LG 42PQ6000 42-inch Widescreen HD Ready Plasma TV with Freeview - Black

I don't tend to write many reviews, however I felt compelled to write a review for this TV. I ummed and ahhed about which TV to purchase, my budget wasn't huge and I wanted to get the best value for money. I agonised over LCD v Plasma, especially with regards to the possibility of image retention on Plasma as I wanted to play my PS3 on the set, and also surf the internet with a feed from my PC. I also struggled to make a decision on whether to get Full HD (1080p) or HD Ready (720p) and lastly on which screen size would fulfill my needs.

I needed to get all of this right as this was, for me a one shot investment that would have to last me for many years, and I could not afford to make a costly mistake.

Anyhoo after many sleepless nights and days spent agonising the pros and cons for each I settled on the LG 42PQ6000 Plasma. After much research and lurking on internet forums I satisfied myself that image retention with Plasma screens was no longer the big issue that it used to be, provided moderate care was exercised and provided that the run in period was carried out with settings at 50%. I also found some excellent documents which suggested that if a 42" screen is viewed from a distance of around 8' then the extra detail of Full HD (1080p) would be lost as the pixels would appear to fuse together at this distance whereas 720p material at 8 feet provides the optimum pixelation/detail threshold (do a search on "tv screen size vs viewing distance"). As 8 feet is my optimum viewing distance I decided that I could live with 720p as the extra detail would be lost on me (well that's the theory!)

I ordered the TV late Saturday night, and the TV was delivered first thing on Monday morning, in first class condition, not even a dent on the cardboard box - and I live in a remote part of Scotland. The TV took me around 10 minutes to install single handed and had no problems from detecting the freeview channels, Sky and DVD sources.

In my opinion the picture quality is first class, and the sound seems to be pretty good for a flat panel TV. I have reduced the display settings to those recomended during the running in period (and the picture still seems great). Have watched a fair amount of TV on a variety of sky channels with bright static logos in the corner and after around 1 hours viewing have yet to see any evidence of image retention. Can't wait for the 100 hour burn in period to be up so that I can really set this beauty up!

I was worried that a 42" TV was going to be too big for my lounge, and that it would dominate the room, on reflection it is probably the perfect size (it's amazing how soon you adapt to the larger size) and my 32" now seems positively puny - I could maybe just have got away with a 50", but this would have blown my budget.

For my viewing needs which is heavily based towards SD sources such as Sky TV and DVDs this television meets all of my expectations and then some. I have yet to connect my PS3 as it is a chistmas prezzie, and I am forbidden until the 25th. So I am unable to comment on HD sources at this moment in time, but I expect to be more than happy, once it is connected, and may well post an update at a later date, if I can tear myself away from the TV :-)

Very happy with my purchase this is a lot of TV for the money, and compared to my three year old 32" LCD watching the new set feels like I have washed sand out of my eyes!

Did a lot of research before buying and determined that this was the best value for money purchase for those like myself still mainly watching standard definition TV. Set looks superb with the glass front however it was picture and price that determined it for me.

TV is a doddle to set up and use and there were no image retention issues that some people talk of. Set has got noticeably better as it logs more hours and the divx playback from usb stick is a nice little bonus.

As far as HD goes I have not tried it but saw a demo in a shop which was fantastic so should be well future proofed. I think some of the spec is a gimmmick in terms of brightness, contrast and refresh however in summary it has a cracking picture with good (could be better) sound.

The item arrived beautifully packaged with no damage, which had been a problem for some previous customers, and the next working day as promised in the ad.

I resisted the urge to open it as my son was coming the following weekend & was going to set it up for me. I was quite intrigued by the way the packaging had been designed to allow the TV to be removed from the bottom of the box.

As an oldie in a world of ever changing technology, it has proved to be extremely easy to operate & I enrolled with Sky also, so that I could actually see the HD when available. They have both proved to be very straightforward to master.

I think if there is one niggle it is that there is a dead pixel which I tend to look for now I know it is there but overall, I am very happy with the product, and if pushed would have to give it 10 out of 10.