Customer Reviews

Hitachi P42H401 42-Inch HD1080 Plasma HDTV

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I had been searching for a new plasma TV and was all set on buying the ever popular Panasonic 42" 720 plasma from Best Buy. They had a sale for $1099.00 (actual just saw the Panasonic model on Amazon for $959.00 just now)

Anyway, while at Best Buy I noticed that the Hitachi here was on sale too but for $979.00! The sales guy said it was the best deal in the store. I asked "Why so cheap?" He said Hitachi is clearing out their line to introduce their new models with new techology. He said Hitachi ranked high and was a great buy at that price.

Being price conscious and knowing going to 1080 resolution meant having to upgrade my DVD and cable box, I thought, "Get it and save some dough."

Well, I got home, set it up and was disappointed at the picture quality and audio. I immediately came to Amazon to look over the reviews and saw the same concern by the one reviewer. Face tones were pasty. Audio was very weak and very flat. Man, was I bummed!

Then I saw another reviewer that said, "Read the Manual!" This was EXCELLENT advice. My Hitachi has many settings for the picture quality and audio. Well, come to find out, the first thing ya gotta do is find the command that asks if you want to "RESET to Factory settings". Choose "YES". Turn your TV Off then On. WOW! What a difference! Picture and audio is just AMAZING! I have no regrets and would recommend this Hitachi to anyone! I know 1080 is not suppose to make a difference in screens 50" or smaller, however, when you use the ZOOM feature to fill the screen the picture stays sharp which I really like!

After extensive research, I decided on the Hitachi 42" Plasma. Hitachi is the leader in Plasma televisions, and they show why in this set. The set gives you a 1080i signal (won't get into that), and at the time, the set was on sale for less than the Panasonic and Samsung TVs that I was comparing to. You get far more features and inputs than those sets right out of the box for less price, not to mention the quality of the picture. I bought an Oppo upconverting DVD player to go along with this set, and the picture is nothing short of astounding. Someone else mentioned that the longer the set is used, the better the picture seems to be. There are two things I would like to point out. Ironically, the set has so many features and adjustments, it will take you a very long to tweak the set, and the amount of memory it retains for each input may drive you crazy. Plan on spending some time with this set. Also, the TV speakers are very tinny and almost take away from the overall beauty of the set, but I'm sure everyone will agree that if you are buying a TV of this quality, you are surely running it through your stereo system. That is open for debate, but that would be my only complaint. When watching cable TV, I don't normally run it through my system, but, I didn't buy this TV for its sound. The picture is fabulous, and please be sure to get yourself an upconverting DVD player to take advantage of the astounding picture this set gives you. Highest recommendation.

Really nice TV, especially for the price. Lot's of configurable options and the picture looks amazing...I don't have surround sound speakers yet but the built in audio for this TV sounds nice as well.

My husband researched and had me return a different plasma tv. We went with this because it was a good price and had free shipping. It arrived and because we weren't ready to install, the shipping co left the tv in the box (normally they'll unpack take packaging) Of course always check for price drops within your 30 days, I did and saved an additional $250

The picture quality with our regular DVD player is great. I have not yet switched my Directv to high def, but picture is still better than our old projection style tv.

If you click (See all my reviews) next to Mr. Hung-yen Cheng's name below you'll see that he's not talking about this product. Just that he has had an issue with an HDTV product of Hitachi's, and he's trying to slander their name and products. I'm trying to get people to look at reviewers other posts if available, before they make decisions about a product.

Just got it last night and it is INSANE! We have been looking at flat panel HDs for a while and found tis at a great price, hooked it up and was completely blown away! You will not be sorry! I don't know why the other few had negative reactions to it, but I think it is OUTSTANDING! With our Wii hooked to it and the 1080 Up-converting DVD player thru HDMI, I am ecstatic!

This Hitachi has really proved itself a great value. When I bought it around Thanksgiving, my head was so filled with contrast ratios and black-level stats that I was worried silly. Turns out that this TV has a great HD picture, it has real depth and sensitivity while being nice sharp and crisp. Sports, especially football look phenomenal, movies, even in standard DV look terrific and it crushes in video games. I have a surround sound system, but the built in speakers are plenty fine for normal tv. Finally the optical audio out works great for channeling the surround sound from multiple sources to your reciever. Overall, love the tv, it's a real upgrade and I didn't spend so much that it has to be perfect.

I have had this TV for about a month now and I must say I'm truely impressed.The picture is stunning especially when i am watching some of the HD channels on cable.I keep hearing people saying that the 1080i TVs are not 'true' HD but a friend of mine got a 1080p Sony plasma for Chirstmas and I'll be damned if i can tell the difference.He payed 500 dollers more for a TV that is 10 inches smaller and no one will be able to tell me he got a better deal just becuase of a letter in the alphabet-lol

Anyone wishing to take the plunge into HDTV at a reasonable price this is the TV for you..Great deal-thanks Amazon!

I got this unit locally for $770 just before thanksgiving; I didn't feel like like paying $1100 for the Panasonic or staying up all night to pay $900 on black Friday.

I agree with pretty much all of the reviewers; it's not top notch but it is very good. It does seem to need a fair amount of involvement to get the best performance. Some observations:

Hidden power switch. The on/off button on the remote and the front panel is not the REAL power switch. I thought mine was DOA until I called Hitachi support. See pg 12, bullet #7 in the manual. Sheesh.

The sound is pitiful. Yes, you can boost bass & treble, switch on loudness, but that's lipstick on a pig. I don't want to fire up my 800 watt 6.1 sound system just to listen to the news (which looks incredible in HD!).

Video adjustments: The factory presets are not quite right, but I'm not sure how to set for the best results. Day-dynamic blows out the whites (it's the default when the set is powered up). Sometimes I see banding in gradations and facial tones. There's plethora of zoom settings, which are non=linear; peoples heads are slightly squashed or crawler are faster at the edges. I wish all the channels were widescreen (not the tv's fault).

Channel change speed: It will be slow if you press the channel #s or go up/down and just wait. It's waiting for you to press "select". Try it; it's immediate.

I've NEVER seen this for a straight price of $400-500. I imagine you have entire garage full of these if that were true.

Overall, I'm happy with it for the price. The high def is brilliant.

This is my first HDTV and I couldn't be any happier. I researched HDTVs for over a year before I made my decision to purchase this model. The picture is crystal clear and the HD channels look gorgeous on it. You will need to spend some time tweaking the picture to your own specifications for each input the TV has. Just make sure you read the manual when you first use it... ESPECIALLY if you have never owned a plasma screen before. It will tell you how to avoid things like "burn-in". There has been no evidence of this in my TV and I've had it going about 7-8 hours a day for the 3 months that I've owned it. I would highly recommend this unit for anyone looking for a great HDTV at a price that won't absolutely kill your budget.