Panasonic TH-42PZ700U review
Although this HDTV isn't very affordable and hasn't got any cool or new features, the visual quality is very good. Other may seem more reasonable for this price, but if you really want to amaze your friends with all the visual details and great sceneries, you have to buy this product.
When speaking about visuals, this is the best there is. It has amazing high definition view, with great details and superb picture quality. You will be impressed by the way people's skin and hair looks. This 42 inch plasma got a bigger score than any of the other products in its category. It is the highest resolution plasma you can find on the market right now.
The standard definition broadcast test didn't give this product an excellent score. The colors aren't as bright and shiny as people expect them to be. For example, the Vizio VP42 managed to get a bigger score in this category as its colors were more lively and real. However the Panasonic TH-42PZ700U does a pretty good job with the standard def DVD.
The black colors are amazing and deep; they bring out the excellent quality of this product. Most of us pay more attention to the color, graphics and options that a TV comes with but the black and white of the images should also take closer notice.
The most important thing to get a good visual quality is to know how to set the TV at its best performance. Unfortunately, the menu isn't very helpful, everything is very hard to handle. It takes a big amount of time to set the language. In the menu where it shows English language, when you click'ok' you might notice that nothing happens.
Usually, these menus are intuitive but this one isn't at all. It actually has a little button; you will probably notice it after a long time of searching. Using that button will approve your selection, otherwise it will change it and you won't even know why. Like the manual options this is more annoying that anything else, as it should save automatically or give you an easier way to make your changes permanent.
When you reach the menu where you can label input devices, fortunately you can skip some of them and move on. However, if this was done automatically things would have been better and faster. It's not a major problem, but most of these options are automatic now, so it's very strange that Panasonic only added the manual options.
The good thing about this product is that you can set everything up very easily. Physically speaking, this product isn't like the ones that take 3 hours to install after moving away all your furniture. It has a single coaxial connector; you will find it facing down. Also, other features include extra component video and S-Video inputs. A great aspect is the great card reader which can be used to see the photos right out of the camera.
Speakers are on the side, and you can almost miss them because they are hidden in the HDTV's design. The placements of the speakers are sleeker than you would normally see as they were built in and designed to blend perfectly with the frame. Speaking of design, this TV has a great elegant design, like any well respected brand, Panasonic chooses the classic glossy black for the TH-42PZ700U.
The remote control is big and heavy, it almost suggests this product's high quality. However, it has a particular design as one half is full of buttons. But you shouldn't worry about control, everything will run smooth because it is designed for you comfort.
Overall this product is amazing; it brings out the smallest details and has a highly improved visual quality when compared to other HDTVs. It doesn't have many features, but why would you need them if it shows perfect pictures at the best quality you can buy. Although it's a little bit pricey, you should buy it if you are looking for video quality.
