Lazyrous
by JamesR
(West Midlands, UK)
As one that looks to and trusts certain review bodies such as CNET to ease the decision making process and avoiding expensive mistakes. I'm heartened to see that when an issue arises as with the diminishing black levels, AV-forums/CNET and others actively highlight the problem and are not swayed by vested interests.
On the question of would I still buy a Panasonic Plasma, well I'd eagerly awaited the launch of the V20 here in the UK and based on Panasonic's limited release notes plus the very positive press reaction/reviews to the range had more or less made my choice.
Only last week (1st June) I was in a Panasonic dealer evaluating a P42V20 and the only decision left was which size and to see a 50" working which is due in this week, had there been a 46" in the range I'd have bought it there and then given the initial reviews.
Now after a fortuitous last minute search highlighting the black issue I'll wait to see an actual review and a long term evaluation of the diminution of the black levels before making any decision.
What I, like many others assumed is when Panasonic estimated their life cycle of 100,000 hours it would be based on a linear falling off in performance, not that there would be a significant falling off in performance from the superb and the reason the buying decision was made, to that of it's quite ordinary competitors within 1% of it's estimated life span.
When finally the reviewers complete their evaluation and Panasonic come clean on the rate of decay it may be too late for me sitting at home watching a Phillips LCD/LED ruing what may have been.
