Panasonic TX40C300B TV
- Thread starter alarm13
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Your PX60B was a pricey set when new. I seem to recall a ball park price of around £700-£800 when I bought one for the father-in-law back in 2007/2008. Having said that, TV prices were generally higher across the board and the PX60B offered a "big enough" screen size for those trading up from a 27"-28" glass TV without spending the £1000+ for a 42" plasma. Standard LCD was the poor relation in picture quality terms and LED back-lighting hadn't yet made an impact so those TVs were still quite thick.
Fast forward 8 years and a lot has changed. Plasma is no more, consigned to premature retirement thanks to the meddling from Europe on power ratings, and the obsession with "thin", and the relentless downward price pressure from LCD panel manufacturers cutting each others throats to sell their components to the TV manufacturers.
Where this leaves us today is in a situation where brands that were once household names are now either empty shells or gone completely (Pioneer, JVC, Toshiba, Sharp, Hitachi, Sanyo, Philips, Thompson etc), and the small screen TV market is now almost entirely serviced by sub-contract manufacturers from Korea, China, Turkey and Eastern Europe and who stick on manufacturer's name badges to their product. This is now starting to become the norm with larger budget sets too. JVC, Toshiba, Sharp and Hitachi products are all now made by 3rd party suppliers. Samsung and LG both happily swap LCD panel suppliers from their own product to others to gain a small price advantage when conditions are right; and for the past 18 months Panasonic have relented by opting for a 3rd party manufacturer to make their entry-level C300 product. The difference though is that Panasonic doesn't just buy in a badged product, they retain some control of the design and component selection. This puts the C300 marginally ahead of a lot of the budget TVs at similar prices but it's still not a 100% Panasonic product.
In isolation the C300 is okay, even good, but it's still a cheap telly and it has a lot of the same problems that plague other cheap TVs. Motion handling is limited by price so there's some blurring on movement. The viewing angles aren't as wide as more expensive (+£400) sets so you'll find that the contrast and colour lose saturation if viewed off centre; again though, this is the same as other sub £300 TVs. If you want to fix these problems and buy something that's a genuine successor to the PX60B then you need to spend £400-£500 minimum. The only credible alternative is a bit of a Hobson's Choice because a £300 budget leaves very little wiggle room; it's the Samsung UE40J5100.
Fast forward 8 years and a lot has changed. Plasma is no more, consigned to premature retirement thanks to the meddling from Europe on power ratings, and the obsession with "thin", and the relentless downward price pressure from LCD panel manufacturers cutting each others throats to sell their components to the TV manufacturers.
Where this leaves us today is in a situation where brands that were once household names are now either empty shells or gone completely (Pioneer, JVC, Toshiba, Sharp, Hitachi, Sanyo, Philips, Thompson etc), and the small screen TV market is now almost entirely serviced by sub-contract manufacturers from Korea, China, Turkey and Eastern Europe and who stick on manufacturer's name badges to their product. This is now starting to become the norm with larger budget sets too. JVC, Toshiba, Sharp and Hitachi products are all now made by 3rd party suppliers. Samsung and LG both happily swap LCD panel suppliers from their own product to others to gain a small price advantage when conditions are right; and for the past 18 months Panasonic have relented by opting for a 3rd party manufacturer to make their entry-level C300 product. The difference though is that Panasonic doesn't just buy in a badged product, they retain some control of the design and component selection. This puts the C300 marginally ahead of a lot of the budget TVs at similar prices but it's still not a 100% Panasonic product.
In isolation the C300 is okay, even good, but it's still a cheap telly and it has a lot of the same problems that plague other cheap TVs. Motion handling is limited by price so there's some blurring on movement. The viewing angles aren't as wide as more expensive (+£400) sets so you'll find that the contrast and colour lose saturation if viewed off centre; again though, this is the same as other sub £300 TVs. If you want to fix these problems and buy something that's a genuine successor to the PX60B then you need to spend £400-£500 minimum. The only credible alternative is a bit of a Hobson's Choice because a £300 budget leaves very little wiggle room; it's the Samsung UE40J5100.
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Thanks for your reply lucid! I've been out to have a look at the UE40J5100 and have decided to order one. Looks like a great set for the money! The C300 looked awful in comparison
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