Home > Consumer Reviews > PARENT - Sampo PME-42X6 42-Inch HDTV-Ready Widescreen Plasma TV

I had my SAMPO for about 5 months and I'm very happy, I fully recommend it. I tried to do my best in comparing the various options on the market, and this was my choice; I believed it was the best offer for the money.
This TV is a 'display only' item: There are no speakers or tuner capability. You can hook your computer directly to the TV and use it for your presentations; it's very easy.
But most importantly: The picture quality is simply breathtaking, DON'T BUY A PLASMA THAT IS NOT FULLY HDTV COMPATIBLE! If you are ready to spend the money for a plasma TV, go all the way.
This TV is very easy to set up, I just hooked it to my Comcast HDTV box and to my amplifier, and it was good to go. Spend the money for the best Monster component cables, I know it hurts but you don't want to save money here, the difference in picture quality is evident. Use a good DVD player with progressive scan; it will give you a very nice picture.

In terms of picture quality the Sampo is pretty much on par with others in this size class. I've seen a few plasma TVs made by Fujisu at Harvey Electronics stores here in New York, and they are absolutely the best. Where Sampo "excels" is the price point. You get bright, fairly clear pictures and also HDTV readiness for a very attractive price, even better than the hot-selling ones at Gateway. BTW, Sampo makes the Gateway plasma TVs.

The PME-42X6 stands out among 42" plasma TVs in being HDTV-ready. This means it supports all the HDTV resolutions from 480p to 720p to 1080i. (BTW, BestBuy.com has a decent guide to HDTV terminology.) It doesn't have a built-in tuner, though, so you'll need to get one yourself, so add a couple hundred to your budget. As with other plasma TVs you should hire a professional to tune and set up the Sampo. Improper setups can cause the gas bulbs inside the TV to burn out faster.

As I've already said image quality is average, which means you'll see some blocky artifacts. Of all the plasma TVs I've viewed extensively, only Fujisu and Panasonic models seem to be free from such artifacts. (No, I don't work for either company or Sampo!) Sony and Philips are acceptable, too. The other Asian TVs all suffer from this as well as problems with getting the black "color" right properly. In terms of everyday use you probably won't mind such "defects," since they are not too obvious in a good DVD movie. Sampo does seem to have better color-decoding technology than others in this price class which means you get red and blue right, etc.

Before I finish up let me give you an update: I just found out via cnet.com that the native resolution of this unit is 1024x1024. This means 720p and 1080i will be simulated rather than in native. To tell the truth at least on this Sampo it doens't mean much. Everyone would prefer native support for every HDTV resolution, but even super-expensive units from Zenith and Hitachi don't have this feature. The Sampo is totally affordable and deserves a recommendation.

The one thing I have a problem with is the muddy dark colors. Granted, it doens't show up much, but when it does I say, "I wish that looked clearer." I had to adjust the color,contrast,bright, temp, and tint. That is easy though. Other than that, the HDTV pictures(although I only have 5 channels of HDTV) are very impressive. I don't even like soccer, but soccer in HD is fun to watch. You can see the little hexagons on the ball! Great colors. Great price. Don't be fooled by the Gateway EDTV. Make sure you get the XGA plasma! Do it! By the way, based on 8 hours of use a day(which rarely happens), the tv should last 7-8 years. 4 hours a day=12-13 years. It'll last a while. Have you driven the same car for that long? You'll probably want a new TV in 7-8 years anyway.

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A six stars website for SAMPO.

Go to this site and get everything you need for SAMPO :

http://www.area450.com/

A 6 stars website!