As promised here's my un-professional review of the LG 42PG20....take note, I am a very un-techy person.
LOOKS
KEY TECH DETAILS (Taken from LG Site, although lacking ito)
AV Mode
Clear Voice Technology
Invisible Speaker System
Advanced Connectivity Fluid Motion (180 Hz Effect)
Dual XD Engine™
Technology LG SimpLink™ Connectivity
720p Native HD Resolution
3x HDMI 1.3
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I like the Piano Black glossy exterior on this one - it extends practically all the way around the unit, unlike its main competitor (price and feature wise), the PV80 (from what I saw, it only covers half of the unit). As you can see on the picture above, there's a half moon LED indicator on the bottom right, which is the manual on/off switch. Glows Red when off, Green when on. Convenient when I can't find where I placed the remote and am in a hurry to leave the room
As with practically all Plasmas, much better watching than on LCD's when it comes to normal cable TV connections - motion is a lot more fluid, and has that "softer look" to it. Watching the NBA playoffs is is definitely better on a Plasma. I've mounted it in a room where its easy to black out, so the brightness is something I haven't considered
When hooked up to my PS3 via HDMI, Blu Ray movies and PS3 games are crisp - to my untrained eye, I can't see the difference in watching/playing from my Full HD 40 Sammy LCD, or my HD ready 37 Sammy LCD. When hooked up to a normal (not upscaling) DVD player, the difference between them is negligible as well.
For the past week or so, haven't noticed any "burn" or "green/ghost images" - even when watching for over 4 hours straight HBO or playing PS3 games. I even brought my wife in to look, but she can't spot any either. Probably have to stress test it for 8 hours straight...
What I like best about the TV is the user interface (both remote and manual) - its a breeze navigating around, be it setting the AV mode (Cinema, Sports, Game, etc) to adjusting the contrast, colors, sound modes, etc. My experience with Sammys is that I have a hard time adjusting even the simplest things - although my friend loves tinkering around with my Sammy TV's to give me the best pic
. With the LG, its a lot more user friendly for the novice. I was even able to program the cable channels in a relatively short time, unlike the Sammys, which I had to call in a service unit from Samsung for them to do.
Manually, its a lot easier as well - there are hidden buttons on the side and bottom of the unit, with their function clearly labelled. Also, the TV doesn't accidentally turn on when the helper cleans it, as often happens with the Sammys (they have a great touch on/off on the side of the tv).
Audio wise, the "clear voice" feature is great - especially when watching British films where the accents are hard to follow. However, I notice there is a tendency for the unit (speakers) to vibrate when on high volume setting (50's) and there are explosions in the movie/game I'm watching - dunno if this is because it's wall mounted (unlike my other units, which I placed on stands) or a natural defect of the design of LG's.
Haven't hooked it up to my PC so I can't speak about this...
In Summary - great TV for those technophobes or technically challenged people who want a nice starter unit out of the box. Probably won't satisfy the real techy guys, since I can't seem to find the degree of customization my friend tinkers with on Sammy's.
