yes the board is an issue but the connectivity is still not an issue .
The reason the boards were changed was the UK tax man panasonic were paying 15% on the importation and noticed they were only paying 8% on the computor monitors. Because one was classed as a business pc monitor and the other a consumer tool so the boards were taken off to give the same format as the pc monitor and the boards then sold on top for a small amount of money the boards now come with bnc sockets on them and most installers use the maplin convertes to get them to component (phono lead). The emissions thing guys is a a thing picked up in the usa when they were testing the equipment for their hillarious emissions policy (I suppose at least they know how bad they really are) and found the silver screen had a lower output than the black/ charcoal model.
With regard to the new model.....
I only found out about its release 2 weeks ago having already ordered my 50 inch screen (noww looking awesome on my wall) .The older models should therfore represent a good buy , Changes are mainly cost cutting though like the thickness of thewall and rounding of edges, their are two other important factors though.
1) The lumenance( sorry for the spelling) has been increased marginally which will give a brighter contrast and allegedly deeper colour "potential" ..this is quite strange because the first thing you do with these sets is turn down the contrast becuase the factory default is way to high and makes the picture very stark. It may have a benefit on longevity I suppose as the phospher burn out takes effect but its coparing to and to if you get my drift.
2) The new panasonic slimline tuner is not compatible with the 4 series and below models.This I believe was actually a cockup and the reason nobody knew much about the new models till recently .So the dealers who spend a lot of money with panasonic are are being subsidised to take them on the screen price and offer the new DMR- e30 dvd recorder including a syncblaster cable for £400. which has a very good tuner built into it. How do I know all this well im a nosy bugger and I have a good contacts with the 3 rd biggest panasonic dealer in the country and to prove it I Have 50 inch model I have paid much less than £6000 on my wall including the dvd recorder.
Prices on the new one by the way will be around £1500 less on retail and whatever the
This "upgrade is debatable anyway as most mediums are now going digital , sky , cable etc and the series 4 all work well on these the analogue tuner issue is one which wont exist in time.
If anybody wants to e mail me off group I will tell them the dealer and price .
Mark
