Picture and compact size realtive to other models. Can't beat price particularly with Employee Discounts

Sound - need to run through home theater for good sound No instructions on how to use Geomagnetic or tilt correction.

This is for the CT-36HX42. Great picture when hooked up to good signal source but exagerates imperfections from standard analog cable or Video tapes. Still need to do calibrations with Video essentials etc. Nighttime scenes from DVDs seem a little too dark. Bought because it is the only 36" HDTV of any make that fits in my entertainment center (Needed width less than 37"). Hate the sound. Sounds very "tinny" my 15 year old 25" hitachi it replaces sounded much better. My wife is complaining that there must be something wrong with it and why did we spend $$$$ for a worse sound then we had. I do have hooked up to home theater system so have work around. I guess the speakers are much smaller/narrower and lack any ability to handle bass. The CT-36HL42 with subwoofer might provide better sound but that model won't fit in my entertainment center.

Similar Products Used:

Hooked up to Panasonic SA-HE200 receiver, Panasonic progressive scan DVD-F65, and Polk RM6700 speaker system

Picture quality

sound

I've had the tv for about 9 months and love it. The picture is incredible. I recently got HD satelite and over the air antenna receiver and can't believe how great the picture is. I had the first tv returned because it had the geometry problem but the second one was perfect. I noticed the 36HX42 has a new adjustment feature that allows one to correct for this issue (if you have one). DVD's are also amazing. I highly recommend this tv. I've had Directtv and that picture is awesome as well. The sound on the tv is a little weak, or at least not as good as the Sony XBR's, but I think the picture more than makes up for it. Besides, when I'm watching something good I'll turn on the surround sound. The only other issue is the fact that it's a 4:3 tv when watching HD. There is no away around having the black bars above and below the picture when in HD. This is an issue with all 4:3 HDTV's when viewing an HD feed. My neighbor has a 16:9 HD projection tv and when viewing an HD show it fills his whole screen, which is nice. But, when he watches all other Directtv channels he either has the bars on the sides or the picture is stretched so much it looks funny and the picture quality is horrible in my opinion, very fuzzy. My tv on the other hand looks awesome when not in HD, and will take your breath away when viewing something in true HD. Get this tv.

Picture Quality, Size, Price was excellent considering this was the 2002 model.

None really, except for the tv is insanely heavy, i would recommend delivery.

This review is for the Panasonic 36HX42 which is the current 2002 model. I was shopping for a projection hdtv in the 40-48" range and was at a local best buy when i saw this tv and a bunch of other ones for insanely low prices because they were open box. The tv's were in perfect condition and i saw this one and a 42" samsung 16x9 tv also. They were both in perfect shape, no scratches, no cabinet damagaes or anything, just the fact they were customer returns and they had to get rid of them. This one was 799 and the samsung was 899. I thought this was to good to be true because this tv retails in the same store for 1799 but the associate said they had to get rid of these open boxes to clear up room for other tvs they had to put on display. I went with the panasonic, with tax and delivery it came to about 890 and i got a $50 gift card from Best Buy also. You def cant beat that deal considering the tv even comes with the full warranty also. The tv is amazing though, picture quality when hooked to progressive scan dvd player is amazing. The sony 36 hdtv retails for $1999 now and i couldnt see the difference between the two. I def would buy something bigger for the full retail price of this tv, but the deal i got i couldnt ask for anything more. You cant even get last years 32" panny hd for that much money. It was defintely worth it from best buy, and the deals they had there were amazing. I def recommend this tv to anyone whos debating whether to buy a projection hd in the 40" range rather than this. Another thing i though was crazy they had last years Toshiba 57H81 hdtv 16x9 for $949!!!!!!!!!, which is insane because this is about a 2000 tv now if you can still find it, it would have been way to big for my room, but i went back the next day out of curiosity and it was obviously gone.

Similar Products Used:

Sony 32XBR450 HDTV Panasonic 47WX49

* Gorgeous picture, especially with 1080i! * Cheaper than the equivalent Sony * True 16x9 mode (not re-scaled!)

* Needs more component inputs (only 2) * Digital audio switching would be nice

After researching for some time, I settled on the CT-36HX41 instead of the 36" Sony HD set because of (1) the $500 lower price and (2) the contrast on this set seemed better. I have been very happy with this set! Reds do seem a tad bit over exaggerated on non-component sources, but that seems to be the case on nearly all TVs displaying an NTSC signal. My set seemed to have a small convergence problem, but the service tech that came out to fix it said it was the best he had ever seen on a set this size. 1080i is absolutely phenominal on this set!

Size,clarity of picture - films are just fantastic, try an old film noir black & white on a good DVD machine and you will just be stunned by the contrast and the resolution. Adjustment is very easy. Lots of useful inputs including component video.

Way too heavy. Sound not as good as the old GAO, GUI tacky and perhaps not as detailed as it could be.

I think that, whether their choices are wise or not, many people justify their purchases on this site. I spend one year researching new televisions. I visited just about every TV dealer that I saw, looked at different models in different settings. I had a 10 year old 27" Panasonic GAO. Its sound and picture were still great but, in the end, I justified the purchase on the ground that since we moved to a home with larger rooms it would be nice to have a larger TV. I had the same choice to make as many others. My mind flipped from the Sony to the Panasonic. At the end of the day, even though I did not think that the screen was as black as the Sony, I bought the Panasonic on the ground that I simply could not justify paying close to $600.00 more. We were happy from day one. We love this set. Nice big 16:9 aspect, fantastic clarity, screen is black for sure and the adjustments - even though not elegant are adequate. We will keep this set for many years. It took two huge guys to get this set up to my media room on the second floor. It's not going anywhere. If we sell this house the set goes too. I do, however think that the sound on the old GAO even though not as loud was somewhat better. Maybe someone can tell me why these sets do not have optical audio inputs. There was no way that I was going to purchase a rear projection TV - hate them, did not want a 16:9 aspect plasma and a projection TV is outside of the reach of my snack box.

Similar Products Used:

Panasonic GAO for many years. On way to buying this set I looked at all Sony, Toshib and Zenith models and juat about everything else you can think of. My system now includes a Yamaha RX-V630 Sony

Crisp and clear picture, using digital Cable (Videotron); Many input choices; HDTV! (480p & 1080i only).

Sound; HEAVY! It takes 2 strong men to put this babe on the TV stand; Poor documentation.

Wanting to go with HDTV and wanting DirectView instead of projection TV, I was looking for 36inch. Doing some reading here helped alot and I allmost pick the Panasonic without looking at the Sony. Having read about the "geometry" problems that some CT-36HX41 have had, I was a bit set off but the image quality of the demo TV was so good, and mind blowing when playing a DVD, even the Sony had nothing more to offer for much more money... Mabe the sound of the Sony was better, but I don't care, I have a Dolby Digital suround sound system. I Have the CT-36HX41C, build on April 2002. I don't know what the 'C' means but no picture problem, and their is a Geometry setting in simple rolling menu. The GUI of the Pani is not that great but it's working. Next on my list, Progresive Scan DVD, Toshiba SD3750 that will replace my scrap Hitachi DVP250. It's a GREAT TV. I know that the CT-36HX42 is out now, but it cost more and has not much more to offer than the HX41. And no, the HX42 does not have the 720p mode.... Go get this one, save money on a new 480p DVD player!

Similar Products Used:

First HDTV set.

Amazing picture quality. Very little distortions.

heavy

I bought my Panasonic CT36HX41 in January, 2002 and I couldn''t be happier with it. So far it has performed magnificently. The picture quality is awesome; the images are so sharp. When I first bought the HDTV ready television, I was a little skeptical about how my cable would look with it (many previous reviewers of this Panasonic television complained that their cable looks terrible) But I couldn''t be happier. My cable actually looks 150% better. I can''t even tell the difference in picture quality between satellite and cable. It''s really great.

Component Video and S-Video can output a fantastic video display. Use good video/audio cables for the VCR connects. As far as cable, you better put your money into a nice satellite feed. Digital cable TV is great too and analog cable just needs some better cabling in your home (you''d be suprised how many homes have bad or faulty cabling). The speakers do a decent job for normal television and the menus are easy to use. For the cost, I pretty much have the same TV as any Sony HiScan or XBR series (except for the Grand Wega).

I wish it had 720p display capabilities which may come out in the next series (HX42?). You will be able to pick these up for about the cost of the Panasonic 32HX41 which is around $1200-$1500.

I bought the Panasonic CT-36HX41 for around $1699 to include a 4-year warranty. How can I put this other than to say the TV has the one of the best pictures for a 36" TV. The remote comes with a nice backlit and is better than the one that comes with the Samsung HDTV series. I''d choose a Panasonic over many TVs since it is usually built better (the high-end line) and only has a few flaws. You won''t go wrong at all buying this TV as it will last you a LONG time without those silly calibrations you have to do with the projector TVs every few years.

Similar Products Used:

Sony KV-27S42, Sony 36XBR450, Panasonic CT-32XF55.

Picture quality.

Heavy weight and average sounds.

I''ve had this TV set since Christmas. My friends were very impressed with it when I hosted a party then. The pictures are absolutely stunning. They are very crisp and bright. I chose this set over the Sony for two reason; price and picture quality. For about $300 cheaper, it was an easy choice for me to make. I had a purple tint on the top right corner of my set that was easily correctly by the geometric feature in the menu. The set is magnificent to view with a progressive scan DVD player and HD channels. I live in the Dallas, Texas area and almost all the channels now are in High Definition. Watching the Winter Olympics replay on the HD station last February was just breathtaking. The things that I don’t like about this unit are the average sound and weight. The set is very, very heavy. It took two very strong men to pick it up and put it on the Panasonic TV stand. I’m just glad that the stand has wheels so I can position it in the room easily. I would hate to have to move it. The sound is just average on the TV. If you have a complete home entertainment system with surround sounds, then this won’t be an issue for you. I don’t have that yet but can live with the sound from the TV. The sound is just me be picky so it might not be an issue with you. Overall, this set is worth it. Watching TV is such a greater experience with the Panasonic HDTV. Shows in High Definition are very wonderful to watch as with the progressive DVD player.

Outstanding picture with DVD or DirectTV.

Sound, menu and remote. Sound is not bad though.

This is a followup to my previous two posts. I''m a lamer. My sound works fine. Since I''m getting digital sound thru my directtv receiver I can''t make adjustments and change it to stereo or mono. I guess it''s automatically stereo. I figured this out by disconnecting the white and red audio cable and just using the coaxial and watching it on channel 3. I could make adjustments that way. I have to say this set is perfect now. I still can''t get over how amazing the picture is. I had a friend come look at it who''s a audio/videophile and he said it was awesome and beat the Sony XBR450 easily. Maybe the menu and remote isn''t as good as the Sony but the cheaper price and the better picture more than makes up for it. Now I''m debating whether or not to keep the 4 year warranty. $300 is a lot of change.

Similar Products Used:

XBR450