Tracy B
Auditioning
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2001
- Messages
- 11
I'm beginning to think so, because I've had my 47wx49 for over a month now, and I am absolutely ecstatic about it!
I've read many posts on this and other boards from people who have returned this set, been frustrated trying to tweak it, etc. I have had no problems whatsoever.....and I am far from an expert.
I upgraded my 27" RCA TV to this TV 6 weeks ago. Took some arm-bending with the wife to allow me to spend $1950 on a TV, but I somehow got her on-board. Out-of-the box, I admit, I was disappointed with the picture. Red push was the main problem when viewing analog cable. Clarity was not great, but some channels better than others.
I would have been pretty discouraged, but with the set, I purchased a very low-end Pioneer progressive scan DVD (434) at Costco for $189. My GOD....the picture quality with progressive scan on this set is INCREDIBLE!!!! I admit...some DVDs look better than others....in general, newer releases look much better than older ones. Animation and computer animation are UNBELIEVABLE. Because of the picture quality with progressive scan, I knew this set had the 'innards' to deliver. I always considered this set an investment to be maximized a couple of years down the road - particularly when HDTV on DS and OTA become more common, and with the intro of HD DVD. I was even more encouraged when I found 'Panny's' site with the code into the service menu and the red-push fix. This took me about 10 minutes to complete and improved the picture incredibly. So....at this point, I was perfectly OK with the set. Then......
I turned off my analog cable and went with Dish Network. That was the clincher. Movies on HBO, Turner, and Fox look as good as DVD. Many channels (Fox News, Food, TNT, local networks) look outstanding! I am now salivating over the prospect of getting an HDTV tuner (in about a year or so...gotta get the wife on board with another $500 purchase).
All in all, I have nothing but good things to say about this set. I did not buy it without research. I spent many an hour browsing the web for reviews (you Tosh owners...this set doesn't inadvertently turn itself off requiring a reboot), spent hours playing with sets at retailers, and spent alot of time messing with my brothers RPTV Tosh "55 (4:3...not sure which model). I found this set to be the equal of any of the others with very minimal tweaking.
Are these websites set up to mostly sort out problems and vent frustrations? Is there a 'silent majority' of us Panny 47" owners who are completely satisfied? I have visited Mitsu and Tosh boards....and although many of them post very similar problems with their sets, a majority seem to be posts praising the set. With these 47's, it seems most of what I read are people disappointed with the performance of the set.
I know there are some kinks to work out - like saving user setting for each input, turning off the SVM...stuff like that. But I've found that the line doubler on this set is excellent, the sound (haven't purchased surround system yet)is very good, and you get the added bonus of the option to turn off the line doubler on the user menu if you want.
I for one could not be happier. I have not watched a true HDTV signal over my Panny yet...but if it is even close to equal to the picture I get with my low-end progressive scan DVD player, I could not be more pleased with the purchase.
I've read many posts on this and other boards from people who have returned this set, been frustrated trying to tweak it, etc. I have had no problems whatsoever.....and I am far from an expert.
I upgraded my 27" RCA TV to this TV 6 weeks ago. Took some arm-bending with the wife to allow me to spend $1950 on a TV, but I somehow got her on-board. Out-of-the box, I admit, I was disappointed with the picture. Red push was the main problem when viewing analog cable. Clarity was not great, but some channels better than others.
I would have been pretty discouraged, but with the set, I purchased a very low-end Pioneer progressive scan DVD (434) at Costco for $189. My GOD....the picture quality with progressive scan on this set is INCREDIBLE!!!! I admit...some DVDs look better than others....in general, newer releases look much better than older ones. Animation and computer animation are UNBELIEVABLE. Because of the picture quality with progressive scan, I knew this set had the 'innards' to deliver. I always considered this set an investment to be maximized a couple of years down the road - particularly when HDTV on DS and OTA become more common, and with the intro of HD DVD. I was even more encouraged when I found 'Panny's' site with the code into the service menu and the red-push fix. This took me about 10 minutes to complete and improved the picture incredibly. So....at this point, I was perfectly OK with the set. Then......
I turned off my analog cable and went with Dish Network. That was the clincher. Movies on HBO, Turner, and Fox look as good as DVD. Many channels (Fox News, Food, TNT, local networks) look outstanding! I am now salivating over the prospect of getting an HDTV tuner (in about a year or so...gotta get the wife on board with another $500 purchase).
All in all, I have nothing but good things to say about this set. I did not buy it without research. I spent many an hour browsing the web for reviews (you Tosh owners...this set doesn't inadvertently turn itself off requiring a reboot), spent hours playing with sets at retailers, and spent alot of time messing with my brothers RPTV Tosh "55 (4:3...not sure which model). I found this set to be the equal of any of the others with very minimal tweaking.
Are these websites set up to mostly sort out problems and vent frustrations? Is there a 'silent majority' of us Panny 47" owners who are completely satisfied? I have visited Mitsu and Tosh boards....and although many of them post very similar problems with their sets, a majority seem to be posts praising the set. With these 47's, it seems most of what I read are people disappointed with the performance of the set.
I know there are some kinks to work out - like saving user setting for each input, turning off the SVM...stuff like that. But I've found that the line doubler on this set is excellent, the sound (haven't purchased surround system yet)is very good, and you get the added bonus of the option to turn off the line doubler on the user menu if you want.
I for one could not be happier. I have not watched a true HDTV signal over my Panny yet...but if it is even close to equal to the picture I get with my low-end progressive scan DVD player, I could not be more pleased with the purchase.
