NEC 61XR3: rich man's plasma

We've seen a few nice TVs at Crave recently -- Samsung's rear pro was a beacon of light during our late-night testing sessions. However, nothing quite prepared us for The Simpsons on a 61-inch plasma, something which attracted the attention of half the office. In fact, watching TV from a normal distance and still having a good portion of your peripheral vision taken up is actually a scary experience, especially if you're watching Trisha.

This formidable flatscreen comes with a formidable price tag, clocking in at just under £8,000 online, and for that you don't even get speakers. Luckily though, we subscribe to the idea that a product's value is directly related to how heavy it is. And at 61kg, or 1kg per inch of screen, you know the image quality is going to be pretty spectacular. We were blown away with standard DVD playback, and the downside is that it's too posh for an RGB Scart connection. No joy for us Freeview plebs.

We'll be reviewing the 61XR3 soon, so it might be a good idea to start saving now... -GC

Update: this review is now live here.