[Mr. Cool]

http://reviews.cnet.com/flat-panel-t...5312753-1.html

I know, this is a Cnet review but I've never seen a negative Panasonic TV review to date. This might be a sign they are trying to cut costs and compete with their rivals.

I know it's a budget low-end TV but even Toshiba's TV bested this one in nearly every aspect.

[Nigel Goodwin]

What relevance has it here?, it's a USA site and models, they are completely different to sets in Europe - the market is entirely different.

[Mr. Cool]

Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin

What relevance has it here?, it's a USA site and models, they are completely different to sets in Europe - the market is entirely different.

Yes I know, but I'd imagine they'd bring the set to the UK with only minor variations (No DVB-C for example).

[jjne]

Panasonic's (and Sony's) consumer electronics wings are losing money hand over fist -- building quality simply isn't viable any more.

These two will either reduce their own standards, buy in from others (whilst maybe continuing their higher-spec stuff) or bow out within the next couple of years, just as every other manufacturer has.

Cheap-end quality is adequate for what most (non-enthusiast) people want -- which is either a watchable picture through Freeview, or a decent picture through an HD STB, for a period not generally exceeding three years.

Most Vestels reach three years old without trouble; all Vestels have a watchable (not great, but adequate for most people) image through Freeview (and adequate doesn't mean a huge amount -- a good 50% of those viewers will still be watching 4:3 cropped and stretched to 16:9); all Vestels have actually pretty good pictures through a (for example) Sky HD box.

For Vestel, substitute Samsung, LG, TCL, TPV, UMC, and pretty much anything else.

You have to bear in mind that these are the same people who turned their backs on the mainstream hifi manufacturers and now think a 128kbps MP3 file played through a DMP with the cheapest DAC chipset available is "high quality".

[Nigel Goodwin]

Originally Posted by Mr. Cool

Yes I know, but I'd imagine they'd bring the set to the UK with only minor variations (No DVB-C for example).

No, American sets are usually completely different to European ones, EU sets are fully featured, American sets tend to be crippled for their own market only. The badging of cheap sets is also far more prevalent over there, and has been for a lot longer than here.

It's quite plausible that the Panasonic reviewed is just a cheap badged set, but it also depends on the accuracy of the review, most of which I tend to find highly dubious at best.

[Mr. Cool]

Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin

It also depends on the accuracy of the review, most of which I tend to find highly dubious at best.

I agree, Which, Cnet and TechRadar seem to be the worst for TV reviews. Just never seen negative a Panasonic review from any of them.

hdtvtest.co.uk seems to be the most accurate site.