Sampo flat panel
Written: Jun 28 '02 (Updated Jun 28 '02)
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Pros: Inexpensive, ok if you have a small space
Cons: Really bad picture compared to competition. Internal speakers tinny. Loud fans
The Bottom Line: Save your money for something better or get a tube or rear projection HDTV. This is a waste of money.
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| tfharper's Full Review: Sampo PME-42V3 42 in. EDTV-Ready Plasma TV |
I developed buyers remorse about 2 days after this was delivered. A flat tv works for my setup, which has a built in media cabinet thats only 18" deep. I got a very good deal on this 42" Sampo unit so I went for it. The unit has a great degree of difficulty displaying grays, showing them as shades of purple. Its very hard to balance dark and light scenes, either the light scenes are too bright or the dark scenes too dark. The internal scaler isnt very good. Even in 16:9 with a good progressive scan DVD its not that great. I didnt know what "creeping moss" effect was until I got this tv. Basically when someone wearing a very dark color shirt walks "away" on screen, and the contrast of the shirt changes, it looks like something starts growing on them...or in a dark cave scene the darkest parts of the wall will start to move and crawl. Yuck.
By the way, yes I know exactly how to tweak a tv and I have the video essentials disk and my other tv's look great when i'm done. I'm also not what you'd call a real picky videophile, my expectations of an inexpensive low end plasma were small...but they still werent met.
I guess a good summary is that I wont feel bad when it breaks and I have to go get something else...
The internal speakers are ok for the higher end tones, but I had to add a good sized subwoofer turned to produce sounds in the 20-800Hz range before the sound was decent. Again, i'm not exactly an audiophile here...
The unit has several fans, they're good and loud but you wont hear them with the volume tuned up. This thing throws a heck of a lot of heat too, a lot more than my 32" toshiba tube or my 54" rear projection set. Warms up the room nicely in the winter but you need a little more a/c on a summer day.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 3500
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Epinions.com ID:
tfharper
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Reviews written: 35
Trusted by: 2 members
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