Panasonic TC-P42C2 42-Inch 720p Plasma HDTV

Excellent value
My criteria for buying a TV was to stay under 0 and a screen size of 42 inches. LED-LCD TV's are priced out of that range right now, so that left LCD's and plasma's. After looking at both technologies, I opted to go with plasma.
LCD contrast ratio 150,000:1 vs. plasma 1 or 2 million to 1.
LCD 60Hz to 120Hz refresh vs. 600Hz plasma
LCD off angle viewing drop off vs. 180 degree viewing for plasma
I have a Vizio 50 inch plasma that I purchased in 2006 that I have had zero problems with. (I paid 00 YIKES)
So given the fact that plasma technology has been around, and the other factors I listed above, I went with
Panasonic plasma. At about 5 feet distance, I could not tell the difference between the 1080p or the 720p sets. The 720p set was about 0 cheaper, so I bought it and have been totally pleased so far. I am pretty picky about the
picture and after some adjusting, the picture looks great! Plus, with the money I saved, I can buy a blu ray player
that can stream web based content. The G25 model offers that capability, but then I would be close to 00, out of my price range.

720P TC P42 C2
This is my 4th Plasma in the family bought for my mom. My first one cost over 00; this one was under 0.00. What an incredible value. I hooked it up to my TV antenna, and the HD pictures have been great. This TV rivals my 00 TV bought a few years back. I also bought the Samsung 42" Plasma for my daughter for around the same price. I want to say that for the money, if you are trying to decide either way, I would let the bottom dollar be your draw your conclusion for they are both nice performers. Be careful while viewing them in stores. I feel the settings can be changed on the TV which can make you think one has a superior picture. Do yourself a favor and look at the same TV in 2 or more stores, and see if the picture don't look different. It might be my imagination, but I felt one store I visited purposely made the picture look bad so you would buy a more expensive TV, and used this as a leader. Don't be fooled. This inexpensive Panasonic looks fabulous in my mom's house.

Great HD on the Cheap!
We have owned this TV for a couple of months now. Lots of research led me to the conclusion that a 720p set would be fine for our viewing habits. We bought this Panasonic because of its low price and positive reviews. It was easy to put the included stand on the TV, and within 20 minutes of getting it home we were enjoying a great HD picture. This Panasonic is our first HDTV and replaced a 26" traditional CRT TV.

We opted for a plasma because we sometimes have guests who sit at an angle to the screen. With plasma, there is no color degradation when viewing off center... every seat is a good seat. Also, plasma does not show motion blur like LCD sets. This blur is noticeable when watching sports on just about every LCD I've seen, even those with 120Hz refresh rates. I have yet to experience this with our plasma TV. One drawback to the TC-P42C2 is that the screen is very reflective, but no more so than our old SD TV. Since the screen is so much bigger than what we were accustomed to the reflection issue was noticeable. The only adjustement we neded to make was to use the other table lamp in the family room when watching TV after dark.

The picture is wonderful on HD sources, and is very good on SD programs as well. We have Dish Network and an off-the-air antenna. Broadcast HD looks awesome and Dish HD is excellent. While we are now getting used to watching HD, when we first got this TV we would watch reruns of the CSI shows just to see the cityscapes in HD. We still throw out a "Wow" now and then when a program has a panoramic nature scene. We are more than happy with this TV's picture.

The sound from the TC-P42C2 is very good. I was originally concerned that having speakers that didn't face forward would affect sound quality, but I have found the sound to be quite good on this TV. On some shows I need to turn the volume up, but it varies according to the signal provided by the channel. For example, our local PBS channel has much more volume when watched off-the-air than when viewing on the Dish box. Overall, most of our viewing is done with the TV's volume in the 30-40 range.

One drawback is that this TV only has 2 HDMI ports. We currently have our Dish DVR and our DVD home theater system (which upscales to 1080i)connected via HDMI. When we add a Blu-ray player, I will switch the home theater to the component inputs on the TV and connect the Blu-ray to the HDMI input. A third HDMI port would have been nice, but for this price point I really can't complain too much.

The best thing about this TV is the bang for the buck. This Panasonic offers a lot of quality and features for not much cash. When someone comes over and sees this thing for the first time, they always comment about how good the picture is. When they ask how much we paid for it, they are shocked that a picture this good could cost just 0. We are very happy with our TC-P42C2.

Good but not great.
I bought this TV on sale at K-mart about a month ago. I have been quite pleased with the picture and sound. As of late, I have noticed a strange pixel blur on solid color back grounds. I have tried to change channels when I see it, to see if it is on all channels, but haven't noticed it on the other channel. So I'm not sure if it is in the signal (cable) or if it resets when the channel changes. I guess time will tell. Based on reviews and Panasonic's reputation I bought this product in the box without seeing it on display. After I bought it, I saw it on display at another store, along with several others. My husband was with me and noted it was the worst picture of the bunch. I am hoping it was just not adjusted correctly and that picture quality had not deteriorated due to the continuous use I'm sure it got as a store display. Before you buy it, look at it next to others, as you can buy similar sets in the same price range that you might like better.

If the pixel issue gets worse I will update my review.

NOT A TRUE HDTV PANASONIC PLASMA
This Model and its previous similar models after mid 2007 The HD channels looks Horrible i do believe that Panasonic is very well aware of it obviously...this unit is more like an EDTV Quality....if you put this model and its 06 models such as the TH-42PX60U you will see the big difference in HD picture Quality...think about it this model TH-42PX60U had an msrp around for 00 and its this new model costs pretty much 9 every where..so do the Math 00 Tv vs a 0 HDTV Panasonic Plasma....you would today's Standard 720 Plasma's will look much better?NO but if you the consumers have a chance to look at Panasonic's 3D Plasma TV's the standard HDTV pictures looks 25% better then its 06 Model and looks 90% Better then Today's model....Spend Few Bucks more get the Sony's LCD Tv's with either Bravia Engine 2 or 3 models which deliver the the most Natural HDTV Experience...Avoid all Samsung's and Low End Panasonics