Panasonic TH-42PX60U 42-inch Plasma HDTV Review
MSRP: $2,095
Street Price: $1700-1800

Quick Take:

First released in the middle of the 2006, the Panasonic TH-42PX60U is now generally considered one of the best plasma HDTV deals in the market. It is Panasonic's 9th generation gas-plasma television, combiniong top-notch image quality with a very reasonable price to make it a current top-seller. The TH-42PX60U will likely be one of the hottest selling plasma TVs here this Chrismas season.

Like many of it's predecessors, the TH-42PX60U offers Panasonic's usual outstanding image quality. In a comparison to it's peers, we found the TH-42PX60U to continue proving Panasonic's reputation for outstanding black levels, as well as a very bright display. Images are sharp, colors are crisp, and motion is handled well. High Def sources are particularly impressive as our viewing of Discovery HD programming on this unit can attest. Watching DVDs also proved the TH-42PX60U a capable performer, with excellent picture for both normal and upconverting DVD players. Resolution on the TH-42PX60U is 1024x768.

Connections for the TH-42PX60U include 3 composite A/V connections, 3 S-Video connections, 2 component connections, 2 HDMI connections, and one SC memory card slot - perfect for displaying images captured from a digital camera. Another nice feature of the TH-42PX60U is it's built-in ATSC tuner that allows you to receive over the air high definition channels.

Pros:

- Top of the market picture quality, especially for 720p HD sources
- Excellent black levels - amongst the best we have seen in a plasma TV
- Built-in ATSC tuner for receiving off-air HD channels
- Easy to setup and intuitive menus
- Competitive pricing at around $1700-1800 street (as of October 2006)

Cons:

- The TH-42PX60U required some minor tweaking of picture settings to maximize quality; e.g. switching from 'Vivid' to 'Warm' setting
- Manual is poorly written, but this is offset thanks to the TH-42PX60U's easy setup and good menu system