Panasonic Viera TH-42PX60U 42" HDTV Plasma TV

..I've been doing it since I was a young kid and come out grinnin', when I fight technology, technology always wins!!

(UPDATE ~ WE HAD TO RETURN THIS TO THE STORE UNDER THE WARRANTY, THE SOUND WENT OUT AND THE TV WOULDN"T EVEN COME ON HALF OF THE TIME, SO THIS TURNED OUT TO BE DISAPOINTING AT BEST)

Look MA! No Hands!!

I am not in the dark ages. I have a cell phone. I just do not have the 100 features that go along with it yet. I use it to call, talk, hang up. No texting, emailing or watching the news on my cell. Compared to some people, I am amish in comparison! I have decided to let go of my electronic equipment fear, and face it dead on, Eye of the Tiger! In a cyber world that is run more by robots than people, a child of the 70's can get scared. You would think as hip and cute as I am (smiles), I would be one of the first people to run out to a store and buy a plasma television! (Slow down, it is all going to fast!!) I have but a few irrational fears in life ~ rollercoasters, people coughing on me, clowns, drive thru car washes and remote controls!! I think they are out to get me. But here I am, boldly standing in an electronic store, with my husband who finds this place his sanctuary, and we are debating whether or not to buy the Panasonic TH-42PX60U 42 in. HDTV PLASMA Television for a whopping $1,400.00 without tax. What does it matter? I ask. They ALL look the same to me! Just pick one already!! OMG. If he asks the sales clerk one more question, I am going to scream. I hate having too many choices. "I like this one." So, with much back and forth, him tinkering with the remotes which I knew the dreaded "Remote Lesson" was waiting for me once he hooked it up, we took this bad baby home with a 10% in store rebate for opening up an instant credit card. Of course, once we got it home, I pretended to help put it together to give the illusion that I understood everything to spare myself from the monotone drill of the details. But, I actually found myself paying attention, and learning alot. The first thing we did, was open the box....

WHAT WAS INSIDE?

The television, which is a stunning, 42 inch plasma flat screen, with silver framing and thin black lining, it gorgeous. Normally it has a base with a stand, but since we were using the 10% off, we bought alot of other electronics (please watch for my reviews shortly) along with a $279.00 television wall mount so that our tv would stay smudge free (I have two boys who always seem to get finger prints on anything glass in our house, the fish tank, the kitchen table, the front door, our tv) and also that we would get the whole "Cinema" feeling from it, which we did! It reminds me of Matthew McConeghey's tv in "How to Lose A Guy In 10 Days", just awesome! This HDTV hooks up everything with one cord system. Instead of having a web of wires everywhere, it controls centrally from the tv and works with your cable box. Included in the box is the tv itself, powercord, remote control and batteries to boot, instruction manual, warranty card, and stand and the bolt to put everything together. After that, you are on your own!

~~ IT FEELS LIKE I AM THERE!! ~~

This Panasonic wonder has very crisp, life-like features! The white/black backlit causes sharp details, along with 29 billions colors with a very high pixel count. The background is vivid and sharp, good skin tones, widescreen, and a resolution of 1024 X 768. After you have the remote control set up you can play with the contrast, the colors, which are outstanding quality. It does have a 3.2 pulldown feature to control any blurring. The sound quality is remarkable. It sounds as if you are in that basketball court, being swept up by that tornado, dancing inside that club, and white water rafting down that river! It is amazing. It has built in surround sound. And 3D features.


FEATURES, PLEASE??

OK...Here is a shuffleboard of extras...


* 3 S-Video
* SD Card Slot
* RF input
* Motion pattern noise reduction
* Contrast ratio of 10,000:1
* Color Purity optimizer
* Video Noise reduction
* Digital Comb Filter Motion Adaptive 3D-Y/C


~~ REMOTE CONTROL LESSON 101 ~~

The remote control is a nice size so it is easy to find. It is NOT backlit, which I would have liked it to be for the overall price. The remote has the following accessories: * cable/DVD * Set up modes have HDMI 1 &2 * Big numbers * SD card option * TV * Mute * RTUNE * Sleep * Program * Picture mode has the choices of Cinema, Standard & Vivid * V-chip lockout * ENG/SPAN/FREN language options with my favorite being the vchip lockout mode. I have two young boys and with cable being what it is these days...

~~ WAIT THERE IS MORE! ~~

Last but not least, a big surpise! This plasma wonder also holds your JPEG digital pictures that you can share, and create a slideshow on your tv. This by far, makes the price worth it. I love having my family pictures scroll along as I do housework or other menial tasks. The kids love it too! It is a wonderful conversation piece when we have company! What do we watch on this magnificent plasma television??
My husband watches his nature shows and sports, and you can feel the thump of the basketball and hear the swoosh of the hoop. You can see the hairs on the spider legs. I watch my reality shows like Deal or No Deal, and I can see the line of the cases! My kids love watching their cartoons in a movie theater like fashion. It helps my younger son with sensory problems pay attention, since he is such a stickler for details. His favorites are Back to the Future and Twister. To see Shrek on this, the Breakfast Club, etc..It brings excitement back into tv!!

Overall, I give this a thumbs up. While I am a little scared of being so pampered by a tc, I think I will get used to it!! :D

Thanks for reading! Happy Watching!