Norcent PT-425 42-Inch Plasma Flat-Panel HDTV-Ready TV
Good, but with flaws
I would have given this 3.5 stars, but I give 5 to balance out the review from &quot;Laura&quot; who apparently works for a competitor of Norcent.<br />Norcent seems to be a manufacturer owned by a large Taiwanese OEM but operating out of China.  (Don't quote me on this.)  They sell some very good DVD players, which have a huge fan base across the world.  I own one such DVD player and have been very happy.  Which led me to check out their plasma offering.  The exterior design of the plasma TV is quite attractive, but you can tell that the overall build quality is not as refined as units from the Japanese manufacturers (Sony, Fujitsu, Toshiba, Panasonic, JVC, etc.).  But not bad when compared to a South Korean brand (Zenith or Samsung).  So if you are already thinking of a &quot;cheap&quot; unit from Korea, this Taiwanese/Chinese model will save you money and give you the same quality.<br />Picture wise, it's bright, but not as sharp as the standard bearers from Fujitsu, which arguably makes the best plasma screens on the market today.  I see some blocks of pixelation which is usually associated with LCD screens.  Response time seems ok.  Setup was a bit confusing and you might want to hire a professional.  (Note: many plasma TVs require tune-up, and like the Norcent, the user's guides are usually inadequate.)<br />This is HDTV-ready, like all other plasma TVs on the market today, which means you'll need an HDTV decoder to get HDTV broadcast.  If you do get an HDTV decoder, get a quality one from Sony or Panasonic or JVC.  I recently saw a no-name one and also a Samsung one at Circuit City selling for cheap, but the salesperson said they were terrible because they couldn't even decode a lot of information.  So stick with a name-brand like Sony.  You get what you pay for.<br />So this is a good plasma TV for the price, especially if you know how to work around plasmas.  For my money I'd get a Fujitsu for the top-notch picture quality.  I think I'll wait for the Xmas season to see if the Fujitsu's price comes down.eason to see if the Fujitsu's price comes down.