energy star certified, this is awarded to tvs and electronics primarily based on parasitic draw when the set's turned off.