Great deal November 20, 2009

I bought this for my husband for an anniversary present.  Not only did he tell me he loved it, he's banned the children from touching it at all and seems to be guarding it with his life.  I haven't bought him anything this extravagant for him in a long time.  So I guess he plans on savoring it.  I'm so happy that he's happy.

Everything I hoped for and more. November 14, 2009

Planned to buy an HDTV for awhile, took the plunge about 4 months ago, and loving it.

I originally bought a VIZIO LCD tv, took it home - set it up - and ended up returning it when I found out the VIZIO logo on the bottom of the TV was lit up and you can't turn it off.  Gave it 3 days but just to darned distracting.

Search began again and I stumbled on this TV off a bargain shopper site, Sears had it on special for 899.99.  Got it in store for the price too, the rep priced matched it for me off sears.com. I researched the TV and can't find anything negative about it online, its all good.

4 months later and I love the TV, very happy with it.  I dont have anything negative to say about.  Everything looks crisp, rich colors, great blacks, awesome for movies.   I still have the old CRT in the basement and man it looks like a dinosaur now.

Thank you Sears and Panasonic for a great big plasma TV and a great price.  Stellar deal.

Absololutely the best bang for the buck November 13, 2009

I have had this Panny hooked up for a couple of weeks now and couldn't be happier. Originally, after doing extensive research, walked in to a Sears to see the real deal.

The model, P50S1, was on sale for $999, and with all reviews raving about this TV, I decided now's the time.

A Sears technician arrived to install the next business day, just prior to the HD dish (Direct TV) insallation and all is well.

Also purchased the Panny Blue Ray player, an HDMi 6' cable, a 3 year warranty and a beautiful "Bello" wood framed stand.

The picture quality is outstanding even in in a well lit living room. It's sound is definitely adequate on it's own, but it is hooked up to a previously owned wireless (Rear speakers) Panny surround sound system.  This being my first HD flat screen, I think I made the right choice. I guess only time will tell.

I'm sure there alot of good choices out there, but before you make the final decision, give this model some serious consideration. Hope this helps

Superior non-CRT HDTV for gaming November 09, 2009

After researching TVs for the better part of the past year, I was almost ready to buy a very popular 40 inch LCD TV.  Although I didn't get a chance to play any PlayStation 3 on that set, I did attempt gaming on a comparable LCD.  Motion blur, input lag, and the weird look 120Hz processing imparts on the image made me change my mind.  None of these problems are present in plasma televisions, and this is the best plasma under $1500. 

The TV itself looks very good with its all glossy-black color scheme.  It helps make it look a little more expensive than it actually is, and this display will look very impressive in any room.  Set up was easy with the exception of trying to get a 50 inch screen out of its box in a small room without help.  The stand can be installed with a phillips-head screwdriver and the included screws in about 3 minutes.  All inputs on the back and side are labeled for those who can't tell the difference between a component and a composite input.  A small complaint I have concerns the very minimal user-adjustable picture settings, but this is Panasonic's entry-level 1080p TV so it's understandable.  There were no dead pixels.  After a few days of break-in (do a google search for "plasma tv break-in" if you don't know what I'm talking about), there is absolutely no image retention, or burn in, even after all-night gaming sessions. 

PS3 games look amazing on this display.  Metal Gear Solid 4 and Resident Evil 5 are nearly photo-realistic thanks to the incredible contrast ratio, decent color accuracy, and full 1080p resolution.  When gaming in a dark room, on-screen blacks are just as dark as the Panasonic's black bezel.  Standard definition cable understandably looks pretty poor on a 50 inch HDTV, but I bought this solely for Blu-ray and PS3 games, and this TV is amazing with a high-def signal.  This is my first non-CRT HDTV, and I am blown away by this plasma.  I've been putting off the jump to flat-panel TVs because of my bad experiences with flat-panel LCD computer monitors.  The solution is to simply avoid LCD displays; as of 2009, it is still a half-baked technology.  Lying salesmen and misinformed internet message board posters have given plasma a bad name.  This could be a good thing.  I don't think I would have been able to get this TV so cheap without the general consensus that plasma is inferior.  

Color accuracy isn't perfect; flesh tones are a little bit too red on occasion.  But since this set gets everything else right, I have to give it 5 stars.  It should be noted that break-in helped lessen this inaccuracy considerably, and I have yet to have this TV professionally calibrated.  Regardless, I'm much happier with this than I would have been with an LCD.  Don't let in-store displays turn you away from plasma technology.  Colors and white levels are just as good as an LCD once set up in your room, and black levels and motion resolution are vastly superior.  Once calibrated, I'm almost 100% sure this TV will perform as well as the most expensive plasma TVs.