Customer Reviews

Panasonic CT-27SX11 27" Tau Pure Flat Screen TV

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

When I was in the market, I considered this model and the Toshiba 27AF41. I initially bought the Toshiba because a similar model (27AF61) was rated good in consumer reports. But, after I got it, I found that it had the vertical and horizontal lines skewed. I returned it and was looking at the various flat TVs by various brands at many stores. This panasonic was the only TV that didn't the skew the lines much. I got this reluctantly as I initially thought the Toshiba had a much better picture. But, after adjusting the picture, I found that the panasonic had equally good picture. Beware that this is the heaviest in its class @ 110 pounds, unpacked. In my opinion, this model is a good value for money.

Like another reviewer, I bought the Toshiba 27AF41 first. I returned it for two reasons -- (1) couldn't get the picture quite right, even tho it was the most impressive in the store, and (2) my wife couldn't handle how garishly SILVER the Toshiba is. It draws too much attention to itself, in an otherwise quietly decorated room.
The Panasonic CT27SX11, to my knowledge, after shopping quite a bit, is the only 27" flat screen TV to come in a near-black case. And although it didn't show up in the reviews, the picture seems nicer than the Toshiba. Also considered: Sony has its advantages, and its silver/gray cases are not as shiny as Toshiba.

Bought in September 2001. 3 Times now found a strange halo around the center of tube. All red or all blue. Bad picture tube? Well, I just unplug it for a few minutes and then everything is ok again. Strange.

Ok, so try to turn it off. Press the power button on the front. TV turns off, then back on again. Very frustrating. Try again and again. Can't turn off. So head to the remote to turn off. Everything ok. Happened several random times.

Speaking of remote, turn on from the remote, and I get a click, but no picture! Try, try again. Finally a picture. Happened at least a couple dozen times.

Tonight, I turn off the TV, and I have a strange high pitch sound comming from it that I cannot get rid of. Not out of the speakers, but from the back! Leave unplugged for 5 hours (getting used to this) and when I plug in, same thing. Sounds like a cheap motor how it winds down when I unplug it. What the heck?!?

Last thing, for as much as this 27" TV weighs and looks when it works, I expected the best. Instead I've had nothing but trouble, and determined that it is made of cheap components. It even feels cheap when you use the buttons on the front. Don't lift it to send it back. Make them come to you.

I read the other reviews after buying this TV and was worried a bit about the durability of the set. But after 6 months of almost continous play in my home office of at least 12 hours per day, I am extremely satisfied. My 78 year od mother stopped by one day and saw the quality picture and went straight out an bought one for herself. She's also been estatic with the quality of picture, and the sound.

Did alot of research on this product and compared very, very favorably to all other similar 27" models at that time.
From the very beginning, i too epxeirenced the "power problem", where the remote nor the power button on the tv would turn the tv on. I had to physically pull the plug and then the power button would work. I lived with that for 4 years and although it would happen once every 2/3 months, the picture and sound quality was unreal and made it a bareable problem. Then one day, the power problem happened again, and this time it took a few tries to bring it back to life again. After a few tries, the picture had shifted/expanded veritcally, making the bottom of the screnn unviewable and ALSO, the sides were "pinched" inwards in the center of the screen. In the olden days when this would happen, all you would do is adjust the horizontal or verical adjustment settings. I couldn't believe there were no horizontal or vertical adjustments on this TV!!!! Tech support (which was a joke), had me hit "reset" by hitting the power button and another button at the same time. It "rebooted" itself and it came up with some text telling me that all the self tests were OK. And that's when tech support gave me the number of the nearest authorized repair shop and said "have a nice day". The next TV, i'm going to buy is the biggest cheapest TV for it's price,use it for 3-5 years, then throw it away and get another one. Keep doing this until i'm dead. I use to work for Panasonic in Secacaus, NJ and everyone there took pride in their work and i swore by their products......that was 10 years ago....i guess ALOT has changed since then.

I purchased my Panasonic after reviewing several models that fit my requirements. After seeing the picture on the Panasonic the decision was easy. It has a great picture with my cable and an amazing one with the dvd player. I find that the neutral audio is good for daily listening. Systems with too much base can be tiring. The set is also a great bang for the buck. It has all the latest inputs and outputs making it very compatible with the latest equipment. As far as reliability goes, I've had my set for almost 2 months now with zero problems. - My 2 cents!

Yes, when we bought our Panasonic in November of 2001, it was a heavy unit. However, the picture was so realistic and sharp that I thought for a moment that it might be high definition. It outshone all of the competition easily. The contemporary black housing looked good too, and the price point was right, so we bought it. We have watched it virtually continuously for hours, including DVDs, VHSs and cable programming and it has been a marvel! I just wonder if it can be ever upgraded to high definition?

This is by far the best of all current flat screen crt televisions. I recommend that you use this tv only with a good surround sound system, but if you don't have one the tv speaker is still pretty good. The color is much more vibrant than the Toshiba or even the Sony WEGA.

After 4 weeks the picture looked like an hourglass,the repair shop had it for one month while waiting for a part from Panasonic. TV was brought back to me yesterday, so far so good. Panasonic people were of no help, they have a "we don't care" attitude. I really doubt this set will last very long, unless you are wealthy don't buy this set!!

I bought this model tv from Circuit City in August 2001. It was purchased mainly for playing video games (XBox, PS2, DC, GC) which I have connected to the tv by S-video (video 2 or 3). In either the video 2 or 3 modes, the left and right vertical edges of the screen distort horribly. There is a sort of rippling motion of the vertical edges of the screen similar to a flag blowing in the wind. It is really annoying when trying to play games.

This tv also has a power problem where its often impossible to power it on (the on button on the remote or the tv doesn't always function). The power cord has to be removed from the power outlet and then re-inserted a couple times to get the tv to power on. This doesn't happen always, but it does occur quite frequently.

I should add that for watching tv, this model does have a nice crisp picture and very good audio. But for video games, avoid this at all costs.

I unfortunately kept the tv and I'm stuck with it. Circuit City can fix the power problem, but have no idea about the screen distortion problem. Besides, getting it repaired would mean that I would be without the tv for several weeks to a month and I'm not prepared to do that at this time (loads of video games to play). I may be forced to sell it (at a huge loss) to someone just interested in watching tv (and not playing video games).