Panasonic Plasma: Model Behaviour

We unboxed the catchily named Panasonic TH42PE50 this morning, returning to the relatively lightweight world of the plasma after the hernia-inducing Toshiba CRT. "What makes this TV worth my hard-earned moolah?' we hear you ask. Be happy. Panasonic has managed to fit a Digital Freeview receiver inside its slinky frame. Those cheeky Japanese wizards.

Even surrounded by the flat screens we've got in at the moment from the likes of Sony and Hitachi, the Panasonic knows it's the best-looking plasma in the room. However, like a vacuous supermodel whose only talent is walking up and down in a straight line, the Panasonic gives you a confused look when you demand something more than great looks. It's not high definition, you can't connect it to your PC, and there's not even an S-video or composite connection. And worst of all, the screen resolution is a cripplingly low 852x480 pixels -- about half the resolution your computer is running at, and even lower than a CRT TV. Ouch.

We'll be prodding and poking the Panasonic with all the Scart cables we can find over the coming week to find out if it's worth its £1,800 asking price. We'll have to see if features such as its TopUp TV slot and its ability to record programmes to an SD card will redeem it. -GC

Update: this review is now live here.