Toshiba 42HP95 42-Inch Widescreen HD-Ready Flat Panel Plasma TV
Above and beyond expectations
It was time to upgrade to a new TV after moving to a new house.  After seeing several of the new plasma TV's at the local electronic stores I decided that was the route for me.  After doing weeks worth of research I was set to go with the Panasonic 42px500u.  The unit had all of the specs that I wanted: 42\\", cablecard, TV Guide, VGA input, PIP and media card slots. Then I read about the new Toshiba Plasmas that were coming out in August/September.  The Toshiba 42hp95 pretty much had the same specs as the Panasonic except for the name.  <br /> <br />I went to a local electronics store that had the TV and watched it side by side with the Panasonic 42px50u.  Both had clear black levels and an unbelievable picture.  Not finding the 500u in a retail store, I went with the Toshiba.  I have not regretted it at all.   <br /> <br />First what you should expect: bright clear picture.  HD of course looks incredible.  I do have digial cable and the digital channels look extremely well but surprisingly the SD channels look great! Setup was easy and within 10 minutes of hooking up the audio/video cables I was watching HD football.  <br /> <br />Probably the biggest surprise with this TV is the quality of the built in speakers.  The speakers create a pseudo-theater sound that I was not expecting.  <br /> <br />Bottom line is that this TV is great.  Toshiba obviously spent the time to come out with a quality set that should be recognized with the plasma kings Panasonic and Pioneer.