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The Pioneer Kuro’s release earlier this year signalled a new level of HD television quality for plasma TV sets…nevertheless, the PDP-6020FD is not without it’s faults and boy does it have a few of those.

The first you’ll notice when you switch the PDP-6020FD television on is the deepness of the blacks. This is no washed-out effort plasma television, this is midnight-black at its darkest level.

The next thing that will catch your eye is the size of the thing, even though the Pioneer KURO PDP-6020FD is a 60 inch monster, it’s pretty slim as big televisions go and even your grandmother could carry it around if she had to.

On the downside, there is no Cable Card Slot, one of the four HDMI slots is at the side rather being more conveniently placed at the back along with the rest and getting the settings for analogue and digital channels right on the Pioneer KURO PDP-6020FD takes some considerable fiddling and is not as intuitive as it could be.

Saying that, Pioneer KURO PDP-6020FD is almost (and we use that word with emphasis here) a contender for the SONY Bravia series despite being plasma rather than LCD. I would even put it on par with the Samsung ln46a650 in terms of the quality of the build.

If you like your HD Televisions, big, thin and amazing, you could do worse then checking the Pioneer KURO PDP-6020FD out….

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The GV-MACTV is currently only available in Japan. Yes, I thought I would get that sentence out of the way to dash your hopes early. This digital television tuner is attached to your Apple MAC via USB and controlled via the Apple remote to give you true fuss-free digital television on your desktop.

The Mac TV, or to give it its full name, GV-MACTV from IO-DATA, is much like a digital set-top-box for your MAC and comes with a B-CAS slot card (B-CAS being the Japanese standard for encrypted broadcast trasnmission).

There are other ways for getting digital television on your Macintosh but IO-DATA has made the GV-MACTV the easiest by far. Heads up for when it hits the US and European Markets….

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Mobile TV is not a new thing and I remember when I had my Nokia N70 I signed up to a subscription service that allowed me to watch around about 15 channels (didn’t renew as the service wasn’t great or reliable).

AT&T have now launched what we hope will be a much better service for your cell phone and actually has some new episodes of half-decent shows like CSI:NY, CNN and our favourite here at GadgetHeat, Spongebob Square Pants. Read the full story

Everybody likes a list so we at HDTV Reviews came up with one. A few years ago if I told you HDTV’s would be under £500 you would have laughed in my face and asked me what I was smoking (ahem) but these days you can get some pretty nifty deals without blowing a hole in your pocket. If you’re looking for a second television or a HDTV dedicated to your games console, spending more than £500 is a bit excessive unless you really have money to spare.

We’ve put together a list of the top 5 HDTV’s for around the £400 - £500 that are definitely worth checking out.

1. Sony KDL32S3000

No surprises as to our number 1 the Sony KDL32S3000. This is a decent sized 32 incher and the SONY quality runs through this like a river. You get 3 HDMI ports plus the Bravia engine technology, what more could you want?

2. Samsung LE32R87BD

This could have easily been a SONY dominated list but we couldn’t over look the Samsung LE32R87BD. The winning feature of this set is the ‘game mode’ which makes all us Ps3 and Xbox 360 addicts extremely grateful

3. Toshiba 32C3035

This was the amongst the first Toshiba we reviewed and so far it has proved to be the best. Easy setup straight out the box, great picture and it also has a slick design that makes it stand out from the normal HDTV crowd.

4. Sony KDL32D3000

This is the bigger brother of the S series. More ounce to the bounce but slightly more expensive. If you’re not happy with the S series for any reason (and you got to be one tough customer not to be) the Sony KDL32D3000 would be a step up in the right direction.

5. Philips 26PFL5522D

We haven’t yet reviewed a Phillips at HDTV Reviews but this is definitely on our list. At 26 inches it is smaller than the other televisions on this list but it’s great value for money and looks fantastic both picture wise and aesthetically. It could do with a few more settings and options in terms of getting the picture just right so it won’t be making it any further up this list.

Toshiba 37X3030

We have a few bees in our bonnet here at GadgetHeat, one of them being the motion blurring on many HDTV’s on the market and the attitude of many manufactures seems to be one of ‘put up and shut up’ (unlike the near flawless Samsung LN46A650).

This is evident from the start in the Toshiba 37X3030. Although Toshiba claim that it has a 24fps (Frames Per Second) capability (which would effectively eliminate motion blurring) the Toshiba 37X3030 cannot actually do anything much with it as it is not fully 24fps compatible. Confused? We know we are….

What is the point of having a feature that is not fully implemented? What this means in effect is that in action sequences or in any panning shots we get the dreaded HDTV blur that makes you yearn for your old CRT monitor. Watching sports in standard definition on the Toshiba 37X3030 is a struggle because of the speed of motion so you will have to sit a reasonable distance away from the set to be able to tolerate it.

Another gripe is the fact that you cannot input 1080i/p through VGA on the Toshiba 37X3030. You have to use HDMI or component. You may see this as a small problem as all Blu-Ray and HD DVD players these days have HDMI connectors / slots but if you have a Xbox 360 (non-Elite) be warned that you will have to use component to get the HD experience on some games.

On the plus side (yes there are some pluses) watching up-scaled DVD’s or HD DVD / Blu-Ray on the Toshiba 37X3030 is amazing. You will have to adjust the settings to suit your room and viewing distance but once that is done you should get the full 1080p benefit from this HDTV.

The Toshiba 37X3030 is a classy looking television set and the piano black finish makes it stand out somewhat from the usual HDTV crowd. It’s not a dust magnet either in particular.

For the price (around £600 - 700) the Toshiba 37X3030 is pretty good for a Full HD (1080p) television and if you have Sky HD and the such you won’t be disappointed - just make allowances for some pixilation when it comes to fast moving images.