Hitachi 42PD8700 42 in. TV

product was great although i found the auction misleading it stated that it was new under discription when in fact it was not new just in a newish condition, my remote was worn for a start and the tv had a very small mark on it, i think it wa probably a factory return.

This is our 2nd 42" plasma TV.

Our 42" Goodmans non-HD set finally gave up the ghost after 5 years. Rather than repair, I looked on Ebay for a low cost replacement. This model is a 1080i HD ready set with built in freeview.

Where I live, in March 2008, we can as yet only receive Sky and "Council Telly" (Analogue). Within an hour, I managed to get on our universal wall bracket and switch it on. Another half hour got me through the tuning process and all is setup until Freeview arrives in early 2009.

This is clearly a second user reconditioned set, which I expected for under £500. It is however in a good clean condition including remote control and instruction booklet. At present, I only have a standard Sky+ subscription so I can't comment on High Definition output but even in Standard Definition the picture is clear and sharp with no Ghosting or that effect that makes poeples faces in close-up look like they're wearing loads of makeup. The sound seems adequate with a fair amount of alternative outputs. There are 2 RGB Scart inputs plus an Aerial and HD input. Although this won't be important soon, the Analogue teletext memory is good.

The only slight disappointment that I've noticed is that there are very few options when scrolling through the aspect ratios. There is no option of watching a 4:3 presentation in a 4:3 window and there doesn't appear to be a user zoom facility. It does, however, seem to have a pretty good auto zoom which picks up the 14:10 presentations on UKTV type channels, which would normally sit in a 4:3 window with a small black bar on top and bottom. With this it zoom in a bit to remove the top & bottom bars and stretches the edges to fill the screen.

Overall, very impressed. I just hope it lasts!

Lot's of Connections and super high quality picture. Very very satisfied with it. Recommended to everyone who wants a good plasma TV.

the only two things which i can say anything bad about is the placment of the inputs at the back (really hard to get the cables in) and the fact that it only has one HDMI port but with a hub this issue is quikly sored! the picture when playing single online Halo is unbelivable! what i have written so far isnt with the price in mind, i would have payed £1000 and still written the same review but the fact it was £450 just makes it amazing 9.8/10