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TrustedReviews Awards 2008

Author	TrustedReviews
Published	25th Nov 2008

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1st Place: Panasonic Viera TH-42PX80

You might be surprised to find that the winner of this category doesn't boast a Full HD 1,920 x 1,080 resolution, but contrary to popular belief, the number of pixels does not represent the be all and end all of HD performance. What Panasonic has produced with the TH-42PX80 is a superb 42in HD Ready plasma TV at a stunning price.

Despite its apparent bargain price, the TH-42PX80 provides excellent black levels, and as a result, rich and vivid colours. And as Pioneer has made abundantly clear with its Kuro range, black levels really can make all the difference to image quality. You even get 100Hz processing to help deal with judder on slow pans.

At around £630, the TH-42PX80 is well under the £1,000 limit for this category, which only goes to enhance its credentials even more, making it a deserved award winner.

Read the full review of the Panasonic Viera TH-42PX80.

2nd Place: Samsung LE40A656

If you absolutely, positively must have a Full HD 1,920 x 1,080 resolution, then the Samsung LE40A656 is worth a look. This is a 40in LCD TV that cost nearly £1,200 when we reviewed it back in April, but can now be had for as little as £730 - that makes it a real bargain, and goes some way to explain its second place ranking in this category.

As well as Full HD resolution, you get 100Hz processing to help produce smooth motion, a 50,000:1 contrast ratio (thanks to dynamic backlighting) and 1080p 24Hz support using a 5:5 pulldown method for a 120Hz image. Black levels are also impressive for such an affordable LCD screen, which also leads to rich and vivid colours. This is also a great looking TV, incorporating Samsung's trademark red accent for a little extra style.

Read the full review of the Samsung LE40A656.

3rd Place: Philips Cineos 32PFL9603D/10

It may seem odd that this 32in LCD TV costs more than the 40in LCD and 42in plasma sets above, but that's often the way with Philips. Philips doesn't make TVs that can be judged purely on their size and resolution, because they generally come stacked full of technology not seen anywhere else, and the 32PFL9603 is no exception.

First up, this set looks absolutely stunning. Second, once you enable its Ambilight feature, it just looks even better. If you're one of the many out there who think that Ambilight is just a gimmick, let us assure you that you're completely and utterly wrong. Once you've had an Abilight screen in your living room for a week, you'll wonder how you ever watched TV without it.

You also get amazing connectivity, and not just AV stuff either. There's a USB port that will stream audio and video from a memory key, while the built-in Ethernet port even allows you to watch content from any PC on your home network. Add to this an incredibly sharp and detailed image, and it's clear that this is no ordinary 32in LCD TV.

Read the full review of the Philips Cineos 32PFL9603D/10.

Latest 4 of 83 Comments

Have your say: Leave a comment below about this article.

Sivart said on 1st December 2008

Just read the awards article & then looked forward to the comments.

Big disapointment to find it dominated by a fruitcake with a grudge and an old pals reunion d... more

Ardjuna said on 5th December 2008

@Sivart: yes, it would have been nice to see some more comments about the actual products, and about awards other than the arguably least important 'style' one. Still, it... more

AlexMck said on 11th December 2008

Great job Riyad. Have been following the site for a long time but only just decided to register.
Rsaeire and Singularity -- have ye any lives to lead? I should think that,... more

PaulW said on 11th January 2009

@Sivart .. I agree with you to a degree. I dont have the funds to be fortunate to be able to buy a B&W Zeppelin, and therefore look forward to reviews of such products here @ TR. No matter what Riyad (other TR staff say)says, there will also be some contention. I bought a Samsung G600 phone for Xmas .. mainly because of the brilliant review here. As it happens, i dont like it & have gone back to my Nokia 6300. I also have a Nokia E71 (which another user was raving about) & I aint too keen on that either.

So what am I trying to say? Well this .. I find the TR site just about the most "accurate" place to go to read products reviews, and generally I find the conclusions produced "weigh in" with my own needs. I bought a Canon Pixma MP610 on the strength of its review & its brilliant! I also bought a Fuji S9600 camera purely on the review here & what a blinder! Brilliant choice & a brilliant review - altho very controversial at the time! 10 / 10 for a camera that I bought for £199!!

The arguments put forward about B&W Zeppelin as an iPod docking station do produce a smile on my face. I can many years ago, someone in Hi-Fi News stating "the wider you open the windows, the more the muck flies in", and having an iPod myself, I cannot but agree with this statement .. as the audio quality of the Apple iPod is well documented to be "questionable". Poor audio in - poor audio out!

BUT .. at least TR do actually carry out reviews of products tested. Some years back (in an earlier life) I was involved heavily in the PC MIDI market & ran a well know UK PC MIDI company distributing such products as Music Quest MIDI cards, CardD DAW card & Cadenza sequencing software (Gordon .. are you reading this? You & I have had several chats in the past about some of these products.)

On one occasion I was approached by a well known MIDI Music mag (no names mentioned, but their offices were in Bath!) asking for a sample Music Quest card for "head to head" review. I had always had my suspicions about the "authenticity" of reviews carried out by this Mag, & so I sent off a card that I knew to be faulty! It simply didnt work!

We came 2nd in a head to head shoot out with other popular MIDI card! We werent asked to replace the faulty card, yet we came in 2nd place! Amazing eh?

Thanks goodness we have moved on & we have sites like TR.

Well done guys .. whilst I dont agree with all that you say, I am darned glad that you have presence on the web! Sorry for going off topic a tad!

Happy New Year!

@Sivart .. I agree with you to a degree. I dont have the funds to be fortunate to be able to buy a B&W Zeppelin, and therefore look forward to reviews of such products here @ T... more

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