rplace Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 So as luck would have it I am remodeling my living/great room a bit and the TV in my bedroom went out. What better reason to get a new display for my public space and move the 2008 42 inch panasonic plasma to bedroom duties. Read and read on line till I was sick of it and decided to be brand loyal. My current 42 is just fine and I still love my Panasonic AE700 projector in the HT. So on Monday my new TV arrives and spends less than a 1/2 hour in my house. The screen is cracked in 3 places from shipping....buzz kill[] The replacement should show up on Wednesday. So anyone seen one of the new Panasonic ST30 series in person? I opted for the 55 inch version and it looked pretty darn big on the floor unboxed under my 42". I did not get a look at the display but the bezel and other bits of the box along with the finish are stunning. I can't wait to get one that actually works. Fingers crossed for Wednesday. I did swing by Best Buy a week back to see one on the floor. No critical viewing, but the blacks looked black and the picture was very brilliant. Who else has eyes on experiance or has been reading up and thinking about one of the new 2011 plasmas. Curious on your thoughs on the higer end version vs. the prices in the VT, GT and ST line. No real interest in 3D but it seems like to get the better picture they are forcing you to go 3D. Maybe down the road I will get the 3d bug. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark1101 Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 I just got the 55" Viera 3D plasma about 3 weeks ago. I had a nice Samsung LCD prior that we moved to another room. My first impression was that the Panny was dim. On a repeat trip to Best Buy I confirmed that when I looked at it a little closer in relation to the other TVs on the wall. Over the past 2-3 weeks I got used to it though and now when I look at our LCD screens I think they are a little too bright......go figure. I love the new TV. The 600Hz is great for motion. It's really seamless. We've surely never had a pcture close to this. I have Dish Network and the clarity is superb even in non-HD. Of course the HD is breathtaking. I haven't tried the 3D yet because the glasses are about $180 apiece, and I don't have any right now. It has a feature to turn everything into 3D, and it is set up on my home network for internet connectivity (comes with a USB wifi antenna). It has about 20 sites pre-programmed into it and we added a few more. You can actually surf on the TV using the remote but it is a little cumbersome. We plugged my son's keyboard into one of the the USB ports and surfed much faster that way. All in all I'm very satisfied with it. I hope it holds its black levels as they say these Panny's turn gray over time. Pannasonic says this Viera can run 8 hours a day for 30 years and the plasma should function normally over that time period. Combined with our home theater sound it is exceptional. I'd buy it again. Caution: You need HDMI connectors. It has only 1 component in and one composite in. Has mulitple HDMI, USB and a memory card socket (for viewing from your camera) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arky Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 I haven't seen or read up on the new versions but my '09 Panny plasma is chuggin along perfectly with a great picture. Best I have seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
synergyfreak Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 will def. agree on panasonic i have last years 58vt25 3d tv and picture and detail is amazing, I also have an 2009 G10 50 inch in my spare bedroom and its running better than ever, I did see the 50 inch st 3d tv in person at my local best buy, seems like the only difference is they took away the THX certification on this model and below, I would wait since the VT30 will be coming out in the next week or so, but if your just wanting a quality plasma panasonic is def. the way to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danzo Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 If Pioneer Kuro is not an option, you cannot go wrong with Panasonic plasmas [Y] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rplace Posted April 19, 2011 Author Share Posted April 19, 2011 I have yet to see a Kuro but everything I hear/read sounds like they are the best. Mark1101, what actual model do you have? The Viera, if I am not mistaken, is in a bunch of Panasonic TVs not a model but software/features. I belive for 2011 the VT, GT and ST are the top of the heap with several others following behind. My ST being 3rd from the top seemed to be the price point I could live with between features/performance and price. As stated it does not have the THX cert, but shares most of the other features. A few weeks back I got a Denon 3311 and today the UPS man dropped off a Panasonic 210 BR/DVD player. Just last week I got a Harmony 900 to tie it all together and last night I stayed up till 11:00PM putting together a stand in the room behind my TV. So I am single handedly trying to bring back the economy it would seem. So far I am really digging the Denon 3311 for what it can deliver given the price. My inwall THX Klipsch 6250s are striking the balance between WAF and sound. Having all the equipment out of sight in the next room is really nice and the Harmony 900 so far is a dream to work with over IR repeaters I have had for in cabinet set ups. I am not ready to give up on the Sunfire/Carver/Khorn set up in the basement...but my living room is greatly improved over the way it was a month ago. Pictures to follow one of these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brac Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 I got my panasonic plasma about 5 years ago, mine is a commercial monitor, (no tuner, no speakers). Still looks amazing! BTW, when I bought this they were giving a free 5 year warranty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich_Guy Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 I got my panasonic plasma about 5 years ago, mine is a commercial monitor, (no tuner, no speakers). Still looks amazing! BTW, when I bought this they were giving a free 5 year warranty. Same here and I still have until the end of this year until my free 5 year warranty is over. I have absolutely loved my pro series Panasonic plasma, it's still like new and has a flawless picture quality. I still feel I made the best choice when I bought my display. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brac Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 Same here and I still have until the end of this year until my free 5 year warranty is over. I have absolutely loved my pro series Panasonic plasma, it's still like new and has a flawless picture quality. I still feel I made the best choice when I bought my display. Couldn't agree more! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dysmae Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 I work at Best Buy Magnolia and all the Panasonic tvs are great, but I also like the Samsungs. I have my preferences by models. The VT25 from last year is basically the best picture I've scene. The G20 from last year is the greatest bang for your buck tv of 2010 imo. At times, however, some of the lower Panasonics seems to have an odd greenish tint to the black levels while the Samsungs don't. Also the Samsungs just have style down to a science, while the Panasonics to me seems to look bulky and dated. The new VT30 is suppose to be super sleek and badass. Hope it comes in soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandowrx Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 If Pioneer Kuro is not an option, you cannot go wrong with Panasonic plasmas Amen to that Brotha! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark1101 Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 TC-P55ST30 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rplace Posted April 21, 2011 Author Share Posted April 21, 2011 TC-P55ST30 Sweet, that is the same one I am getting....now not till Friday [8o|] But glad to hear you like it. Makes me that much more excited to get mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark1101 Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 Honestly, it has seriously increased how much we enjoy TV. I'm going to eventually get some 3D glasses, but probably not till X-mas time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHASLS2 Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 Best to read up on the issues of floating brightness on this years higher end plasma's. Last year it was floating and rising blacks levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rplace Posted April 23, 2011 Author Share Posted April 23, 2011 Wow, a bit shy of 24 hours into this monster being up on my wall and all I can say is WOW. By far the best picture I have ever seen in a persons house. I am sure there are better set ups out there, but I have not seen one in person. This TV rocks. My wife totally loves it too. Best $1490 I have spent that I can remember. I have not even started to play around with various settings or any of the online features; just been using it as a display. Crazy how the prices have come down. A few years back my 42 plasma was around $1300. I did not really care about the 3D features but I have discovered I have four 3D channels on DirecTV. If the glasses were not so expensive I would be loving see how that looks. I'd guess those prices will come down over time. Anyone have hands on experiance with the Panasonic glasses versus other brands? What should I be looking for in glasses? Go with Panasonic and be done, or are there better options? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Youthman Posted April 23, 2011 Moderators Share Posted April 23, 2011 So where are the pics? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elitedemo Posted April 24, 2011 Share Posted April 24, 2011 panasonic has gotten alot better thankfully, not a huge fan of my smaller c2 as its brightness drops randomly sometimes but the price was right, the s2 i love, and the newer models look great with the sadness that 3d gives me a heck of a headache after even a short use Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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