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can't believe it's just 2 yrs since i got my 50" Panny Plasma 720p for $1700.

and a year ago i got my 50" Samsung Plasma 720p for $1900.

and look now. you can get a 1080p 46" for only $1000.

with the bad recession, i wonder if these TVs will hit $499 for a 46" or a 50".

I'll wait until the 1080p 52" are this price..

Good call Ralphie.

whoever is buying this, just know that pioneer is getting out of the plasma-making business and have agreed on a deal with panny for panny to make the plasma screens from now on. it's going to be a joint adventure. FYI, whatever model they have out now will most likely be discontinued next year as the two company will probably have only a set of models coming out. just beware of what you're buying into with the plasma screens.

That's also why you're seeing all the Pioneer Kuro's on sale now. They are the best plasma money can buy, but it's too bad Pioneer won't make them anymore.

I have this, but got it for $100 less last week. Beautiful TV with a reasonable array of options for tuning and setup.

Paired it with the Harmony 550 IR remote, which has been great, but isn't listed on the BestBuy site.

Anyway, the picture is wonderful even with standard-def DVDs, and pretty good with broadcast TV. The image isn't as bright as with LCD due to different technologies, but It's plenty bright for daytime viewing, and the colors are amazing. I can't comment on the sound since I'm using a surround system and have the internal speakers shut off.

Overall, I'm very happy with this set and look forward to getting a blu-ray DVD player and HD feed from my satellite provider.

go lcd.

Pioneer has started getting their plasma screens from Panasonic, that's all there is to it, they still make the rest of their plasma TVs. The two companies are NOT merging and Panasonic will NOT only have one model next year.

Panasonic is building a new plant for manufactering TVs and are supposed to produce plasmas that will have half the power consumption of current models when the plant opens later this year. They are DEFINITELY not getting out of plasma or scaling back construction of plasma TVs.

yea i agree.. ill wait until the 52 inchers are going for 1k or less

While you're waiting I'll be enjoying every minute of watching my 50" Panny plasma. BTW they don't make a 52" plasma.

For anyone thinking Panasonic is scaling back plasmas, they expect to sell 50% more TVs next year than they did this year.

keep in mind that the actual screen may be same due to the same manufacturing plant, but Pioneer had said that they will still be making their own electronics that accompany the panels. Whether or not that makes a difference in performance, it remains to be seen. but it is a worthwhile fact to note for future.

nikko are you some paid plasma shill? went to best buy and compared the panny plasmas to the samsung/lg/sony lcds...overall picture for my eyes goes to LCDs..the bright crispness won me over. Do you really thing plasmas are that much better? People say their black levels are better but who cares if the colors/whites are not as bright and crisp.

You're looking in a well lit showroom. Get those LCDs in a dark room and all the flaws of LCD will be easily seen.

Bright rooms are better suited for LCD. Dark rooms are better suited for plasma.

Plasmas, while not as bright, have much better color fidelity and contrast. Brighter is not always better, especially if you have a controlled viewing environment. If your TV will be in a bright area, your eyes won't be able to see minute differences in saturation and contrast because they are being overwhelmed by the environmental light. So, go with LCD in that case.

Most graphic designers work in areas with subdued lighting, neutral colors, and they turn down the brightness of the monitors to get truer image on screen (and yes - they are using LCDs in most cases, currently). Since most of my movie watching happens in the evening, and the room never gets too bright anyway, plasma is the best choice.

#14 knows what he's talking about.

Do yourself a favor and instead of going to BestBuy or Costco or some other overlite showroom, go to a place like Video Only (West Coast) or Magnolia A/V (West coast too). Have the guy do a demo on one there home theater setups with a Blu-Ray or DVD movie and play it in an LCD and a Plasma and compare. There is not doubt.

Some LCD's are good like the Sony Model but you pay almost 60-70% but equal quality. Otherwise, stick with Plasma. New Generation Plasma's are much lower in energy consumption (this one is energy star compliant) and have resolved image retention issues.

Btw, Costco used to sell a very similar model (same panel) minus I believe an HDMI slot for maybe $100 less. Warranty would be better with Costco. Not sure if they still carry it. Doesn't seem to be on their website anymore

There's a catch: They apparently don't have very many of these in the country. None in my state, won't even deliver. None on the east coast, really (I tried New York, Virgina, NC, Florida, none in stock, they won't deliver.) I typed in a few other random states, and the only place you can get one is Omaha, Nebraska

Probably a clearance of last years model in anticipation for the new years model. Still a great TV if you can find it.

Plasma won't display white, only gray. That's why they have deeper blacks. Decide if you want white or depper black an dget an LCD or Plasma as appropriate.