Panasonic SC-PT650 Home Theater System

sounds good enough but input is 2-ch stereo only

Strengths: nothing special - just does what it's supposed to.

Weakness: -stereo (2-channel) input only, so the only thing you can actually use the surround speakers for is playing DVDs -will not play region-free DVDs

I'm taking this system back and getting something that has inputs for other sources of digital audio. It's irritating that I can't take advantage of the surround sound capabilities of my game systems or a good satellite/digital cable receiver. It's obviously got the digital decoder built-in, so how hard would it be to ad either a co-ax digital input or an optical input? Also, when playing back a...
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I'm taking this system back and getting something that has inputs for other sources of digital audio. It's irritating that I can't take advantage of the surround sound capabilities of my game systems or a good satellite/digital cable receiver. It's obviously got the digital decoder built-in, so how hard would it be to ad either a co-ax digital input or an optical input?

Also, when playing back a region-free DVD, it will output sound but no picture. Had I instead backed up my whole DVD collection as "multi-region" rather than "region-free" I might not have this problem, and maybe there's a work-around, but the lack of digital input has already turned me off of this system so I'm not willing to waste any time figuring it out.

Maybe this isn't a big deal to someone who only cares about 5.1 audio from their DVDs, but I bought an HD set and surround system for gaming; I don't even watch TV and I don't watch movies very often.

By rabidwallaby - Sep 25, 2007

Hard working, low cost, good sounding system

Strengths: Very compact Sufficient sound DVD HDMI Upconvert Decent Features

Weakness: One set of inputs for L/R sound only, incredibly irritating. Speakers come with wires but they are not removable. Volume control is via button instead of a jog wheel or knob.

Overall the system sounds very good for what it is and what it costs. It makes for a great low budget home theater. Targeted towards those who just want to hook it up and have Digital Surround. There's nothing complicated about it other then learning all about the remote. Also a fantastic Bedroom/garage system. If you're at all a techophile you'd probably best look at piecing together some...
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Overall the system sounds very good for what it is and what it costs.
It makes for a great low budget home theater. Targeted towards those who just want to hook it up and have Digital Surround. There's nothing complicated about it other then learning all about the remote.
Also a fantastic Bedroom/garage system. If you're at all a techophile you'd probably best look at piecing together some components over this, but if you're on a budget this is a great alternative.

There are portions of the system that seem a bit on the cheap side. An example is the way the subs plastic meets up with the wood it's attached to. Also, I mentioned the non removable speaker leads. To most this will be fine, to me it was incredibly irritating.

Summation:
Don't let it's diminutive size fool. You're getting ample bang for the buck.

By in8skillz - Feb 20, 2008

Panasonic SC-PT650

THE GOOD: Feature-packed, budget-priced home theater in a box; HDMI output with 720p/1080i/1080p video upscaling; includes iPod dock, tiny speakers, and a petite but powerful subwoofer; slim-line AV receiver/five-disc DVD changer; XM Satellite radio ready. THE BAD: Generic HTIB styling; spotty connectivity suite--no digital audio inputs, no video inputs; lackluster DVD upscaling quality. THE...
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By cnet.com - Jun 29, 2007

Panasonic SC-PT650

Panasonic SC-PT650 receives an overall TopTenREVIEWS score of 2.29 out of 4.00. It is ranked the #13 Home Theater in a Box Home Audio of all time. The overall rating represents an intelligent balance of features, value as a function of price to features, and a summary of reviews from a variety of sources. The TopTen REVIEWS' formula gives a picture of important consumer features, market value,...
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By TopTenREVIEWS.com - Nov 24, 2008

Panasonic SC-PT650

Testseek.com has collected 3 expert reviews for Panasonic SC-PT650 and the average expert rating is 75 of 100. The average score reflects the expert community’s view on this product. Click below and use Testseek.com to see all ratings, product awards and conclusions.
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By testseek.com - Nov 7, 2008