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HITACHI 42HDT50 42 16 9 Plasma HDTV TV Monitor

Plasma technology brings a long-awaited feature to television viewing: a thin, flat screen display. Only inches deep, Hitachi's Plasma Television display can be placed on a table, shelf or the wall, and provide a sharp, vivid picture. The external AV Control Center connects to the monitor by a single interface cable, allowing it to be placed out of sight, even behind closed doors. Hitachi's High Definition ALiS plasma technology is specifically engineered to reproduce smooth, high-resolution display of video and film based sources.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Well worth the price
We got this model on Saturday. It replaced our lemon of a SONY plasma TV. We are EXREMELY satisfied with the picture AND sound for unlike our last plasma, this unit runs QUIET. Sleek, sexy design and it swivels. A delight and to me it gives every bit as good a picture as the 6000-10,000 dollar priced units. Go HITACHI!

1 Star Bad Support. Stopped working after just one month.
Stopped working after just one month.

Called Hitachi and they told me to call an authorized repair center. I called the repair center and the repair center referred me to another repair center... I called that repair center who made an appointment to see the TV... Took a week for them to come out to see it. After inspecting it told me they have to order a replacement power supply from Hitachi... That took almost two weeks... Once they got it in, it took them couple of days to come to my house to replace the power supply. It still didn't work after that... So they decided to replace another part, the logic board, which they have to order from Hitachi again...

It's been almost two weeks again. And I have been with out TV for over a month... Paying almost $6k for a TV that works for a month made me really upset as you can imagine. I would have been happy if Hitachi fixed it in a reasonable time, but over a month is not reasonable. I have called Hitachi and asked for a refund or replacement to which they just flat out said no. Of course during this time I am also paying for Satellite service which I can't use. I would highly recommend staying away from ALL Hitachi products.

5 Stars Love it!!!
Hitachi has the rest of the 42" Plasm HDTV's wondering how can they do it all for under $4,000? After much research, we bought it, and have not looked back. The color and sound is simply incredible, and we only have cable... highly recommend

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Hitachi P50V701 50 Full HD1080 Plasma HDTV with Power Swivel Stand

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Hitachi P50X902 50 inch Directors Series Plasma 1080p HDTV 050585127074

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Hitachi Ultravision 42HDS69 42 Inch Plasma HDTV

The new Hitachi UltraVision 42" Plasma HDTV utilizes the most advanced plasma technologies to produce a truly cinematic home viewing experience. Innovative Wide Aperture Pixel technology maximizes the pixel aperture to deliver a smooth film-like image. The new Hitachi PictureMaster III video processor technology ensures a sharp, smooth and seamless image every time by analyzing and optimizing each frame. Utilizing a state-of-the-art HDMIconnection, the 42HDS69 produces higher quality digital images. A perfect blend of refined aesthetics and original technologies make the UltraVision 42" Plasma HDTV an ideal home theater solution.

User Ratings and Reviews

3 Stars Mix of bad and good experiences
This was one of the first affordable, large, high-def TVs to break a certain price barrier ($1,500), and as such it was my first HDTV.

Setting this thing up in my living room, I was floored. I turned all the lights off and watched nature showson PBS with abolute awe, smiling ear-to-ear, breathing in the incredible high def scenery that was before me.

It's hard for me to review this TV subjectively against other TVs that are out there because I've only ever had this one HDTV, and the HDTV bar keeps rising. I just bought my parents a 46" Sony Bravia LCD HDTV that supports 1080p for just a hair more money ($100 or so) than when I bought this Hitachi a year and a couple months ago.

That said, my TV is not obsoleted yet. This TV supports 1080i, and vertically speaking it supports 1080p with the 1080 pixels, but not the 1920 pixels, so the pixel dimensions are a bit stretched. If you connect a computer, it'd look stretched horizontally and full of jaggies. But a true 1080i signal, such as that coming from my Xbox 360, looks absolutly perfect; jaggies are only visible from up close.

The number of connectors on this thing is perfect. I can only wish other TVs supported as many. And it has a built-in QAM tuner and an OCUR CableCard slot, so if you don't need a recorder in the mix you can watch high def digital TV from either analog or digital cable right from the get-go (without a receiver). It takes my Xbox 360, my DVD player, and my Blu-ray player, two of which are HDMI, plus I have an HDMI port on the side to spare (and then some other connectors as well). I was able to plug two different computers to it without too many issues. My one complaint about the features is that there aren't any independent digital audio inputs. Also, my Blu-ray HDMI hook-up didn't pass-through from the TV's optical out successfully; I don't know if this is an HDCP limitation or a limitation of this TV model, but I have to connect both my Blu-ray player and my Xbox 360 directly to my audio receiver to get digital audio out of my TV while using those devices; my DVD player, on the other hand, works fine with HDMI to TV and TV optical out to my receiver.

On the video quality side, while the color and detail are awesome, I've noticed some odd erratic behavior in some HDTV scenes along color highlights; white, noisy pixels pop in and out around bright areas with each frame. Just when I think there's something wrong with my TV, the cameras switch or the scene changes and it looks fine again, so I figure it's just bad film processing or something. But this has happened so often, with so many channels, that I'm convinced that there's something a little wrong with the decoder or something. It's rarely distracting but I notice it from time to time.

I had my power supply replaced once. This was a month and a half of downtime because the local repair shop's billing account with Hitachi was screwed up at Hitachi. Be warned, on two counts: Hitachi HDTVs fall apart fast, and they as a company don't have their act together while maintaining their records.

5 Stars Great picture quality and an AWESOME value!
I bought this early this summer when I wanted to upgrade. Having had a Pioneer Elite 60 inch big screen tv for 6+ years, it was hard to give it to a friend when I moved. I went looking to get a good value for a good tv. My 27inch Proscan from about 1992 was still working well, but I wanted a bigger picture. I shopped around and this was the tv I bought. For the money you can't beat it. I got it on a blow out sale, as I had planned to go LCD as I could not afford 1500-2K for a tv at this time. I am glad I found this bargin! Yah its not 1080P, but thats ok. My ps3 and Harman Kardon DVD Player and AVR Receiver love it. The movies look great, even the older dvds or the ones that my cousins/nephews play over and over, like the Harry Potter ones, that I bet have been played atleast 500 times each, if not closer to 1000 times! This is the best bang for your buck! You get the the better color and much truer blacks than on a LCD, at about the same price!!! You cant go wrong!

1 Star Hatachi vicitm
I have had the most miserable experience with my 42 inch LCD TV it has been in the repair shop more that at my home. Three trips and still the picture goes out. Customer Service is now dealing with the problem in the most unfriendly manner possible. They will not make me whole for all I have been through.

Do yourself a favor don't by a Hitachi, it isn't worth the risk and abuse

5 Stars Great TV
We have owned this TV for a year now and have had zero problems. The remote could be a little better but that's my only complaint. Picture quality is outstanding with HD programming and really good without it, too. There is a high-pitched tone emitted when you turn the TV off and it generally stays until you turn it back on. Maybe something on my side and not really a problem with the TV. My husband can't hear it but the dog and I do. I love this TV and would pay the same for it again!

5 Stars All Hail HItachi
I bought this TV in May of 2007. It is now November of 2008. I have had a great experience up to date. A great picture that has a crisp clean look. This TV has been rated to have a lower level of black compared to other Plasmas in its price range. However I disagree- in a dark scene it is sometimes hard to see what is going on because it is so black- like in horror movies and such. Black still looks black and is rated to have a better picture over all. It also has minimal-if any screen door effect. Movies look great and My new Blu ray upgrade looks amazing!

It runs an image at a native Resolution: 1024 x 1080i and includes PiP, 3 HDMI slots and a cable card slot which are hard to find among flat-panel displays at this price. For this price range this TV comes stacked. I love the sophisticated look of Hitachi side mounted speakers which I think gives it a more centered look vs speakers mounted below the picture. It also has an wipe screen which is used for accidental burn in. I have used this a few times when I may have fallen alseep during a movie and awoken to the menue screen. Works every time.But the main reason I went with this TV is the nonmotorized swivel base. The base is great when cooking in the kitchen 1 room over but still allows me to keep my home theater centered around the speakers. I hate when people have a TV in a corner and the surround sound in screewy places.

I have well over 1700 DVDs for the record so it seems to be holding up in the longevity factor.

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