Philips Essence 42PES0001 42in LCD TV Comments

Nice TV. Not a bad review but felt a bit haphazard.

The problem is that the Philips range is a bit confusing at present... they have several key features that all affect the price point e.g. you can have Ambilight (2D or 3D), "wide colour gamut", LED Backlight, slimline with separate media box... you just can't have all of them. Personally I would like a 9703 (Ambilight 3D, wide colour gamut screen) with the separate media box of the Essence range. I can live without the super-slim as the 9703 is slim enough. The problem with having all the different features is that whatever TV you buy you end up having to compromise on one or more features... which, IMHO, is bad for the brand as you always feel that you never quite got "the best".

The thing i love about the Philips range is the ultra slim design as pointed out above, we do a lot of home cinema installs and its amazing how often the overall look is let down by the chunky look of the cheap LCD tv that the client has purchased. Not sure about the umbilical cord though, just seems like another bit of wiring to have to worry about, when oh when will someone invent the wireless Bluray player :-)

when the radiation is safe enough not to fry people's brains (or melt through walls)

or why not have something like a contact wall, where a conductive wall is connected to the tv via a set of pins. whatever needs to be connected only needs to be "touched" against the wall and it'll be picked up, a bit like windows surface and how it can recognise mobile phones pressed up against it (only it can carry power, as well). bye bye wires, and no head melting radiation.

I just love the way non of the pictures show the ‘umbilical cord'. But it still looks better than most TV out now. The only thing is belkin have their flywire wireless transmitter and receiver coming out sometime this year and if its any good any TV could have the single cable look.

I wonder, could you use some of the flatwire products that Riyadh is excited about at the CES, to replace the umbilical cord?

I agree with sthair though, about Philips' range being confusing and about feeling that you always have to compromise on at least one of their features in order to get the best of the rest of them.

I've just orderd the TV - and i REALLY like the media table on the picture. Do anyone know, anything about the exact mediatable? Thx