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Panasonic Viera TH-50PZ850A

By Philip Wong on 25 August 2008

This flagship Panasonic Viera TH-50PZ850A is just as good as or even better than the Pioneer LX Kuro in many areas and at a far more reasonable asking price, too.

Editor's rating:8.7 User rating:7.2

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  JP gave 10/10 on 29/10/2009 15:52 Report abuse

  As stated below

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  JP gave a review on 29/10/2009 15:48 Report abuse

  I've had this tv for a year and I must say it is simply outstanding. The picture quality just never stops amazing me, particularly Full HD blu-ray, or even HD broadcasts. If you love the smooth and fluid motion of plasma tv's, this tv was the best example of 2008. I cannot say enough how much I really wanted a good reason to buy the Bravia XBR at the time, but I had to go with what I saw and felt at the time and this was the best choice. Everytime I see One HD broadcasts on my cousin's Bravia XBR, the LCD seems so unforgiving and to a point where it creates noise artifacts on the images, or a blurred effect, typical of high contrast. The pz850a is always very accurate, detailed and does not suffer from any visual problems. It's just an absolute pleasure. Many people I have heard from say they are worried to buy plasma because of image retention and burn-in issues. It is a valid argument, but I tell them that newer plasma models are extremely less succeptible to these issues. If you love to play video games, then yes, buy an LCD, but for sheer enjoyment when watching tv or movies, this plasma is just simply unbelievable. Also, the fact that it is the only Japanese made model in the 2008 line-up for Panasonic speaks for itself. I know that the equivalent latest 2009 model, TH-P50v10a , is out and I want to tell prospective buyers they will definitely enjoy the new model as well.

  • Good: Overall Picture, Performance, Usability
  • Bad: Nothing
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  boatsbeatwork gave 10/10 on 07/10/2009 16:34 Report abuse

  picked it up at clive peters for $2600 also purchased a BD-mp35 for $365 blu ray player. hooked up to the
  SA-XR700 amp its awsome
  WOW who needs to go to the movies

  • Good: everything
  • Bad: waiting for stock
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  steely gave 10/10 on 28/06/2009 12:13 Report abuse

  i found an 850 floor stock at hn in may costing 2,700 + 150 for 4 years warranty,as you can guess was happy with that,but thats where it cam to an end,first screen had 6" scratch [not happy] then turned it on and i hve to say not overly impressed fiddled wih it a bit still not very happy, the whole picture to me didnt seem right it appeared to have all the problems that early reviews stated here & other reviews[soft picture,colour problems etc]now i looked at the back of the set & saw it was a build date of sep 08 & wondered if maybe it was some of these early sets that were not up to parr,but because of the scratch that my set had i rang up hn & told them about it & they said they would replace the set,and with in two weeks they came up whith a new one.this one had a build date i think april 09 & and when this tv was set up it was a complete differnt world what a fantasic picture & straight out of the box.maybe i was unlucky to whith the first one,but i was lucky with that scratch that ended up whith me getting one of panasonics finest,very happy chappy.

  • Good: excellent picture, nice to look at when not turnd on
  • Bad: glass a bit reflective but not a problem for me.
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  pana50 gave 9/10 on 21/06/2009 22:59 Report abuse

  my first plasma ($2750 delivered from myer in June), but i did take the time to research (pic quality, features, price, country of manufacturing etc.), i compared lg, sammy, panny, and even pioneer (too expensive, for referrence only), dicided to go for panny 850a for its suprior picture quality and overall design and features.......
  
  have enjoyed it for the last few weeks since it arrived, i now have one big reason not to stay back in office for too long every day, that is how good it is! i don't understand why some comments earlier were so negative about it, maybe just bad luck or something, but mine is almost flawless, well, almost, pic is very good, colour so real, better than all others i have seen and even better than other panny models including the new g10 model, the only exception is pioneer (but too expensive to most people including myself), movies are awesome (mind you, i don't even have a blu-ray yet), i love sport, and it certainly does not disappoint! the hd tuner is beautiful, no trouble at all so far, features are good too such as IFC (works for me sometimes, but not as good as it is claimed), overscan (which gave me some scares in the beginning because i noticed some bad edge noises when overscan is off, but later on panny confirmed that is normal, not a problem of the set but the network, and can be fixed by turning overscan on), eco mode, optical out (love it! most other brands and models have such feature anyway), and even sound is great!
  
  problems? yeah, some, but all insignificant, to me anyway. e.g. most people think the pic is a little on the soft side, that i agree, but i can always boost up contrast/brightness/sharpness a bit to make it up, other weaknesses are, ordinary remote, no USB/network (who cares if you have blu-ray that can do all that and more), slight reflection from the front glass (but most brands and models have that including the pioneer), i really don't mind this because that is something we as a user can control by say turning the lights off etc., well, after all, plasma is supposed to be viewed in darker room to bring out its full potential anyway, so i can put up with it, in fact, in many ways, i love the glass design more than the non-glass one because it seems to make the picture even more "crystal" clear, maybe that is just me. if i must say one thing "bad" about it, it would be warranty, 1 year wty sucks! they make money by luring people to purchase extra wty, which to me is why most tv's these days do sound affordable because most of them only offer 1 yr wty. i, for one, did not fall for that, as i thought, if it dies on me, too bad, or maybe too good, because i can then update myself with a newer and better set which will promise to maybe even make coffee for me!!!
  
  although it's 08 model, i think it still rocks! better than some 09 models in my opinion (haven't seen the V model yet), and certainly better than lg or sammy in the similar category although i would still say lg and sammy are still worth considering due to their prices if you are money tight.
  
  unfortunately i can't say anything about 1080p yet as i haven't got my blu-ray yet, which i am eagerly waiting for lg bd390 to come out in australia (anyone know when that might be??)
  
  by the way, 850a is getting harder and harder to source (it's been superceded as of now), so if anyone is still tossing, be decisive, but of course do your own research to make sure you are happy with it yourself!

  • Good: excellent pic and colour, great features, great sound, not bad price!
  • Bad: slightly soft pic, remote not very responsive, 1 year wty only
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  RAY gave a review on 08/06/2009 00:30 Report abuse

  I placed my order with Clive Peeters on 27 Dec 2009 and recived the Tv TH-50PZ850A on the 26 May 2009 This TV was made in Japan late Apr 2009

  • Good: The picture quality and sound is grate
  • Bad: Worth the Wait
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  Roose01 gave a review on 05/06/2009 23:29 Report abuse

  Mav, bought it with AV receiver and speakers at a combined price, but prob got it for about $3100. The unfortunate thing for me was that I bought it on a 36 month interest free deal, which meant that my bargaining power was a little restricted. Your other issue will be that stock is becoming increasingly hard to come by and that is why I had to settle with floor stock, which really isn't that bad. I reckon with cash, and if you worked hard on the sales person, you should be able to get it under $3000. Good luck with the shopping. And as I said in my last post, it is a fantastic TV.

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  Yeah Baby gave a review on 05/06/2009 21:57 Report abuse

  Picked mine up 4 days ago...HN had a sticker on it for $2999. I've actually been waiting for the new Pana models to come out, the 50" G10 in particular, because I didn't expect to see any of the 2008 models again. I made what I thought was an offer which would surely be refused, $2650...and they took it! Not the display model either, had an unopened one in the warehouse. Yeeeha...no more waiting...and it is as spectacular as everyone says it is! The Origin was sensational and BD brilliant.

  • Good: Everything!
  • Bad: Transporting it yourself!
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  Roose01 gave a review on 05/06/2009 19:35 Report abuse

  Mav, bought it with AV receiver and speakers at a combined price, but prob got it for about $3100. The unfortunate thing for me was that I bought it on a 36 month interest free deal, which meant that my bargaining power was a little restricted. Your other issue will be that stock is becoming increasingly hard to come by and that is why I had to settle with floor stock, which really isn't that bad. I reckon with cash, and if you worked hard on the sales person, you should be able to get it under $3000. Good luck with the shopping. And as I said in my last post, it is a fantastic TV.

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  Mav gave a review on 04/06/2009 22:06 Report abuse

  Sorry, message is supposed to say how much did you all "PAY" for your tv and when?