Customer Reviews

Panasonic SC-PTX7 Premium Home Theater System

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

 

 

I bought this unit 3 months ago. It freezes on me more often than not. Apparently, I am not alone. Everytime it freezes, I have to unplug and reset the unit. It happens at least 3 times a week. I was deciding between this and the Bose 3.2.1 system before my purchase. I pick this due to the cheaper price and 1080p upconversion for DVD thru HDMI. However, I regret my decision every time I have to get up from my sofa to unplug the unit due to the freezing issue. I even went as far as pluging the unit to a wall outlet rather than my surge protector just so I have easier access to reset it. I hope Panasonic is going to come out with a fix soon.

It may be stylish and inexpensive but I'm sorry I ever bought it. When Circuit City delivered the first one, it was DOA out of the box and we had to go back to the store for a replacement. That should have been my first hint. The second one worked fine...for a day. I should mention that we had Firedog install it and also program the Harmony remote, so our problems were not due to our lack of skill or technical knowledge. We've had it for 3 days now and every morning I wake up wondering what new challenge it will give me. Virtually every time I turn on the TV, there's something not right that needs correcting. Finally this a.m. the sound decided to quit. Circuit City is delivering a new unit from another brand tomorrow and taking this back for a full refund. The sound (when we had it) was average at best. Frankly my old Sony projection TV had better sound by itself than this home theater system. This hard-drive system of Panasonic's may be an interesting concept, but it has too many bugs to be worked out. My suspicion is that it is also not totally compatible with the Harmony remote. When I turn on my TV, I want everything to work....period.

This feel like a beta release. Which would be fine if it were software, but it's hardware! My iPod sounds fine for a while, then suddenly it's very scratchy and fuzzy. The CD player locks up constantly. And finally, when you hit "power" there's a good :30 lag before it powers up. I have not done the firmware update on it. Hoping that fixes things... On a good note, the sound is nice, the remote is very well designed, and the unit looks slick.

I really like my HTIB, but it has one major problem. Every now and then the unit doesn't respond. According to Panasonic, you must re-initalize the product by holding down the STOP and >10 buttons at the same time. This happens at least twice a week for me. Especially when I select cd/dvd. I would hope that Panasonic would come up with a software patch, but I got a feeling there's not a lot of these out there.

For a small unit, music does sound good. I don't really notice much for surround sound effects when watching movies, but I didn't expect much from a two speaker system. My main purpose in buying it was to get nice quality when listening to music from a reasonable priced system.

I purchased the SC-PTX7 back in August but only recently hooked it to my 58 PZ700U via HDMI last week after the addition to my house was completed. So far it's locked up on me three times. The unit freezes up and four dashes appear on the display with nothing happening, no sound, no video and unable to change function or turn the unit off. I tried the STOP/>10 to reset the unit without success. I called the Panasonic help line and once I got a human the service was acceptable, a technician told me to unplug the unit then plug it back in while holding down the power button to reset it, easier said than done around the sides of a 58 inch plasma sitting on a 72 inch credenza. Finally I pulled the plug at the rear of the unit with a little finagling inside the shelving. I plugged it back in while holding down the power button and the unit reset then worked as it did before. I wonder how long this fix will last as the technician I spoke to had no clue as to why the unit was freezing up. When the unit is working the sound and video are great but if there is a software problem it certainly isn't Premium as it's name implies. I also don't like that I must have the television powered on to use the CD player (the television comes on automatically when I power up the unit and select DVD/CD). If I turn off the television the home entertainment unit powers off. Will keep everyone updated regarding any future problems.

I have had the system for two weeks now. The concept for this system is in general good and here is what I have experienced with the short time:

1. The freezing/hung-up issues that others are experiencing, I discovered it is a problem with the HDMI sync protocols. EZ-sync tries to sync with your TV but the fact that you are using a different brand it fails, panics and hangs. These issues are prominent if you are using different brands of equipment connected via HDMI. It seems there is no stand protocol between different manufactures. I have the same sync issues with HDMI 1.3a on my Onkyo Reciever/Sony PS3/Sony BD/HTPC and LG TV. (I have experienced sound issues when the TV changes the source or no sound at all if the TV is off). The solution is either you turn off EZ-Sync or use component cables. It seems the Receiver would be expecting some sort of response from the TV but gets none therefore it panics or it could be restrictions with the media issues. The most annoying thing is, those so called "support" bozos don't have half a clue what they are talking about or these manufacturers are hoping all their customers are stupid enough to just put up with half-developed systems they are being sold.
2. As for bootup/startup issues, taking into consideration that this system is hard disk based :30 startup from standby is fine with me, though cold startup is a little bit too long but again, that is not an issue given all other positive aspects this system has. You have an option keeping it on standby all the time as opposed to switching it off completely.
3. Learning HDD music collection navigation is on the steep side but once you get hold of it, it is pretty fine.
4. Sound is descent enough for a small room. I have the system setup in my bedroom and I am satisfied with the performance but if you are looking for an HT system skip it and find something with raw power unless your HT room is no more than 12' x 12'.
5. The major let down this system has is the music import. For haven's sake this the 21st century how could the engineering folks at Panasonic design a system with a stone-age communication procedure. They could have used USB or fire-wire or wifi but no they just to do the unthinkable (they could have used the serial port off the commodore 64 while they are still at it). I am not sure if my system is just a lemon or not but takes 56hrs to transfer 45gig of music even with the resets as advised by technical support small wonder they have the technical support number printed in bold on sticker pasted on the system. I am thinking of opening the system and try something crude including hard disk upgrade (that would be fun.. LOL more updates later).

The unit looks slick, sounds great, has 80GB hard-drive so I can store more music and books than I can think of,etc,etc. However, just like other two reviewers have said, it locks up more often than not - especially when I click "open" while in dvd/cd mode. I really hope panasonic will have a software patch to fix this problem.

I was looking for a complete system with virtual surround (VSS), I looked at everything from Bose to the Sony systems. They all had two similar problems, 1. You could not add your own sub woofer. - The systems are closed. 2.Except for the Bose GS 123 system, the sub woofer was very poor. Additionally Bose system did not support upconverting dvds.

I had almost given up when I saw the Panasonic SC-PTX7. It was sleek looking and had everything that I wanted including "Upconvert", VSS and tons of other stuff. What I really liked about this system is the ability to change the sub woofer out. This is where this system becomes very interesting.

So after adding my 12inch JBL sub, the whole system rocks. My friends are in awe. Adding the sub is very easy, just cut the ends of the wire that connects to the crappy sub that comes with the system. Now, connect them to your POWERED SUB and you are in business.

NOTE:ONLY USE A POWERED SUB, if you don't you can burn the receiver out.
DISCLAIMER:I accept no responsibility for anything. Try at your own risk.

In regards to the other issues mentioned in the reviews I am yet to experience them - maybe panasonic finally fixed them.

Hope you enjoy.

George Richardson

I went trolling for after Thanksgiving returns and found this for $275 with no box. The store was listing it at $799, so I thought I was getting a great deal. Even at that low price, I have just returned the product and moved on. The negatives on this unit didn't justify me keeping it even at that price. The most significant are as follows:
(1) Uploading a music collection onto its 80gb hard drive is absurdly difficult in today's plug-and-play world. The Panasonic rep I talked to had no idea about the unit or how to upload from my Windows Media Player to the unit. Turns out, I simply couldn't do it because it requires a router with two LAN inputs (she didn't even know what LAN was!). Yes, you have to be connected to the internet and set up some complicated network just to transfer music. To do this, you have to have a router with two LAN ports, which I don't. Why not just a USB transfer at this price?
(2) One reviewer mentioned a :30 boot of the unit; I've found it to be >1 minute every time, with as much as 3 minutes! Slower than my old computer to boot up, probably because of that hard drive (which, incidentally, is why it's priced so high).
(3) Proprietary speaker jacks means you can't add any different speakers or add more speakers, other than the $$$ wireless ones.
(4) I played a Pearl Jam DVD and the sound was nice at about 3/5 max volume. CDs also sound good, but my high quality mp3 player, plugged into an auxilary jack, was nowhere near the sound I had with my old system that had its own receiver.
(5) You can't play CDs without the tv on, and, when in DVD mode, you can't turn the tv off without the whole system shutting off (so, to play music, you then have to reboot it and wait).

In short, this unit is worth neither the price (especially the list price!) nor the risk, as you will be putting all your proverbial eggs in one basket -- if the dvd player, hard drive, or speakers go bad, you're pretty much screwed.

Thumbs down.

I can't believe Panasonic stopped making this home theater system. This is the only product of it's kind, it can record any song from any source split it,label it and save it as a mp3 in your library on the hard drive that's built in. You can stream, wirelessely and load all your mp3s from your computer to the theater system up to 80 gig. The three small speakers that come with this theater system will shake your house, I have have large amplifiers and speakers that I will never use again since I purchased this unit.I bought my first one a year and a half ago, I since have bought another one, I now have two, each connected to my large plasma tvs connected with hdtv cables, its amazing.
People complain that this unit freezes up, and it does,but all you have to do is hold down the power button for a few seconds to reboot and it takes right off again, no problem, don't forget this unit is actually is a computer and your tv is your screen.