I bought this model Panasonic TAU TC-21-T200 at a price of Rs 13, 900/- , 5 years ago. I chose this model ’cos no TV’s picture quality was a match to its. The TV has a very good colour o/p system - the golden colour reproduced is extremely good - amazing colour quality in discovery channel, anim planet and the NGC when the animals walk with the sunset at the background. Regarding the features, I’d say it has a set of very basic features only.But it has one very good feature - the ’’Half Mute’’ .One press of the mute button reduces the sound to 50% and the next press mutes the sound. But there’s a notable flaw - as we move towards the edges of the picture tube we see the ’’vertical picture lines’’ being spaced away from one another. Whereas in Sony Trinitron , the lines are equally spaced at both corners and at the centre.So, if Panasonic TAU looks like this : II II II IIII IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIII II II II then Sony Trinitron WEGA looks like this : I III IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII III I Go near the picture tube and you can observe this ( But Sony which reproduces pictures with the Trinitron technology using grilles instead of masks - so Trinitron beats any pic tube in any aspect ) ! This model claims to possess a 200 W PMPO sound output.But, when I checked the speakers inside the box it showed just 5 W x 2 output level.. When you use a Sony TV , you can feel how good its Digital Signal Processing Technology is ! As you increase the sound in a Sony TV , you can feel the ’’Low frequency effects’’ (i.e. BASS) .And this TAU model has not got a DVD component input also . But just months later my uncle bought a Wega with a DVD input and many other functions for just Rs. 13, 990 ( Today , you get a TAU with comb filter for 8, 000 that produces cable video as clear and sharp as a DVD.......check it out )! Despite all these ’’flaws’’ I’d say it’s a very good piece with excellent picture quality.......... It has not given any major probs as such . I do not know how long lasting this TV is......I look forward for this TV to last long enough !!!
Updated ( Nov 17 2008) :
After comparing with my neighbours’ TV I realised that my TV is not capturing TEN SPORTS. When I "Auto Tune", some channels are bye-passed. On enquiring with the Panasonic Service Centre, I was informed that the Tuner Board may be faulty and we need to replace it @ costy of around a thousand bucks.
Updated ( Nov 05 2010) :
Now that DTH has replaced cable by and large, I don’t really need the TV Tuner board. Well, now a days, I keep my Tau in my bedroom and don’t use it much as the newly bought SONY occupies my hall. It’s been around 7 years since I bought this TV. And it’s still going strong ! GREAT buy indeed. Panasonic is still making CRT TVs. If you are looking for one, GO FOR IT !