Panasonic VIERA S1 Series TC-P65S1 65-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV, Black
Panasonic VIERA S1 Series TC-P65S1 65-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV, Black
65-Inch Plasma, 1080p, NEO PDP Panel which is brighter, Full-time 1080p TV lines of moving picture resolution, 3 HDMI, Native contrast ratio 40,000:1, Dynamic contrast infinite black 2,000,000:1, Game Mode, Anti Reflective Filter, 600 Hz Subfield Drive
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Great overall value and HD set!
Simple review… Amazon’s price was great (with free blu-ray player to boot), shipping was free, and it was white glove, right to my living room. The shipping company called and scheduled a delivery, showed up within the window, and I dropped them a nice tip. Now the set is a monster. If you have the room, get this set! Pic quality is outstanding, and the plasma blacks are great. By far the best value going right now for a 65″ hdtv. The v10 model of this has some nice features, but not worth $1200 more to me.
5 Stars The Best Plasma TV Out there
I bought this TV on August 30 and got it delivered on Sept 10. It’s a big set that needs to be delivered on trucks, not UPS. The seller communicates via email to update the status of your order. A day before the delivery date, the truck guys will call and confirm the hours, typically a four-hour window for them to show up. Now, there is something that I think a prospective buyer wants to keep in mind. TV of this size is not easily transported. So it’s the policy of the vendor, and probably industry-wide (because I’ve checked several vendors and that they all said the same thing), that you CAN’T RETURN IT if you don’t fell like it. In other word, don’t just buy it because you just want to check it out. The vendor will take it back if and only if it is 1) defective or 2) broken. So it’s crucial that once it’s delivered and while the delivery guys are still there, please open it up. Plug it in and make sure it work. In other word, do a thorough inspection. Because once these guys leave, you pretty much own it for good.
Now, comes the TV. This is a great set par none for its price. A quick walk through your local Best Buy will tell you that. I’ve seen TV’s a lot smaller and much less sophisticated got sold for prices very close to this set’s. Some of those are not very well known brands. The TV is not that heavy at all. The listing weight, according to Amazon is 175 shipping and 145, is not correct. Although I don’t know its shipping weight, the set itself is 90 lbs (yeah..this isn’t a typo). I’m a fairly small guy (5′7) and my brother’s (5′8), and we both were able to pick it up and set it on the console without breaking a sweat. The hookup is straight forward. Just find the right connection and plug it in. Very much self-explanatory. The remote doesn’t look that intimidating either. I mean if you’ve played around w/ electronic equipments, you don’t need to read the manual. Play around w/ a few keys and you’ll get it. It’s realllyyyyyy simpleeeee. I had mine hooked up to Direct TV w/ the premium package (Football package). So I’m able to watch fairly large number of HD channels. And …yes….it is…………awesome..yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh…
As with plasma TV, I’m sure we all know that it should be in a dark room because plasma screens tend to reflect light. Mine is a bit close to the window. Although I try to shut down all the blinds when I watch football on Sundays, a tiny bit of reflection is still visible. The best show is at night. Dim the lights and you will be amazed at its clarity. As for the speakers, don’t bother. You’re not buying this TV for its speakers. So why even bother to turn it on? All TV speakers sucks. Period. If you were willing to spend this much dough on a TV, do yourself a favor. Go big w/ speakers. Speakers nowaday are relatively cheap. You can easily get a decent pair of speakers for a couple hundred dollars. I currently have mine set up w/ the Yamaha speaker bar. It’s not the best, but decent enough for both regular TV reviewing and some action movies. The real nirvana will come when I save enough $$$ for a pair of Martin Logan.
Go ahead & Buy it. I guarantee you won’t regret. Be sure to buy it from Amazon. Their service is great.
5 Stars Best value on the market
I looked at this set and the TC-P65V10 in Best Buy before I purchased it here. Using the same input I could not tell more that a tiny marginal difference in the V10’s 96hz 24p feature and this set without. I also looked at the 60″ KURO and while it did look better calibrated, it was not worth the more than “double the price” premium. I could tell a difference in the price though and back in my in home all I can say is, “WOW what a picture”. This performance available at this Amazon price point is the value of the year in television IMHO.
I bought the new TC-P54G10 in early September and also have a 720P 50″ TH-50PX80U model. While the TC-P65S1 Panasonic does not have THX, I was not as impressed with the THX settings as I thought I would be and prefer to use the custom settings. In my opinion this is still by far the best picture of the three sets I own. It shares the same Neo-PDP glass as the 54G10 but at 65″ the 1080 ability really shows through. Even at the 54″ size I cannot tell the difference with the 720 sets but this 65S1 shines like a star. I watched the Thursday night college football game on ESPNHD and spent more time being amazed at the picture than at the game and it was a darn good game.
This set is in a big room, 19′ x 26′, 12″ ceiling with lots of glass windows behind it and sliding doors. The anti glare works well, really great.
They need to add the ability to use Netflix right from the set and add more picture control ability for fine tuning and calibration of the picture.
Panasonic really knows their stuff. I can’t wait until they come out with a 100″ or better Plasma that folks who are not a Rap-Star can afford.
Don’t hesitate to purchase through Amazon!
Filed under: 1080p HDTV Plasma Reviews