Customer Reviews

Panasonic TC-32LX60 32-Inch LCD TV

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I just installed a Panasonic TC-32LX60 LCD TV in my living room, and I'm a happy guy. I did a full day of research on the Web. I knew I wanted a 32 inch LCD, so I quickly narrowed the field to two models: This Panasonic, and the Samsung LN-S3251D. It seemed people had great things to say about both units. The specs are nearly identical. The Samsung has better contrast, but at 3000:1, the Panasonic is no slouch in this department. It was a tough call.

So I went to look at them both at a retail store. As luck would have it, these two models were hanging side by side, so it was easy to make a good comparison. My initial reaction was, "Holy Smoke! The Samsung looks way better!" But then I kept watching, really looking at detail, subtle shadings, shadows.... After about 5 minutes, I began to notice that the Samsung picture actually looked a bit cartoony: the colors too pure, the outlines too smooth. (One online reviewer, while he liked the Samsung a lot, described it as making everything look like a video game, and I could now see what he was talking about.) By contrast, the image on the Panasonic seemed more natural, more faithful to the source material.

Also, I didn't like the Samsung's shiny black case. It's very reflective, and I felt it would send reflections of room lights into our eyes (this might not matter, depending on your room). I found the Panasonic's matte silver much less obtrusive, and now that it's installed in my living room, I can say this was the right choice. This matte silver finish simply reflects the colors of the room, so it blends in very well.

One final note. While this is a great HDTV, I don't actually have any HDTV sources at home. I'm still watching good old fashioned basic cable and standard definition DVDs. Both are just fine on this TV. The basic cable feed is pretty ratty, but that's just basic cable for you. But it's fine for my needs. And my SD DVD movies actually look much better than expected. Outstanding color and detail, and a nice, dark, solid blacks. With my old DVD movies looking this good, I have little incentive to run out and by an HD DVD player.

My biggest negative so far: the owner's manual stinks. Confusing and poorly organized. But I can live with that.

So if you're shopping for a mid-size LCD TV, at least give this Panasonic a look. And good luck!

Originally, I was bent on buying the Sony Bravia 32 inch XBR; however, upon comparing it side by side with the Panasonic TC-32LX60, their picture quality and vibrance are essentially identical. Looking at their price tags, I wasn't too excited shelling out $500 more for Sony; and with comparable picture quality, Panasonic is the better deal. Thus, I settled with the Panasonic with its reasonable price. At home, Panasonic truly shines with its 720P/1080i resolution of HDTV broadcasts from Comcast. Discovery HD Theater is truly amazing in all its clarity and high-resolution images. HBO movies never looked this gorgeous, as well as the local HD channels of CBS, ABC and NBC. To sweeten the deal, I also bought an upconverting DVD player with the HDMI output; I toggled between 720p and 1080i and found no discernible difference (probably with screens bigger than 40 inches, it would figure prominently). I literally rerun all my favorite DVDs and they looked twice as sharp, almost near-HD quality. I'm so glad I bought this TV; if my budget permits it, I'm on the lookout for buying an HD DVD player in the future. For now, this will suffice.

I like this TV so far. The standard definition programming scales quite nicely and looks a lot better than on some of the other TVs I compared it to. I have only done over-the-air high definition broadcasts, but I can tell you that those look great! With the right settings, our DVDs also come through quite nice and it is just enjoyable to watch.

A couple of things I don't like: the built-in speakers generally perform well, but can cause an annoying sound at medium-loud volumes when the deep base vibrates the plastic housing. The other annoying thing is for OTA broadcasts; if you lose a station's signal for very long, the TV erases it from its memory and you have to redo an auto-channel scan to get it back (or know what its true "channel" is and not the remapped one).

Overall, I would highly recommend this television.

I bought the 32LE60 model from Costco, which is very similar to this one. I'll give it an enthusiatic 5 stars.

Pros:
- Image quality is satisfying: I love the vivid colors and the good contrast (contrast ratio is 3000:1, which is making a difference here). And the HD contents look very sharp. Also, the viewing angle is at an impressive 178 degrees (that's almost a full 180 degrees!).

- Integrated TV tuner: some other brands/models are only a monitor, which means you have to buy your own TV tuner (or subscribe to cable or satellite TV). Or if you use the TV tuner in your VCR, then you will not get the digital boradcast signals (both in Standard Defination and HD). But with this TV you can. And the best part is that it can even receive most of the over-the-air HDTV programs in my area (LA) with my original indoor TV antenna, which I bought from Walmart for only $7. The HD contents look surprisingly good.

- Size and weight: my family room is not so big so this 32" screen fits the purpose. It's also light enough that I can pick it up by myself and put it on the stand. Besides, if the box is any bigger I wouldn't have been able to put in the back seat of my car.

Cons:
- The resolution is 1080i/720p at best, not 1080p (but most HDTV programs nowadays are still in 1080i/720p, and so are almost all DVD's). I guess until the Blue-Ray DVD or HD DVD becomes mainstream, this will suffice.


Even though Costco has excellent refund policies, I think I'm keeping this one!

I purchased this TV over a month ago after comparing it to the comparable Samsung model and am happy I did. The design is as beautiful as the picture. It is hooked up to my HD Cable box with a DVI to HDMI cable and the standard signals as well as the HD signals are outstanding. The only con is that there is only one HDMI input, but then again, in a couple months from now I'm sure all HDTV's will be coming with 4 HDMI inputs and people who only have two will be complaining - to try to keep up with technology is impossible. Bottom line is that this Television was an excellent buy and I would recommend it to anyone else who is looking for an great TV at an affordable price.

Nice wide screen LCD HDTV, good picture, adequate sound. I'm watching over-the-air broadcasts in HDTV. The football games and the PBS nature and travelogue shows are amazingly clear and sharp. The colors are also excellent.

Before I bought this TV I viewed many brands in a dozen stores and this panasonic had one of the best displays. After I found this model under $1000 on Amazon, I made the purchase.

Since I had been using a set-top digital receiver on a standard TV for the last two years, I was aware of the digital quality, but had not seen the high definition, wide screen, LCD display. I love the HDTV, wide screen. Also, DVD's, although not high definition, are excellent on this TV. No more letter box screens.

My minor gripes include the lack of an internal clock and the lack of an electronic program guide (that I had on my $100 set top box). Also, the digital tuner is slightly less sensitive than the set top box. There are a couple of weak stations that my set top box would pick up that the Panasonic will not.

Overall, the Panasonic is a good, reasonably priced, name brand LCD HDTV.

Unbelievable, impeccable picture and sound quality. This is an absolute steal! i work at an electronics retail store and we sell this LCD for $300 more! Movies have never looked so beautiful. Sports imagery is mesmerizing. No black spots at all! Can adjust backlight! Easy to use control features and simple to setup. No unnecessary, excessive packaging in the box. Just pull it out and you're ready to go. My only gripe regarding this TV is that it only offers one HDMI jack. A second would be nice considering i may be upgrading to an HD DVD player in the near future. I HIGHLY recommend this LCD. You will not regret buying this LCD.

I bought this TV a little over a month ago, and I love it. I wish there was a 4.5 rating.
At the time, this model was about $300 cheaper than both of the two major "Electronic Retailers". It was an incredible deal. At the moment I am typing this, I'm not sure exactly what the prices are currently, but have seen the TV advertised for a bit lower that what I paid for it.
Nonetheless, I am thrilled with the TV. HD signals from my cable box come in great. I wish regular broadcast signals would all come in that good.
Some reviews from others that I read had mentioned that one more Component (R,Bl,G) input would be nice, and I would have to agree. Most newer model DVD, cable boxes, etc. all have these connections, and there is a big difference in using them. I have my Time Warner HD cable box hooked up this way, and I can't say enough about it. I love the picture.
One thing to remember when you get your new TV is to make sure you alter the picture/color/etc settings to better suit your room, and your eyes. Once you get that down, the TV viewing experience is that much better.

I did a lot of research before buying this LCD and so far am very happy with it. Set-up was so easy that I didn't even have to tell it to search for the channels...it did it itself! Picture quality is great and even good on the non-high def channels. I have it hooked up to Time Warner Cable with DVR and it's great. I like the features the TV has and the number of options for viewing. Has both picture and sound presets that are adjustable.

The sound is fine (the surround sound option is good), but I punched it up by hooking up a good sound system with extra speakers. And that gives me the option of using just the TV sound or a combination of the 2 systems. You should use an HDMI cable for hookup to cable service as others have stated. You can buy one at the Panasonic website for $55. And yes another HDMI hookup would have been nice, but then you can't beat the price of less than $1000 when all the stores here are charging $1300.

I had my qualms about ordering such an expensive and large item on-line but have always had good customer service from Amazon, so I took the plunge. No regrets. Eagle, the shipping service, was good. They even unpacked it and put it on my stand after moving my old (heavy) TV off for me. Nice guys who got a tip. I will update this if I have any problems, but for now am a happy camper with this TV.

(The cheap extended warranty from N.E.W. Company is questionable. It took Amazon intervening (which I appreciated) to get them to send me the warranty paperwork so I am wondering if I need a repair if they will be there. Amazon has assured me they will be. And of course that has nothing to do with Panasonic who I totally trust to back their one year warranty.)

Criteria was a unit that would be of reliable quality, which Panasonic usually is. Good DVD playback and good digital tier playback. Then a contrast ratio that would support some video game play but not too much. But, it also needed to be reasonably priced because these will continue to evolve and didn't want to sink life savings into it. If you have same criteria, then this is the choice for you.

Now, here is some critical information I learned from this experience. All LCD tv's must be 'tweaked' when you get it home. How it looks in the store will not match how it looks in your home. All LCD tv's have these interesting settings that were never on standard tv's. If an lcd tv looks terrible in the store, make sure no one had fiddled with the settings. You can make it standard, vivid, or cinema. You can make it warm, cool, or normal. This takes playing and patience. Some other brands have many, many more selections on their menus.

Next, you must get an HD box (for Digital cable subscribers). Having an standard cable box yields a very poor signal. And, little known fact, when you 'stretch' a standard picture to fit the widescreen, it is quite irritating and distracting on the standard cable box. You can tell that the left and right portions of the picture have been stretched and when the camera pans, ugh it looks awful. The HD box will solve these issues. When you 'stretch' the image, it looks good. Again, you will need to experiment with this. That being said, the book is not too much help in this area (again, more experimenting). Lastly, sitting further away from the picture does help your viewing experience on the non-hd channels.