Hi Guys,
This owner review I got from Amazon would probably wet your apetite further on the new 42PV80 (by the way, the review is for the equivalent model in US - 42PX80U -
31 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
You Won't Find A Better TV Anywhere For The Price!!!!!!!, March 4, 2008
By Travis Deputy "TheInsatiableBookReader" (Padukee, Keentukee) - See all my reviews
WOW! WOW! WOW! That's the first words that came to mind when I put a Blu-Ray dvd in my Playstation 3 and turned on this awesome plasma tv. I've never seen a better picture and I've been to all those Best Buy/Circuit City stores and seen all there high end tv's in high def and this one stands up against all of them and holds it own and beats many of them all around.
The picture is bright, punchy and very clear. The blacks and reds are deep and rich. To put it in a nutshell, the picture looks surreal! True this is a 720p plasma, but it looks better than some of those 50 inch, 1080p Pioneer plasmas. My friend has a high end Pioneer plasma 50 incher(I forget what the model number is but its the best 50 inch one you can get from Pioneer.....I think its something like Euro or Uro or maybe Kuro in the model number)and I kid you not, this Panasonic Viera TH-42PX80U looks better than his and this one is about a $2000 cheaper.
Don't believe all that hype about 1080p either! With televisions, whether it be plasma or lcd, anything under 5o inches you will only be able to tell a tiny bit of difference in picture quality, if any at all with 1080p versus 720p. True, you can see a difference with the 58 to 65 inchers, but not really as much as you'd think.
As a comparison to this plasma, I bought a Panasonic 42d64u slim line lcd model back in November(sold it to my Dad so I could get this) and this plasma clearly has it beat in picture, sound, price, features, remote.......you name it.
To sum it up, this Panasonic Viera TH-42PX80U is all you could ask for in a tv and more. The sound is so good you don't need a surround sound system. Thundering bass!!! The picture is absolutely amazing in high definition(This plasma has 1,000,000:1 dynamic contrast(that's right 1 million with 6 zeroes! Has to be a first!)and 15,000:1 native contrast, which is a technical way of saying this tv is AWESOME!) and still looks really good in standard definition(much better than lcd). Video games whether it be on the 360 or PS3 look stunning!!! 3 HDMI inputs with 1 in the front for easy access! I love the remote control! It's not big and gawky like many remotes and has easy to use buttons. I just wish it had a backlight button to light up the remote. Actually it may and I just haven't discovered it yet. This is a very attractive television and it's nice and slim(this is new to this model) so it doesn't take up a bunch of room.
Don't worry about screen burn in with these new plasmas. Hard to get burn in on them due to safety features such as screen saver and sleeptimer in case you fall asleep while you're watching a movie. Hands down this is the best tv you can get for the price! Do yourself a favor and go get one of these affordable plasmas at a great price and be blown away by the picture and sound.
As a side note: Amazon's free shipping, white glove delivery service was perfect and hassle free. The delivery peeps carried it in where I wanted it, unboxed it, and hooked up everything including my 360, PS3, Nintendo Wii and surround sound system(which isn't needed with this tv's great sound). Amazing Plasma, Amazing Service!!!!!!!! Don't get an lcd tv, get this Awesome tv before it sells out!