Panasonic TH-37PE30B

The Panasonic TH-37PE30B is not HD ready but then does everybody want HD. for anyone who wants an excellent television with superb picture and sound and are perfectly happy with Standard Def pictures I say go buy this one!!!! You wont be disappointed.

I bought the Panasonic TH-37PE30B plasma TV because of the reviews and the price. I only paid £1250, including the superb stand (itself worth £300 IMHO). I also have a Samsung LCD TV, which I prefer the picture on - It's a lot brighter, which I prefer, but less natural for all the purists out there. However, when the source allows (usually Sky digital, always DVD through component) the picture is superb. I think the sound is no worse than I've had before. It's not breathtaking, but not bad enough to dismiss.

Panasonic TH-37PE30B - Let down by a case of design over practicality and whoever thought of such tiny sound outputs should be shot! I have had to add speakers to get even a standard sound that this set does not produce. My advice to anyone reading this and not yet bought a plasma, avoid the pencil bars down the sides like your life depended upon it. Look for a larger sound area - the larger the better - trust me.

I did a lot of research before settling on this Panasonic set. I am pleased with it overall, but seeing the other reviews I think some balance is needed. The first thing I noticed on watching 'wider' films is that the contrast ratio is not good enough. It may or not be one of the best out there, but the nice looking piano black surround immediately contrasts with the greyer unfilled picture area, regardless of picture settings. Panasonic should have put a grey surround or even better floated it like the latest Sony plasmas.

Secondly, this TV is missing digital inputs so it is going to be out of date fairly quickly. I deliberately didn't choose a high def set as I understand the processing power of most plasmas isn't quite up to it yet, but again this means the tv will date pretty quickly. Component inputs (with decent cables) also look pretty grainy to me.

The stand is extremely heavy and robust with plenty of space to hide cables - big advantage compared to the sphagetti from other systems.

I don't think there are enough scart sockets - check this out for your purposes (eg 2 games machines or an MP4 player) - and also the included Panasonic DVD recorder is not particularly clever or easy to use in combination with the TV - all the menu systems are different.

Delivered boxes were absolutely enormous - take the day off to get rid of the cardboard (what does a 42 inch box look like?)

Best bit are the in built speakers - very small but excellent sound at all reasonable volumes.

I brought this from John Lewis - fantastic free 5 year on site warranty AND DVD recorder AND price matched - BUT you must research each shop as they don't all do the same offer - I could have paid £800 more in the Sloane Square branch!

I spent 6 months looking for a new plasma TV. I read every review and bought every magazine. I thought about buying a Sony or the rated Pioneer but when I saw the Panasonic TH37PE30B, I really liked it but doubted it was as good as it was made out to be.

The mags raved about it, the guys in the specialist stores raved about it - now I'm doing it!

The picture is simply amazing and the black is really deeper than on other plasma TV I've seen (believe me - I've seen ALL of them!). The contrast ratio of 3000:1 is something else, the depth of the picture is

wonderful and there doesn't seem to be any pixelation as seen on other plasmas.

The picture on a digital signal is beyond anything I've seen from any other TV, plasma or otherwise! DVDs are awesome and there's not much loss on satellite signals either.

The best thing is that this product is consderably cheaper than the next best plasma (Pioneer) and considerably less than the inferior Sony range.

I brought mine from http://www.underonelink.com - fantastic price and delivery time.

My wife was sceptical when I bought this TV. "Waste of money" were the words on her lips, but it didn't take her long to adapt to the fine qualities of the Panasonic TH-37PE30B, not least the fact that I was able to set up the whole system from box to viewing in less than an hour, and that included reading up about all the buttons on the remote! Auto setup works well and quickly.

Must admit to being a little uncertain about the long-term future of plasma as a format. They say a plasma screen lasts 10 years in average usage, so when HDTV becomes common currency my set may well be ready for replacement anyway.

There are disadvantages - the screen doesn't cope with rapid movement as well as CRT, for example, but for most purposes the clarity and resolution are more than ample. Indeed, the Panasonic Viera system is hugely impressive, with truly stunning contrast, brilliant lifelike colours and superb rendition, especially in progressive scan mode. The screen has plenty of options for fine-tuning the image and screen mode, most of which can be managed automatically with minimum fuss.

At present, I haven't got a surround sound system, but the integrated speakers work well in Nicam mode, albeit with the sort of limitations you would expect. Suffice it to say my wife prefers to use it at about 5% of potential volume!

The integrated Freeview tuner is splendid, though it would be nice to have an on-line process for gaining access to encrypted channels such as E4. Since I also have an NTL cable box, I was able to compare the two digital sources. Both are subject to occasional blips in transmission but the screen undoubtedly brought out the best in both options.

All in all, a terrific purchase. Just one word of caution: a 2-year warranty extension is expensive. The Panasonic option costs £550. I shopped around and saved £100, but even then it's probably a price worth paying given the cost of buying a replacement.

Viera Technology is untouchable by any other plasma tvs. The MACH drive & Real Black is benchmark technology that demands respect. Not to mention the Panasonic TH37PE30B plasma televisions contrast ratio of 4000:1. The SD card slot allows me to view all my images on TV (no more photo albums)& Digital intergrated tuner means no expensive tuners need to be bought (frees a scart connection too)The sound is very good too. I spent 9 month looking for a plasma that gives me top performance at a budget. THIS IS IT! believe me it is.