Panasonic VIERA TC-L42E3 42-Inch 1080p 60 Hz LED-LCD HDTV

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

As most of us do, I researched "wi-fi" ready TV's and chose this particular Panasonic for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was that it is advertised as "wi-fi" ready. I already have a Roku hooked up to another TV but didn't want to deal with yet another electronic box. Well, I found out what Panasonic means by "wi-fi ready" when I powered up the TV, did the initial set-up and clicked on the wi-fi option. The TV immediately displayed a message telling me that there was no wi-fi adapter in place and instructed me to BUY one in order to take advantage of the TV's wi-fi capability. Huh? So suddenly and unexpectedly my TV costs $90 more. Not a nice surprise.…
Things I like:The picture/color are good. Like the 1080p for bluray. Menu screens are decent. Physical appearance is attractive. Seems fairly well made.Meh things:My unit has some serious light leaks around the top and bottom. I do notice it while watching the TV in dark scenes sometimes. It's annoying, but I'm living with it.Sound on this TV is typical of any flatscreen. Sound comes out of the bottom of the unit so it's a little muffled and not great. I've gotten used to this over time though.The specs on this TV say it's 1.7" without the stand. This simply isn't true! I'm not sure how they get away with this. They don't show you a profile picture of the TV, but the bottom actually protrudes…