Customer Reviews

Panasonic PT-50LC14 50" Widescreen HD-Ready Television

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

TV went out after six mos. Needed new lamp and ballast. Both parts are backordered and i've been out of TV for 2mos now. Not very happy...i've invested over 3,000 bucks for this and would expect it to last longer than six mos.On top of that i have to wait over two mos to get it repaired.

Bought from Best Buys and not very happy w/ cust service. They are making me wait 45 days before sending a replacement and wont even give me a loner. They suckered me into buying the extended warranty and for what!!

Update 01/02/12: Over the last five years, I have decreased my usage on this TV - It is not watched daily as in the past. The good news is I have had no problems with the bulb replaced in 2006 nor the optical engine replaced in 2007. This TV will be ten years old in December, 2013.

Update 11/19/07 - Good thing I purchased the 5 year extended warranty. I just had the optical engine replaced. Several weeks ago I noticed a red dot on the screen, which could have caused a red tint on the total screen picture if not replaced.

It took the warranty company over 2 weeks to approve the replacement part. Apparently the part is costly, and a decision had to be made between part replacement and a new TV - YIKES.

So far so good. The part resolved the red dot problem...., but my rating is now a 3-.

Update 8/19/06 -Please see my review of 12/21/03 for the PT-50LC13. I gave the prior model rave reviews and noted some set up tips. Unfortunately, the Amazon system will not provide a means to change the stars. I would now rate as a 3 plus, not five stars. I have had this TV since 12/12/03 and on 8/13/06 had the bulb blow. The good news is that Panasonic has extended the bulb warranty until 5/31/07. I was told by Panasonic I was one of the lucky ones, to have my bulb last Two years and Eight months - about 50% of its advertised life. Note - Once the new bulb is replaced, there is a step needed to reset the bulb life timer. Funny thing is that I was told there is no way to view the actual elapsed time. Apparently, the timer purpose is only to display a message when the bulb is near its expected 10,000 hour life usage. I never received such a message - I only heard the bulb pop.

Panasonic Service - 1 888 843-9788. My peak hold time was ten minutes.

I was provided a case number and was told to fax a copy of my paid receipt to Panasonic - My bulb was delivered on August 17, 2006 - I can not complain about two day delivery. I was fortunate to have talked to someone that knew what they were doing and made the process painless. Note- I did call back to discuss a few other issues and the representative was less than helpful - You win some; you lose some.

For people that have already had problems, the warranty is extended to 11/30/07. I expect this is because of the class action law suit for the 2003 and 2004 models. In fact, Panasonic had already sent me (many months ago) paperwork regarding the class action suit and noted that if I had three bulbs blow, I was entitled to a different technology TV or a monetary certificate towards a different Panasonic TV.

Also, in the past, I did replace both cooling fans under warranty because I thought they were getting loud. Overall, I am very pleased with this set except for the bulb and estimate only 4000 +/- hours on this TV.

NOTE: People please make sure you allow the cooling process to complete when shutting off the TV> Do not plug the TV into a cable TV box outlet that will shut down the power, eliminating the cooling process. Also, make sure the TV is plugged into a good surge protector for protection. Lastly, the TV should be in a cool area, not next to a heat source. __ Panasonic does ask if you have a surge protector..

NOTE: I talked to a service technician and he told me not to keep the TV Picture setting on Dynamic (the brightest setting), and I may get a longer bulb life. He suggested Normal, but I prefer Cinema.

Hope this helps. j.

We purchased our Panasonic 4 months ago. Two weeks ago the Lamp went out. Luckily it is under warranty because the service call came to $529.94 ( this total included the labor and lamp)I was completely shocked. I think this TV is good if you are planning on keeping it until the warranty is up, but not long term.
What happened to good quality products. My daughter has the 13 inch panasonic that was mine when I was a kid. It still works and has NEVER been worked on....Go figure!

I purchased the TV (50LC13) Sep 2003. First light bulb blew in about 3 months, the second took 16 months, the third about 4 months later. Yes, three lights bulbs blew out during the first 24 months. The bulbs cost $300 each. The extended warranty paid for the light bulbs, but everytime it happens I am without the TV for 2 or more weeks. When the TV is working it is great (4 - 5 stars). After the warranty runs out and I start paying for the bulbs I will probably give it away and let someone else pay for the bulbs.

Regular TV looks so-so on Comcast here in the SW suburbs of Chicago, but HD looks great. This thing has a ton of inputs, including 2 RGB (computer monitor-type), 4 component, and an HDMI hookup. I hooked up my computer to it, and the image is so beautiful, my computer has now become a full-time Home Theater PC. The split screen is very cool, I have my cable split so 1 cable goes to Comcast's HD box which then goes component to the TV, and 1 cable goes to the TV. You can split screen HD from the box and regular TV and change the channels indepentdently and swap the pictures. Once you've watched HD content on this TV there is no going back.

Even though the TV is light for it's size it's kind of hard to carry.

The sound is quite good, probably the best TV sound I have ever heard.

Picked this up about a month ago and I'm lovin' it!
Pros: Worked great out of the box. Big, vivid picture. Small footprint. Reasonable price. True HD display. Tons of inputs. Analog tuner built-in. RGB inputs.
Cons: Replacement bulb lifespan is a worry & costs $299. Customer support is weak- overloaded on the phone (+1hr wait) & takes too long to reply via email. No true front input jacks. No HD tuner. Sound system is only average.

The TV has a great image but if you buy this TV expect to pay at least $300 for a new bulb EVERY year. There are many people with this experience. This is a Panasonic design flaw. Yes, I do have surge protection.

If the bulb was $25 I would rate it higher, but as it stands I would recommend you look elsewhere for a TV.

BEWARE!!! This model, the PT-50LC14 and the previous model both use the same lcd lamps. They are faulty and cost $300 a piece. Do a search online for Panasonic LCD Lamps - there are literally thousands of people who have experience multiple lamp failures in the first year alone.

Panasonic claims the expected lamp life on their LCD televisions is 10,000 hours. I've had my television for 3 months, so maybe 300 hours of viewing time - the lamp just BLEW. I thought I maybe I just had a bad lamp, but upon doing some research, this is a rampant problem. The first thing the Customer Service person did is have me look at the lamp, before troubleshooting anything else.

I do not recommend you purchase this TV unless you can afford to buy at least one $300 lamp every year.

Had this now for 4 weeks. Standard cable looks great but DVDs are fantastic. Xbox HD is incredible. It brings old games to life and the kids can now see so much more when they play games in split screen mode. With the combination of this screen and my home theatre, movie night is always eagerly awaited.

If I could give this televison NO STARS, I would. To make a long story a little shorter, in a year and a halfs time we've gone through 3 lamps, 1 projector and 2 switches. After they could not fix the switch, we got a new tv (NOT panasonic). I hope those of you who have recently purchased this television have bought the extended warranty, or it might be sitting on your curb for trash pick up. Oh and I cant tell you how long we waited on service calls and parts. Make sure you have more than one tv in your house!!!