tvbox
Prominent Member
Hi
After 3 years of faithful service, my Panasonic TXP42X10 that some Plasma forum regulars may even remember me going on about, got nicked last friday.
It was... perfect for my needs, it had all the ports and sockets that I would ever need, and PQ was decent.
Obviously in need of a new one, and seeing that the panasonic didn't give me any problems, i'm sticking with them as a brand, but first, a rant:
Seems like they've gone very stingy with the number of connectors on their latest tellys- as their prices and 'features' go up, the number of connectors goes down.
For starters, they only have 1 SCART socket- my X10 had two, yet they seem to have 4 HDMI's when at best only 1 was in use on my X10!
And 3 USB's! When will i ever need to connect 3 USB devices? Seems like some of the latest have built in wifi, so a dongle's not going to be one of them.
VGA seems to have been dropped from plasmas, it's just the Panny LCD's that have VGA, which was the best way to connect my ancient laptop to.
However, as the multitude of 'Smart' features increases, I'm willing to give up the VGA port.
And my least favourite compromise of them all- Shared Composite/Component. I have a wii, as well as 2 scart devices. The DVD recorder has composite out (though i use scart), while the wii uses composite. I thought that buying a composite cable for the DVD would work, but with their 'cost saving' solution, seems like my head's going to be round the back of the TV more often than ever soon.
I do have a Scart splitter but it sends the picture quality downhill- but it's a 'non-switched' one, maybe a switched one would work better, please advise.
What I want:
3D wouldn't be bad, i don't plan on using it anytime soon, but i want it for futureproofing, and if the prices of glasses goes down and it has 2D-3D conversion, then i could see it come into use. But i won't be paying £££'s for Sky 3D, that's for sure!
Plasma/LCD?. Panasonic seemed to have focuseed more on LCD now, and although i prefer plasma (due to my previous tv) - has LCD improved now? Also, panasonic LCD's use far less energy than plasmas as well as being lighter etc.
I envisage the 'Smart' features to get some usage, therefore built in wifi is a must, but John Lewis don't make it clear on their website whether the tvs have wifi or not. Don't want to spend extra on a dongle and whatnot.
I have yet to know how much the insurance will pay out, but i'm looking at the £600-£800 region. 42-50 inch, preferably 42-47 as 50 would be a bit of a squeeze in the alcove.
These are the tv's that i have spotted.. any good? If you find any similar ones but from other brands (that have more sockets)/other models then please advise.
LED: TXL37E5- Seems to be the best non-3D, smart one out there, and good size.
TXL42E6 This one caught my eye as it's their latest 2013 model.
[URL="http://www.johnlewis.com/panasonic-viera-tx-p42gt50b-plasma-hd-1080p-3d-smart-tv-42-inch-with-freesat-freeview-hd/p231568176]TXP42GT50[/URL]
Buy Panasonic Viera TX-L42ET5B LED HD 1080p 3D Smart TV, 42 Inch with Freeview HD and 4x 3D Glasses online at John Lewis
After 3 years of faithful service, my Panasonic TXP42X10 that some Plasma forum regulars may even remember me going on about, got nicked last friday.
It was... perfect for my needs, it had all the ports and sockets that I would ever need, and PQ was decent.
Obviously in need of a new one, and seeing that the panasonic didn't give me any problems, i'm sticking with them as a brand, but first, a rant:
Seems like they've gone very stingy with the number of connectors on their latest tellys- as their prices and 'features' go up, the number of connectors goes down.
For starters, they only have 1 SCART socket- my X10 had two, yet they seem to have 4 HDMI's when at best only 1 was in use on my X10!
And 3 USB's! When will i ever need to connect 3 USB devices? Seems like some of the latest have built in wifi, so a dongle's not going to be one of them.
VGA seems to have been dropped from plasmas, it's just the Panny LCD's that have VGA, which was the best way to connect my ancient laptop to.
However, as the multitude of 'Smart' features increases, I'm willing to give up the VGA port.
And my least favourite compromise of them all- Shared Composite/Component. I have a wii, as well as 2 scart devices. The DVD recorder has composite out (though i use scart), while the wii uses composite. I thought that buying a composite cable for the DVD would work, but with their 'cost saving' solution, seems like my head's going to be round the back of the TV more often than ever soon.
I do have a Scart splitter but it sends the picture quality downhill- but it's a 'non-switched' one, maybe a switched one would work better, please advise.
What I want:
3D wouldn't be bad, i don't plan on using it anytime soon, but i want it for futureproofing, and if the prices of glasses goes down and it has 2D-3D conversion, then i could see it come into use. But i won't be paying £££'s for Sky 3D, that's for sure!
Plasma/LCD?. Panasonic seemed to have focuseed more on LCD now, and although i prefer plasma (due to my previous tv) - has LCD improved now? Also, panasonic LCD's use far less energy than plasmas as well as being lighter etc.
I envisage the 'Smart' features to get some usage, therefore built in wifi is a must, but John Lewis don't make it clear on their website whether the tvs have wifi or not. Don't want to spend extra on a dongle and whatnot.
I have yet to know how much the insurance will pay out, but i'm looking at the £600-£800 region. 42-50 inch, preferably 42-47 as 50 would be a bit of a squeeze in the alcove.
These are the tv's that i have spotted.. any good? If you find any similar ones but from other brands (that have more sockets)/other models then please advise.
LED: TXL37E5- Seems to be the best non-3D, smart one out there, and good size.
TXL42E6 This one caught my eye as it's their latest 2013 model.
[URL="http://www.johnlewis.com/panasonic-viera-tx-p42gt50b-plasma-hd-1080p-3d-smart-tv-42-inch-with-freesat-freeview-hd/p231568176]TXP42GT50[/URL]
Buy Panasonic Viera TX-L42ET5B LED HD 1080p 3D Smart TV, 42 Inch with Freeview HD and 4x 3D Glasses online at John Lewis
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