I pondered for almost two months for a new TV, but first a little background on my situation. I am upgrading from a 27" Magnavox. I recently moved into my new home and quickly realized that the 27" was simply inadequate. So with permission from the wife, I set out to find a 36" TV. I have a built-in entertainment shelf in my new home living room. It is very wide, but only 24" deep. This almost immediately ruled out the Sony Wega since specs list the Wegas depth at over 24" and almost 25". I also ruled out projection units as I have an AV background and I know that projection units tend to require frequent service to fix the convergence, etc. and are simply not as sharp and bright as direct views. I also cannot afford a plasma screen, but drool...drool...

Despite the size I insisted on keeping the Sony as an option. I also wanted this to be pretty much the last TV I will need to buy for a long time. This meant buying something relatively future proof (i.e. HDTV ready). Finally I wanted a flat tube. I ruled out models from JVC and Toshiba. I just didn't feel comfortable with those brands. This basically meant I had only two choices, Sony or Panasonic. I chose the Panasonic. Here's why:

- Smaller size. Depth in particular.
- Lower price. Easily $300 cheaper.
- Panasonic reputation and quality. I have heard and experienced Sony TV seem to last about 5 years then the tube or something goes out. I haven't heard that about Panasonic.
- Buyer opinions overall seemed to have more good things to say about the Panasonic (not just epinions).

So now that I've lived with the TV for a couple of weeks or so, here's my impressions:

The picture quality is excellent. Although the NBA playoffs on NBC was very pixellated and had lots of artifacts, but I believe that to be more an issue with my dish network signal or NBC. Other channels look much better. The SF Giants game I watched on FOX had much less pixellation. The line doubling works as advertised. Excellent resolution especially compared to my old Magnavox. DVD's looked amazing. I recently watched Gladiator and Crouching Tiger on DVD and they both looked stunning. Can't wait to get a Progressive scan DVD player. Oh, and I can finally read the scores from the game from my dining room. Yes, I can see the TV from the dining room ;-) I have to admit, though. I seem to get alot more reflections from open windows than I expected. Not as much as my non-flat Magnavox but not that big of an improvement either. Oh well. Guess I'll have to draw the blinds. I guess I was expecting better.

Sound quality is not the TV's strong suit. While the sound is more than adequate and not as bad as I hear others say, I wouldn't buy this TV if you do not have a surround sound system. But I'd imagine most people in the market to buy this TV do have some sort receiver they can supplement the audio with. The spatializer isn't very "spatial". Treble is not too crisp. In fact I had to set the treble all the way up to make it acceptable to me. But since I have my surround sound set up for movies and for dish network TV, this was definitely not a priority. I figure if I could save some money by not including excellent sound then that would be fine with me.

Features wise, I believe the Panasonic to be adequate but I do wish for some features that this TV did not have. You have inputs galore. You have 2 component inputs and 4 composite/s-video inputs with audio. This includes 1 set in the front of the TV. Very handy. But the problem is getting to those inputs from the remote. You have to scroll through 7 modes (ANT, Components 1 & 2, then Videos 1 to 4). If you are not using a particular input you cannot remove the mode from your inputs scroll. I think they should have a quick mode button or a macro so that if you wanted to watch DVD you don't have to scroll though to the component 1 input then if you want to go back to ANT you have hit the tv/video button 6!! times. Not a good design. Also the audio modes you have available allows you to have the built-in speakers on, or use the audio out jacks with the ability to control the audio out volume with the TV remote, but NOT BOTH. I wished they allowed you to have both options so that you're not bound to either using the built-ins or audio outs only. Or at least have an easier way to switch between the two without having to go through the setup menus. The manual could be more comprehensive. For instance the TV has a setting to compensate for the earth's magnetic field relative to your geographic location. But the manual only mentions the feature without any information on how to use the setting. The number just ranges from 0 to 63(?) just like the volume, the color setting, etc. I also think the balance and tint should have a "center" position so there is no guesswork where the center is. I do like the remote. It seems to be of good quality and is nicely weighted and balanced, but it isn't the prettiest thing in the world. At least it can control ALL of my components including my dish networks box, DVD player and even my Sony AV receiver. Like I said earlier, a programmable macro would have been nice and/or some kind of learning mode so that you can program what buttons do what on my receiver, DVD, etc.

Overall my gripes are not overly huge. And the positives outweigh the negatives as far as I'm concerned. In a nutshell, great TV. I'm ready when HDTV hits critical mass (and the price comes down). Every bit as comparable to the Sony Wega at a better price. And hopefully I'll be right about the reliability of Panasonic in the long run. Just needs to be a part of a home theater system as a whole and not as a stand-alone TV. Definitely worth the 2 month wait.