Panasonic TX-43HX585B - best 43” TV alternatives

Hoogie

Standard Member
Joined
Oct 7, 2008
Messages
37
Reaction score
0
Points
19
H

I have been researching the 43” TV market the past few days and I’m struggling to make progress, I am hoping the forum might be able to help.

My Dad has been buying Panasonic TVs for years and recently ordered a new tx-43hx585b.

We have set it up and found it to be awful, very slow and unresponsive menus and system, and the build quality feels poor. Worse than our 5 year old Panasonic set it replaces!

After some research it seems this set may actually be made by Vestel in Turkey and not be a Panasonic in the way we expected.

It’s so bad we are considering whether it can be exchanged, although I have no idea if this is even a possibility.

Can anyone recommend some stand out alternative 43” sets?

I have researched on the forum but most of the ones mentioned aren’t in stock or available.

Ideally the budget is up to £600, and we’re looking for a TV that feels premium (small bezels and not too plasticy if possible).

Thank you in advance for any help.
 
There's not really anything 'stand out' at smaller sizes any more, they are all more or less bottom range models and build quality and picture quality is generally so-so.

Having said that though, by buying a Vestel re badge you practically bought one of the worst of the worst, and will probably find another TV manufactured directly by the manufacturer to be higher quality.

If the TV is going to be used in darker conditions and only viewed head on my suggestion would be the Hisense 43B7120 model for sale at Argos which comes with Roku smart TV. Failing that one of Hisense's new A series. Although beware that they are tad overpriced right now having only just been released. They come in numbers like A7100, A7400, AE7400 etc all the same TV more or less.

If the TV is more to be used during daylight hours, or with a light always on, or if the TV also needs to be viewed not only directly in front, but also at an angle consider buying a 43" model from LG or Sony instead. LGs will be the best overall TVs as their smart system is better and you get quite a lot more for your money overall compared to Sony. Like the Hisense A series models though, only 2020 models seem to be available right now that are currently overpriced, so your cash won't go so far presently.

If you want to maximise the TV you can get for the money and you can't find any 2019 models suitable still, then you may just be better off asking for a refund and revisiting your purchase later in the year when the prices of new models are more reasonable. Right now new model pricing is on the high side. A little secret retailers don't want people to know is that its rarely a good idea to buy a TV each year before Black Friday comes unless you can buy a model from the year before. This is because the newly released prices are hiked up so much.
 
Thank you very much for the reply, I really appreciate the feedback.

No idea if John Lewis will allow us to exchange the set now that it has been opened, but I am hoping they may based on how disappointing the performance is.

If they do are Hisense, LG and Sony the 3 brands you would recommend looking at?

Not Samsung? And if so why not?

And do none of those brands do re badges the way Panasonic do?

Looking at the John Lewis site, the main alternatives seem to be:

Hisense 43A7500FTUK - £379.00

LG 43UN81006LB - £449.00

Samsung UE43TU8500 - £449.00

Sony Bravia KD43X7053 - £549.00

Samsung QE43Q65T - £599.00

Of these do any stand out as particularly good or bad options?

thanks again
 
Its hard to keep shopping for a TV as simple as possible nowadays. There's just a lot to consider even before you start your search. Gone really are the days of just visiting the shop and picking out on purely on how it looks on display.

You should consider first which panel type is best suited for your conditions. The type of panel is what dictates the biggest difference in picture quality from one TV and another...and they cannot really be compared as they each have their pros and cons.

I made a guide for choosing that here: Which panel type should I choose for my TV?

So once you decide which panel type is more suitable, then you know what you can expect from the TV in terms of both weaknesses and strengths, and can narrow down your choice.

Picking out models before making this decision is a bad idea, because you may end up with something that isn't really suited to how you use the TV.

One of the reasons I don't mention Samsung is because they could be using either panel type, therefore you don't really know what you'll end up with until you actually own it. Its impossible to know with their TVs until you actually own one which kind of panel it comes with.

But be very wary with buying a smaller TV now. It can look like you can get more for your money by spending more money, but beware that there are no higher end TVs any more at smaller sizes, so a TV like the Samsung Q65T despite looking like its a lot better than the other TVs on the outside, is no better than a TV costing a fraction of its price. Buy cheap instead of spend more, and you won't get ripped off that way.

If you can wait to buy at a later time your money will also stretch further, with TVs presently being very expensive having just been released. This is because John Lewis only have 2020 stock and no older models. Out of all the manufacturers Hisense price their newest TVs the lowest, so if you are happy with a VA panel, the A7500 would be my choice if you have to purchase this minute.

As a general rule:
Samsung 43" models - they could use VA or IPS
LG 43" - Always IPS
Sony 43" - Always IPS
Hisense - Always VA
TCL - Always VA

With Panasonic their 40" TVs use VA, whilst their 43" models made by Vestel are IPS.

EDIT* forgot to mention but a 4k TVs forte isn't when using regular TV, so if you are expecting to buy a 4k on the premise its going to be used to watch broadcast TV, you may be better off sticking with an older HD model, or trying to source a HD TV now instead.
 
Thanks for the reply, I will do some research tomorrow about the panel types to see which is the best fit.

unfortunately a new set is needed now so waiting isn’t really an option.

I understand that in this size range you don’t get any premium sets, but are there any which are considered mid range rather than entry level in terms of their specs and quality?

And if so, would any of the John Lewis models I mentioned fall into that mid range category?

Thanks
 
I have just brought the hisense from john lewis for my dad he could not be happier with it.great set for the money. he also wanted panasonic but nothing seems any good at this size so went with the hisense
 

The latest video from AVForums

TV Buying Guide - Which TV Is Best For You?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom