Sanyo PDP42XS1 plasma television review: Sanyo PDP42XS1 plasma television
Sanyo's latest plasma offering, the 42-inch PDP42XS1, just sneaks under the AU$3000 mark and should tempt those looking for a bargain.
Design
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
All of the Sanyo's connectors are arrayed at the back of the unit, which in itself is unusual as most other televisions have at least one set of connectors on the side or front of the television for easy access. The rear connectors are arrayed logically, and face downwards (meaning input cables are plugged in vertically instead of jutting out horizontally from the set). This makes it easier to wall mount the set, although on the flip side it does make it more difficult to switch cables around as you'll have to crane your head on the underside of the television to see which input is which.
While the Sanyo does have a relatively discreet profile (being under 8cm thick, without the stand), the overall impression one receives is that the set looks rather large for a 42-inch television. There's a thick 6cm gap between the screen edge and top and bottom of the television, while there's 16cm between the screen edge and the set's sides (with the speakers attached). The Sanyo's remote control is also rather bulky, as well as looking decidedly more plastic than the television itself. The remote's buttons are not backlit, although it does feature a nifty four way joystick in its bottom half for easy navigation through menus.
Features
The Sanyo's list of inputs is a mixed bag. At the back you'll find one component, one S-Video, one composite, a VGA, two Scarts and one HDMI. The HDMI is a plus, particularly for a set at this price level, but we would have preferred to see one of those Scarts turned into the more commonly found component input instead. The Sanyo also lacks something several new flat screen televisions feature - a memory card slot of some sort to be able to display pictures and video directly on screen.
The Sanyo plasma's detachable speakers have to manually be plugged into the set - consumers are given two lengths of ugly copper speaker cable to do this. The lengths of cable supplied is quite long, so if you plan of having the speakers connected to the television itself you'll have to find some way to hide the cables discreetly behind the television.
Performance
Television is also well reproduced. We plugged in a HD tuner into the Sanyo and found the images to be clear, particularly when it came to presenting natural looking flesh-tones. As we mentioned earlier, however, switching from SD to HD signals produced little visual improvement. Sure, the image quality at HD was slightly improved, but it wasn't enough to make us recommend a HD tuner as an accessory with this Sanyo.
We did, however, encounter some minor problems with the picture. Image sharpness could be a little indistinct at times, with some noticeable jaggedness to lines and edges (particularly on diagonal shapes, which could be put down to the Sanyo's relatively low pixel count). Colour at times could also appear oversaturated and splotchy. The Papa Midnight nightclub scene in Constantine - which contains plenty of deep reds - showed up with plenty of noise.
But for a sub AU$3000 set, the Sanyo delivers decent overall performance that only serious videophiles will find fault with. It's in a tough position, however, as there are plenty of other plasmas that offer better specifications which, despite their officially higher RRPs, can be found discounted at around the AU$3000 mark at many retail outlets.