You don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand the appeal of Panasonic's TX-28DTX1. Just take in the fact that it's 28in in size and has a built-in digital tuner, then look at the £550 price.

Panasonic has also made sure that it looks much nicer than most of its bargain-basement brethren, courtesy of a slick deep-grey screen frame that boldly stands proud of the main light-silver TV chassis.

Things get more down to earth on the connections front. Our efforts only uncovered a duo of Scarts, the RF input, a stereo audio output, a slot for a CAM card (more on this in a moment) and a full set of front AV jacks. Still, while this hardly sets the pulse racing, it's par for the budget TV course.

Features are dominated by the built-in digital tuner, backed up by full interactivity and teletext compatibility, plus an Electronic Programme Guide. The set can also be upgraded for payTV services via the aforementioned CAM slot.

The EPG is disappointing in that, although it works with Freeview's new seven-day information system, it's very slow at compiling data and fails to keep a small version of the picture running while you look for programmes to watch.

Nor does it offer much genre searching flexibility. The one piece of good news here is that you can use it to set timer recordings in conjunction with a suitably sophisticated (ie, compatible with Panasonic's Q-Link system) VCR.

Now that the EPG has drawn our attention, it's also worth saying that the TX-28DTX1 is hardly Speedy Gonzales when accessing digital teletext, either.

Other features are predictably thin on the ground. This is a 50Hz TV with only fairly basic noise reduction and automatic contrast control to enhance it. On the audio side, meanwhile, there's just Dolby Virtual worth mentioning.

Clean pictures

Happily, the TX-28DTX1 moves up a gear with its picture. Its most likeable facet is its extreme cleanliness. The TV does a terrific job - seemingly without the aid of special processing - of suppressing the blockiness and shimmering that afflicts many Freeview broadcasts. Also, there's none of the basic graininess that many budget TVs suffer with.