Panasonic TH42PX8B - any good?

[GlynH]

Hi there,

Was looking for a 2nd plasma TV and saw the Panasonic TH42PX8B at Comet / Currys for £649

Looks like a good deal to me but is the set any good?

I realise it isnt an 80B or PZ Series but to be honest I don't need or want the card slot, 3rd HDMI port, PC connectivity etc.

Of more concern is the apparent 33% reduction in contrast ratio...I suspect different glass and/or electronics.

Having said that it seems good value.

It will be used mainly for TV duties but may also be hooked up to an XBOX 360 and possibly the occasional HD-DVD.

Might also pipe in the Sky HD, Blu-Ray, DVD & Media PC signals from the other room at a later date...

I have a 50" Fujitsu in the other room and was hoping to press my trusty Series 5 Panasonic into use but it has no tuner & no speakers and I was thinking the money needed just to watch TV might be better spent on a new set with it all built-in.

Another bonus is only one remote control so it will be easy to control.

Just to muddy the waters I see Richer are selling the earlier PX7B 50" for just £50 more...

Thoughts? What do you think? Good buy?

Thanks & regards,
-=Glyn=-

 

[audiphile76]

I realise it isnt an 80B but to be honest I don't need or want the card slot, 3rd HDMI port, PC connectivity etc.

As you clearly defined this, why not. Since PX8 is only an entry level panasonic plasma, there is really nothing new and fresh you can expect. And i can read from your post you know it already. There is a thread where someone got a 50PX8, contact/PM the person. I remember seeing that post in last 7 days

 

[Lin3ar]

John Lewis are pricematching Sound and Vision in Bolton for the PX80 at £679.
Pay the extra cash and get the PX80.

 

[fullserviceuk]

I too was wondering about this set having seen the JL website advertising it for £649

I currently have only one HD source (Virgin +) and I don't ever intend using an X Box or PSP (I'm not into gaming, and at 48 years of age I don't expect to start now! ) Almost all of my current viewing is SD with a little HD via BBC HD and some of the HD content available in Virgin's On Demand "back catalogue" Nor do I want to hook up my lap top to the set... I spend enough time on it during the day without becoming a total slave to it! One day I will probably add another HD source (DVD) but not for a while yet, so 2 x HDMIs is enough for my needs.

Does anyone have any feedback regarding how it handles SD content? Reading most magazine reviews these days, you'd think over 90% of content was HD given how little is given over to how these sets handle standard definition. I went into my local JL to have a look, but while they had them in stock, none was on the shop floor at the time. Curry's had one showing their bright red logo, but it was so badly tuned (like all the other sets) it looked over-red. Talking to the "assistants" was a waste of time too.

 

[rewerb]

John Lewis are pricematching Sound and Vision in Bolton for the PX80 at £679.
Pay the extra cash and get the PX80.

You know it makes sense!

 

[GlynH]

You know it makes sense!

Yeah I know...I know...I was only looking for a 'cheap' tv so I had ruled out the £899 PX80 initially but if JL can price match S&V (which they told me they could) then it is a no-brainer really.

Which is why I called into JL yesterday and filled out their green Undersales form...

Only hope now is that S&V do have them in stock, ticketed on the shelf and JL are as good as their word.

JL were showing @1300+ in stock and I should hear back in a couple of days following which it will take another 2-3 days to get it delivered to JL for me to collect.

Fingers crossed and thanx for the heads-up!

Mind you those 2G Kuros look nice...

Thanks & regards,
-=Glyn=-

 

[shedtastic]

FYI - just spoke to someone at Bolton Sound & Vision to confirm their price (for the TH37PX80B - I can't persuade my wife that 42" is sensible) in order to get John Lewis to price match (so I can have their free 5yr warranty) and he said £593.99 - and he'd also to a free 5yr warranty if I visited the store..

So now I just need to decide if I can wait for JL to get back to me about whether they'll price match ('cos then I can just pay over the phone and they'll deliver) or bob down to Bolton.

I suppose I should look into the details of the warranties and read teh small print for a true comparison...

But it certainly beats £799 in Currys with a 1yr warranty..

And all thanks to the advice on AVforums! Thanks guys!

Neil.

 

[GlynH]

Well if anyone is interested JL rang me today and gave me an Undersales number and promised to match the S&V Bolton price of £679

I just looked on the S&V website and see the PX80 is listed for £669 but Im not gonna argue over a tenner.

Kudos to JL and thanks for the suggestions here - and to think I only paid £30 more for the PX80 vs. the PX8 from Comet / Currys.

Thanks & regards,
-=Glyn=-

 

[Lin3ar]

Well if anyone is interested JL rang me today and gave me an Undersales number and promised to match the S&V Bolton price of £679

I just looked on the S&V website and see the PX80 is listed for £669 but Im not gonna argue over a tenner.

Kudos to JL and thanks for the suggestions here - and to think I only paid £30 more for the PX80 vs. the PX8 from Comet / Currys.

Thanks & regards,
-=Glyn=-

Get the extra tenner off.They will still PM it and it is better in your pocket than theirs

 

[dickymint]

Hi I have got the 37" px80 and I bought it entirely for its quality on standard def.ie freeview.
I've been looking for a flat screen for 8 months and every tv I liked I managed to pull to pieces.But not this one, it really is that good, and the 42" is supposed to be better,don't know why !!
Go for it!!
Regards
Richard

 

[Ian C.]

I was looking at various Pansonic plasmas today in Currys 37 & 42,
to my eyes if I had to pick one it was the TH37PX8 that looked just
that bit better,on the ticket it said 15,000-1 contrast but on the sticky
label on set 10,000-1 same as the PX80.I thought the PX8 was an old model
but guy said it came out 2 weeks after thePX80,was impressed all round and SD is the best I have seen so far on a plasma.It was priced up as £50 more the the PX80,I'm in two minds which one to go for now.
edit:I notice Dixons have got the contrast the other way round PX8 15,000
and PX80 10,000-1.
Looking at the specs it looks like the PX80 is the one to go for although not
a lot wrong with the PX8 either.

 

[dubbah1]

Hello this is my first post, have been so confused trying to decide which TV to get. Was looking at 37LZD70 and Sony KDL 40W2000 LCDs but they are both a bit pricey for my budget. Have a budget of around £600 and based on looking at various online sites, I think the TH42PX80B looks to be good for value for money.

Please could you post which branch of John Lewis is doing the pricematch? I don't live anywhere near Bolton but would like to try and get this TV with 5 year warranty for 660/670. Appreciate your help.

 

[Cyclone]

Please could you post which branch of John Lewis is doing the pricematch? I don't live anywhere near Bolton but would like to try and get this TV with 5 year warranty for 660/670. Appreciate your help.

Contact the closest JL to you, doesn't matter how far from Bolton it is. If the JL is close enough to you then you should get free delivery as well.

My JL was 100 miles from Bolton and 40 miles from me. PM no problem and free delivery.

 

[bonzobanana]

I believe panasonic plasma panels are tested and graded at the factory and those panels that are tested and found to be of lower quality or panels that have to be remanufactured are then used in the budget range. They reduce contrast/brightness I assume to make them work better. This was what I was told about the older PX70 and PX7 models so I'm guessing its the same for PX80 and PX8. Basically the same concept as processors where they are tested and rated to what they will run at so poor yields become budget processors and good yields become high end processors in their respective ranges. This is what I was told by a service engineer so I'd be interested if anyone can confirm or deny this.

 

[audiphile76]

I believe panasonic plasma panels are tested and graded at the factory and those panels that are tested and found to be of lower quality or panels that have to be remanufactured are then used in the budget range.

I dont know if this is really true. Even if this was the case, Panasonic will be at risk to still give guarantees to these sets. On the contrary, what Panasonic is doing is something similar to what Sony is doing in LCD area, more models to confuse consumers. Otherwise why would they start so many models(eg. PZ81)

They reduce contrast/brightness I assume to make them work better. This was what I was told about the older PX70 and PX7 models so I'm guessing its the same for PX80 and PX8. Basically the same concept as processors where they are tested and rated to what they will run at so poor yields become budget processors and good yields become high end processors in their respective ranges. This is what I was told by a service engineer so I'd be interested if anyone can confirm or deny this.

I think major differences are in CR and connectivity. Panel also looks cheaper than PX80. Otherwise everything else should be the same. PX8 even does support 24p and 100Hz aswell.

 

[bonzobanana]

Is it really in Sony or Panasonic's interests to confuse customers with a wide range of products? If I go into a shop to buy something and I'm confused by all the options I walk out again. I would guess a diverse range of products means they can supply many types of retailers with low to high price points.

Its possible that Panasonic have two distinct production lines or batch times one for lower end displays and one for higher end displays but its also possible that displays are graded and then used in different models according to grade. Personally I think the latter is more logical but I don't know the basis of the service engineers comments but perhaps there are some markings on the display like a grading or something. He would obviously see inside plasmas a lot or maybe some info in a service manual.

 

[Derthyou]

Hi I find your comments re quality of panels very interesting.Despite all the rave reviews on the px80 plasma I spent 2 hours auditioning it against many other plasma and lcd`s and found it to appear "washed out" also black levels were far inferior to the 37 inch panny lcd (85). Any thoughts because I had set my heart on getting one and came away from the shop disapointed and confused. I played with all the settings but failed to improve the picture

 

[rewerb]

Hi I find your comments re quality of panels very interesting.Despite all the rave reviews on the px80 plasma I spent 2 hours auditioning it against many other plasma and lcd`s and found it to appear "washed out" also black levels were far inferior to the 37 inch panny lcd (85). Any thoughts because I had set my heart on getting one and came away from the shop disapointed and confused. I played with all the settings but failed to improve the picture

It's probably because the shop has bright flourescent lights shining on the panel. Plasmas dont like bright sunlight either. LCDs dont have this problem.

But in you own home the plasma will shine.

 

[Cyclone]

Hi I find your comments re quality of panels very interesting.Despite all the rave reviews on the px80 plasma I spent 2 hours auditioning it against many other plasma and lcd`s and found it to appear "washed out" also black levels were far inferior to the 37 inch panny lcd (85). Any thoughts because I had set my heart on getting one and came away from the shop disapointed and confused. I played with all the settings but failed to improve the picture

I agree with rewerbs comments. I was constantly dissapointed by the PX80 in the shops, and made similar posts to yours. I eventually decided to bite the bullet and have had my PX80 for about 3 weeks. Not one regret about buying it.
Once you get it home and set it up properly the picture is quite stunning.
Lots of SD programmes can look very close to HD at times, and the picture overall is way better than the 2 LCD's I have.
I think in the shops the LCD's are set to max contrast, which draw you in when comparing them to the plasmas, but once home that contrast would be way too high. I set the PX80 contrast to max in the shops to get it close to the LCD's, but at home 50% is as high as you need.
Great TV

 

[sim11]

i dont own one YET, but i was in currys last night ,i could clearly see that the colours where set wrong but non the less i got the sales man to put a blu-ray on and the results where stunning , even with the off colours , i have dileberated long and hard about the 720 and 1080 conflict but last sealed the deal in that respect , can anyone confirm how good or bad the freeview is with this tv thus being my only concern.

 

[Googolplex]

Hi guys!

To answer any concerns about the Panasonic... in a word... it's FANTASTIC! Now don't get me wrong here, I'm no stranger to this game, I've been a HT enthusiast for over 10 years now and my setups gone through many a change. However recently I purchased a Samsung LE37R8 LCD TV and I couldn't have made a bigger mistake. Even with a Toshiba HD-DVD player (EP35) a £70 HDMI cable and all the settings just so... I couldn't get the Sammy to give me the kind of picture I expect from SD-DVD's, I was ****** off and frankly regretted ever ditching my trusty Philips 32" CRT (Yes that's right, it was a fantastic telly, which never gave me a problem in the 9 YEARS I had it!) So I did some research (I'm on a budget, no matter how much of a hobbiest I am) and opted for the Panasonic TH37PX8B... and it's renewed my faith in DVD upscaling. I'm now pumping my DVD's through this bad boy and I'm finally getting the kind of rich saturated colours, deep blacks and fritter free edges I could NEVER get from the Sammy.

Playing 'Goldfinger' (Ultimate version) on SD-DVD gave me the confidence to
wait a bit longer for a Blu-Ray player as the image was so damn good. To the point where my house-mate walked in on me testing the TV and proclaimed "I didn't know they'd released Goldfinger on HD-DVD!"..... "THEY HAVEN'T!", I proclaimed... and we all went back to not having a life, lol!

Of course its not entirely without drawbacks. Dot crawl is still evident in the brighter parts of the screen, but it's not enough of a concern to cross this impressive "entry level" plasma off your 'maybe' list.

- Googolplex

 

[Googolplex]

OH! And... to 'SIM11', the freeview is as good as it's ever gonna be with a built in DVB unit. I used to work at currys hooking these things up, and they NEVER impressed me, but the Panny does have nice saturated colours and deep blacks, even with the freeview, making it very watchable. And as for the 720 Vs. 1080 conflict, I have my Toshiba HD-DVD, outputting 1080p and the Plasma receives it fine, with a little on screen display telling me so. I'm aware this may not be 'true' 1080p, but the upscaled DVD's look phenomenal!

- Googolplex

 

[tony44]

I bought a TH37PX8B a couple of days ago. Great picture.

Couple of questions the default settings for the picture in normal mode has the contrast set at 100% and the brightness at about 50%, is this correct?

As the unit gets older (years) I assume that I will need to increase the brightness, will I be reducing the contrast as the brightness increase?

 

[doobds]

Another plus point in my opinion is the dull/matt surround to the TV as it almost eliminates reflections from/on the surround unlike the PX80 and above. It also has increased connectiivity and 100hz compared to its predecessor the PX7. If only it had a swivel surround as well!

 

[sensiblemark]

Empire Direct are now doing this tele at £599.99..

and if you use voucher code "em4646" and username "edsave".. you then get it for £539.99... a great price if you collect from the store of course..

I've tried using the code over the past couple of weeks and it has been hit and miss on whether it worked and it works today.. so if anyone else is interested in this tv today is the day to phone and get it...