I am buying either a HDTV or HD display. Panasonic is the brand I will
purchase. A factor I like in buying the display is the solid black
frame as I think it is timeless. It is this unit:

http://www.visualapex.com/plasma/plasma_details.asp?chPartNumber=TH-42PH9UK&MFR=Panasonic

It should last me many years with the upgradable slots. I have the
sound system although a bit dated. (Denon AVR 1601} with Bose
satellites up front and nothing yet for the rear.

Panosonic also has a HDTV that is well thought of and sells at COSTCO
for a great price. It is Panasonic Model TH-42PX6U.

Is there a downside to buying the HD display instead of the HDTV? Any
other helpful comments on this purchase?

---

Request for Question Clarification by sublime1-ga on 17 Jul 2006 21:48 PDT

maluca...

As a former electronics tech and an experienced consumer, I've
learned that turning your setup into as many separate components
as possible is generally wiser. More than once I've had to dump
an integrated system with a working tuner, tape player and amp
because the CD player was beyond repair.

The same principle suggests that, although the TV's tuner may
never fail, if it does, and it's too costly or impossible to
repair (imagine a lightning strike frying it), it's possible
you'd have to toss the functional screen with the rest of the
system - it might be so expensive to repair the tuner that 
you'd have to pay the price of a new one.

While this may be far-fetched, combine that with the fact that
the display screen can be wall-mounted and that the separate
components are easier to move, and I'd favor the display screen.

Since this is an opinion more than a solid answer, I won't post
this as a formal answer until you have acknowledged that it 
satisfies your needs.

Let me know...

sublime1-ga

---

Clarification of Question by maluca-ga on 18 Jul 2006 18:52 PDT

For 10 bucks it works. But I would like some help as I proceed so
would you watch for a couple of more questions.

---

Clarification of Question by maluca-ga on 18 Jul 2006 18:53 PDT

The new questions will be separate from this one.

maluca...

Thanks for confirming my response as your answer. I'll repost it
here for the sake of future readers.

----------------------------------------------------------------

As a former electronics tech and an experienced consumer, I've
learned that turning your setup into as many separate components
as possible is generally wiser. More than once I've had to dump
an integrated system with a working tuner, tape player and amp
because the CD player was beyond repair.

The same principle suggests that, although the TV's tuner may
never fail, if it does, and it's too costly or impossible to
repair (imagine a lightning strike frying it), it's possible
you'd have to toss the functional screen with the rest of the
system - it might be so expensive to repair the tuner that 
you'd have to pay the price of a new one.

While this may be far-fetched, combine that with the fact that
the display screen can be wall-mounted and that the separate
components are easier to move, and I'd favor the display screen.


----------------------------------------------------------------

The comments by philnj-ga are additionally useful considerations.

I'll keep my eyes open for new questions. If you'd prefer that I
have first crack at them, just add "for sublime1-ga" in the title
of the question. If I don't feel I can address them adequately, I
can open the questions to the other researchers.

sublime1-ga

If you buy a display only, then you can hook up any tuner to it.  You
can get broadcast TV from several sources, cable, terrestrial (over
the air), satellite.  Each of these methods need a unique tuner. 
There are other sources where no tuner is required, Internet, DVD,
VHS, and others.

For the Panasonic TV you cite, the NTSC and ATSC tuners will only get
you terrestrial broadcasts.  The QAM may receive cable and satellite,
but it has no capability to descramble the channels, so some services
will not be available to you.

The 6U does not have a SD Card slot.  Upgrade to a 60U.  I know that
within Panasonic, there is a way to upgrade the software through the
SD memory card.  I assume that if a major software revision is
released, consumers will be able to upgrade.  Believe me there is a
tremendous amount of software in these babies.

Buy the display.