Panasonic TH-42PX60U 42″ Plasma HDTV Review from an average family

I've owned the Panasonic TH-42PX60U 42" Plasma HDTV for about a year now - I'm no TV-o-phile, so I am reviewing this as an average person with average intelligence and a nack for electronics.

I did my homework when I bought this TV; I poured over the geekiest of TV geek forums for reviews, comments and ratings. For the price - I found this TV to fit my budget and even more so when I scored it with a major DirecTv rebate from Best Buy. Being I needed a new Satellite setup anyways, I made the switch from Dish Network and was soon enjoying my new HDTV setup for under $1200.

The Mr. & I skipped the ridiculous in home setup at Best Buy and opted to buy the hanging hardware at Costco for about $80 and did the install ourselves. The DirecTv dude ran the cables and we hooked it up easily without looking at the instructions (who needs stinking instructions anyways?). I did however print out some setup instructions from the local TV nerd forum that were super easy and I lo-and-behold we were watching the Discovery channel in all of its HDTV glory. I swore those antelope were going to jump out of the TV at us Here are the settings I use:

Picture Mode: Standard
Picture: +22
Brightness: +8
Color: -1
Tint: -4
Sharpness: -14
Color Temperature: Warm

I have to say that over the past year we have watched this TV it has been good to us. We haven't had to go out of our way to do any calibration (like the old rear projection big screens) or change any settings really. The initial setup was the only time we realy ever messed with the menus. I would say that the average person would find this TV as maintenance free as we did. Obviously this isn't a review from someone who sits around reviewing TVs all day, but from a mom that watches TV in the evenings after running a business and chasing 3 kids all day.

Before I bought this TV I was told over and over by friends and family to buy an LCD instead of a plasma TV because they last longer; I threw caution to the wind on this purchase because the price was right. After a year of daily use it is still as good as it was the day we bought it. If anything changes, I will certainly update this post - but for now I love this TV and I believe it was a great buy. I read about a hundred reviews from others that said this TV gave the most bang for the buck in its price range.

Panasonic makes some great TV's and the predecessors to this one are no exception from what I've read. When it's time to ditch the 65" rear projection TV in the living room - We will likely go with another Panasonic; They know TV's.

Panasonic TH-42PX60U 42" Plasma TV Quick Review:

Purchased: Best Buy

Panasonic TH-42PX60U 42" Plasma HDTV Benefits:

• Great picture quality and contrast
• Easy to navigate menus
• Intuitive setup
• Good feature set for the money
• SD card slot in the front of the TV is easy to access and use

Panasonic TH-42PX60U 42" Plasma HDTV Drawbacks:

• Out of the box the picture is nasty. Be sure to use the settings listed above for the best picture on this TV

The Mrs. gives Panasonic TH-42PX60U 42" Plasma HDTV 5/5
Because for the price this TV is a good buy and has held up well over the past year (despite know-it-all friend's recommendations).

Additional notes: If you own one of these and ever need parts for TH-42PX60U 42" Plasma HDTV (just in case!) You can get them for really good prices on ebay. Here are some links to various Panasonic TV parts for this model:

Ebay search for Panasonic TH-42PX60U Replacement Remote Control

Ebay search for Panasonic TH-42PX60U Infrared Remote Sensor TNPA3762AG

Ebay search for Panasonic TH-42PX60U Key Control Board TNPA3965AC

Ebay search for Panasonic TH-42PX60U Power Supply TNPA3911

Ebay search for Panasonic TH-42PX60U Replacement Speakers

Ebay search for Panasonic TH-42PX60USD Card Reader TNPA3853

Ebay search for Panasonic TH-42PX60USD Wall mount kit

With all of the links above you could practically re-build your TV if you needed to. Gotta love ebay!