Customer Reviews

Prepac 60-Inch Plasma TV Console with Media Storage, Black

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

We read numerous reviews on other sites for this item, with a fair percentage being somewhat negative. Reading between the lines, I guessed that these were from people who were either in a hurry, incapable of following directions, or had unrealistic expectations. We gambled, and ordered this product. It arrived in a timely manner, in two large boxes. All the parts were in great condition. It took about two hours to assemble, while watching Austin Powers during the assembly process (a distraction, to say the least.) My fiancee helped me several times, setting the top on, holding the doors in place while I attached them, and so on...it was definitely easier with a second set of hands for these phases of the assembly. I took my time, making sure to use a small blanket to protect the face, while turning it on its top and sides during assembly. Although there were a LOT of parts, I was short only one screw (attaches one of the metal plates on the door for the magnetic catch.) I was able to substitute with one I had around the house. For those who complained that your floor has to be perfectly level, otherwise it doesn't assemble squarely, I wonder if they were aware that the legs have adjustable feet on them? Our house is over 100 years old, and is anything but level, and by adjusting the feet, the stand is perfectly level, and solidly stable. All in all, for the price, this piece represents an excellent value. It is in no way heirloom quality, and obviously, for the price, it won't be. Once assembled, it does look nice. It fits our 52" LCD perfectly, with a little room on each side. The center has enough room for a DVD player, a home theater receiver, a cable box, and the center channel speaker. The only small drawback, is that it is a little short on depth for all the cables behind the electronics. We wanted something not too deep, so we are happy with it, but it is difficult to get the two center rear sliding panels to close all the way, with all the cables being routed through the cutouts. There is, however, room for roughly 200 DVD cases. For a laminated, particle board, assemble-it-yourself, fairly cheap TV center, you aren't going to find something a whole lot better. It looks and works great!

It takes about 2.5 hours to put together with 2 people. I have mine on soft carpet so there is a bit of wobbling... but it should be pretty sturdy on hardwood or commercial carpet. There's enough room to fit over 200 DVDs inside the doors. I have a 50" Plasma on it and it looks fine. My only complaint is that it takes a bit of strong rubbing to get the smudges and fingerprints off when your done assembling it.

But it's a great Item for the price.

This looked like a great unit, boy the price was right and I loved all the DVD storage. Got it quick, put it together with no major hassles. The legs for leveling worked great! Again I have to say I loved this unit!! With that being said a year and 1/2 later I have to get rid of it! Ugh!! Now I have wasted my money, the doors don't open or close properly because they can't handle the weight of the dvd's, so if you're planning on buying this unit, DON'T put dvd's in the doors!! The other reason for my complaint is because the product is NOT made of real wood. When you now look at the front of my unit, it sags on either side of the middle leg! it has actual curves on the unit :( Even the top piece looks warped and I put the correct size TV on it...so please keep looking I know the unit looks nice, but it's not worth the money!!

The stand was delivered to my door in two very heavy boxes. I opened them up last night and started working about 6 pm. I was watching a basketball game as well, so I took plenty of breaks. I finished the setup in about 5 hours by myself. It was not difficult, but the instruction sheets are not the best. Here are a few tips for you...

1) Wait till the end to nail the back boards on. This will make it easier on you to install the doors which are the most difficult part of the process. I didn't do this, and I wish I had. Also, be very careful when doing this as I accidentally came out the side wall with one nail...

2) Make sure when you are putting the doors together that the finished side is put on correctly (both on top facing out). This, I realized after I put the door fronts on. With the instructions being in Black and White, it is kind of difficult to understand this.

3) When installing the magnet door latches to the top of the unit, make sure you have them pulled all the way towards the FRONT of the UNIT. If I have a complaint with this unit, it is that the doors are very heavy, and one of the latches needed quite a bit of adjustment to get it to catch well.

The stand looks great, and I am happy with the purchase, however, if the company would have made it about 5 inches taller, it would have held many more DVD's. Inside the cabinet, it is basically setup to hold one row of DVD's, and two rows of CD's.... I would prefer 3 rows of DVD's, or at least 2 rows of DVD's and 1 row of CD's. With my setup, I managed two rows of DVDS, and then a few DVD's laying flat at the bottom....

All in All, very sturdy and solid. Worth the money.

Throughout my 20s I purchased alot of furniture that required you to put it together. I'm a product of Ikea's first wave. As I've gotten older, 39 now, and have more money, I like nicer things. Luckily, industry seems to be keeping up for the most part. There are some really great products that require you to put it together to keep the cost down. This isn't one of them.

Likes: I know its silly, but I like the look of the feet on this thing. It also holds as many DVDs as they say. Most furniture that claims to hold X number of DVDs or CDs never measures up in reality, I thought this product did. It was not difficult to put it together. Even if you make a mistake, its easy to back track and correct. I put the whole thing together in about an hour and a half by myself. It might be faster if there were two people.

Now for the dislike, and for me it was significant. When they designed this, they must have forgotten that it was going to hold a large TV. I specifically shopped for a unit to hold a 50" flat screen (I have a Phillips 48" Flat Panel, which is heavy) that I could also store DVDs in so I'd have less furniture in the house. I knew it would be heavy, so I also bought those floor slider "thingys" and put them on before I even put anything on it. Worked great until I put the TV on top of it. Unfortunately, I did not put one on the middle leg, only the outer legs. Sliding the unit 3 feet to the wall was too much for the middle leg and the rubber on the bottom popped off. Which is fine, but it just makes me wonder how much sagging can happen that fast and now how long will it hold up? But, on to the DVDs. I put them into the unit. Its a bit of a pain having to hunker down on to the floor to review the DVDs and select one to watch, but meh, not that big a deal. What's a problem is the added weight to the unit. Now the doors drag when opening and closing because there is so much weight on the unit. Again, the product description said it should handle my TV size.

I wouldn't buy it if I could do it over. But, it will suffice until I can find a replacement. I don't know if I would like it more if it could actually handle the TV's weight. I liked it fine until I tried to use it. It's not the highest quality furniture by any stretch of the imagination, but for $270, it should have been better than it is, in my opinion.

I have my TV mounted on the wall, but I needed a place for my CD's, DVD's Blue-ray player, etc. I was able to assemble by myself, but it would have been faster and easier with a helper. It probably took me 3 or 4 hours spread over a couple of nights after work. The only negative I can think of is that something this heavy should be on casters instead of legs, so that it would be easy to pull out and get to the back of your components.

Took forever to put together. Some of the parts were missing. Weight tolerances for the product were far below what was advertised. Had to add extra support myself because of bowing issues in the midsection. Also doesn't hold nearly the amount of media claimed. Made of the cheapest material ever. Will not buy from them again

We upgraded our television to a 45" screen and needed a new stand. The new stand is very attractive and solid and at a great price. Only caveat is that it takes a few hours to assemble and you may need someone to help you hold parts as they are attached. if this is not an issue, then you are not likely to find a better television stand for the money.

Contrary to others, my assembly was smooth and painless.
One of my shelves was not laminated on both sides, but who looks at the bottom of a shelf.

The only thing I didn't care for were the feet. Yes, they're adjustable (nice touch), but I'm going to replace them with casters. Even without the TV, the stand loaded down with DVDs doesn't move easily.

This TV console turned out wonderfully. The pieces seemed to be well made. I've had problems in the past with cheap screws, etc being put into build it yourself products. However, this product does not have that problem. All pieces are sturdy. The problem it does have though, is that the directions are very vague. It won't say which direction a piece of wood should be placed. You have to figure it out based on review of future steps and deduction of what the thing should end up looking like. This was frustrating. Also, none of the pieces are labeled so you have to use their not so great drawings to identify which piece you should be using. I'm pretty good at building furniture and it took 3 hours to put it together. But after it was done I was very satisfied with the piece.