Best bet for 50 inch TV

During a home rennovation project apparently one (or two) of the works
liked the looks of my Sony 42 inch plasma tv, bought two years ago for
over $5000. I'm in the market for a new TV and am thinking I will move
up to a 50 inch model, which will go perfectly in the space in the new
room addition.

I want HDTV. I'm open to plasma or lcd.
A lot has changed since I bought 2 years ago, and I need some advice.

I'm looking at the Pioneer PDP 5070HD and the Panasonic TH-50PX600 and
especially like the looks of the Pioneer.

I'm willing to go over $3000 but not over $4,000.
What is your best advice for this size TV?

Thanks,
Don

I meant to write: one (or two) of the workers ... they or someone stole
the TV!

Sorry to hear about the theft. Hope you have insurance that will cover
it to some extent.

As for the TV, the Pioneer 5070 and the Panasonic TH-50PX600 (as well
as the 50PX60) are considered to be among the best plasmas around. If I
were in the market today (got a Panasonic TH-42PHD7UY commercial plasma
close to 2 years ago), I would be very tempted to get the Pioneer 50".
Pioneer with the xx60 models that came out last year improved their
black levels very close to that of the Panasonic plasmas and more
features. Much better looking set with the black frame as well. But
either the Pioneer or the Panasonic plasma would be a good buy,
especially after the recent round of MSRP cuts of $400 to $500 for both
plasma line-ups.

Alan F



wrote:

During a home rennovation project apparently one (or two) of the works
liked the looks of my Sony 42 inch plasma tv, bought two years ago for
over $5000. I'm in the market for a new TV and am thinking I will move
up to a 50 inch model, which will go perfectly in the space in the new
room addition.

I want HDTV. I'm open to plasma or lcd.
A lot has changed since I bought 2 years ago, and I need some advice.

I'm looking at the Pioneer PDP 5070HD and the Panasonic TH-50PX600 and
especially like the looks of the Pioneer.

I'm willing to go over $3000 but not over $4,000.
What is your best advice for this size TV?

Thanks,
Don

On 10/21/2006 10:29 AM, wrote:
During a home rennovation project apparently one (or two) of the works
liked the looks of my Sony 42 inch plasma tv, bought two years ago for
over $5000. I'm in the market for a new TV and am thinking I will move
up to a 50 inch model, which will go perfectly in the space in the new
room addition.

I want HDTV. I'm open to plasma or lcd.
A lot has changed since I bought 2 years ago, and I need some advice.

I'm looking at the Pioneer PDP 5070HD and the Panasonic TH-50PX600 and
especially like the looks of the Pioneer.

I'm willing to go over $3000 but not over $4,000.
What is your best advice for this size TV?

Thanks,
Don

I just got a Samsung HP-S5073 after lots of reading and research. Great
picture and features at a great price.

Bernie

My 50" Panasonic plasma that I bought last year has been a great set. The
new Pioneers are probably comparable in picture quality.

I'd probably pick based on # and type of inputs and outputs, particularly
HDMI.

--
Dan

"Almost all the matter that came out of the Big Bang was two specific sorts;
hydrogen, and stupidity."

-Robert Carnegie in talk.origins

wrote:
During a home rennovation project apparently one (or two) of the works
liked the looks of my Sony 42 inch plasma tv, bought two years ago for
over $5000. I'm in the market for a new TV and am thinking I will move
up to a 50 inch model, which will go perfectly in the space in the new
room addition.

I want HDTV. I'm open to plasma or lcd.
A lot has changed since I bought 2 years ago, and I need some advice.

I'm looking at the Pioneer PDP 5070HD and the Panasonic TH-50PX600 and
especially like the looks of the Pioneer.

I still haven't bought my TV set, but have been doing some informal
research -- among other things, I brought a DVD that I recorded with
material that I like and watch often, to play it in several TV sets;
the Panasonic (series X60) looked by far the most impressive among
the ones I tried. The guy at the store (someone I know personally,
so I can more or less trust that is not just telling me what I want
to hear so long as I buy what he wants to sell me) suggested that it
was not only me, that those Panasonics were considered among the
best of the best.

Now, I didn't play my DVD on any Pioneer -- I found them too expensive
comparatively, so I wasn't even considering them.

The X600 series is presumably superior, but I'm not sure how it would
compare to the Pioneer model you saw.

Perhaps the best thing you could do is: bring a DVD of your favourite
material (say, your all-time favourite movie, or the movie with the
best photography as per your taste) and watch it on both sets. That's
the best possible way to decide, I think.

HTH,

Carlos
--

I've had RP CRT HD TV for about six years or so. I bought my Panasonic
50PX60 about 3 months ago, and it still blows me away.
The Panny has selectable filtering that greatly improves poor quality
standard def. programs. I'm very pleased with this purchase.

wrote in message
oups.com...
During a home rennovation project apparently one (or two) of the works
liked the looks of my Sony 42 inch plasma tv, bought two years ago for
over $5000. I'm in the market for a new TV and am thinking I will move
up to a 50 inch model, which will go perfectly in the space in the new
room addition.

I want HDTV. I'm open to plasma or lcd.
A lot has changed since I bought 2 years ago, and I need some advice.

I'm looking at the Pioneer PDP 5070HD and the Panasonic TH-50PX600 and
especially like the looks of the Pioneer.

I'm willing to go over $3000 but not over $4,000.
What is your best advice for this size TV?

Thanks,
Don

insurance, I have a $1,000 deductible and will probably have to put
out 1 or 2k to get a comparable set.
My contractor offered to go to his insurance company as well, but my
agent is dubious as to whether they will ever pay out.
The police seemed unconcerned with anything except filing a report for
my insurance purposes. This was not a CSI investigation for sure.

Regarding price: at Best Buy online I'm seeing about $900 difference
between the Pioneer PDP-5071HD and Panasonic TH-50PX60U 50inch
plasmas. It seems the major difference in features is the PIP, which I
don't use.
I find the look of the Pioneer, the shiny black frame, very appealing.
I honestly can't tell a lot of difference in the picture quality, but
my observations have been pretty casual I admit.

I'm finding much lower prices on the Pioneer through some online
vendors. But do you think it is safe to order online and have a big TV
like that shipped to your door? I have had mixed experiences ordering
electronic equipment that way. The best price I found was from
TriState Camera, which seems to be well rated:
http://www.tristatecamera.com/lookat...u=PIOPDP5070HD
They sell the Panaxonic for about $2400 by the way.

thanks for all your helpful and informed advice,
Don

wrote:
insurance, I have a $1,000 deductible and will probably have to put
out 1 or 2k to get a comparable set.
My contractor offered to go to his insurance company as well, but my
agent is dubious as to whether they will ever pay out.
The police seemed unconcerned with anything except filing a report for
my insurance purposes. This was not a CSI investigation for sure.

Regarding price: at Best Buy online I'm seeing about $900 difference
between the Pioneer PDP-5071HD and Panasonic TH-50PX60U 50inch
plasmas. It seems the major difference in features is the PIP, which I
don't use.
I find the look of the Pioneer, the shiny black frame, very appealing.
I honestly can't tell a lot of difference in the picture quality, but
my observations have been pretty casual I admit.

I'm finding much lower prices on the Pioneer through some online
vendors. But do you think it is safe to order online and have a big TV
like that shipped to your door? I have had mixed experiences ordering
electronic equipment that way. The best price I found was from
TriState Camera, which seems to be well rated:
http://www.tristatecamera.com/lookat...u=PIOPDP5070HD
They sell the Panaxonic for about $2400 by the way.

thanks for all your helpful and informed advice,
Don

The MSRP difference between the Pioneer PDP-5070 (5071 is the Best Buy
version) and the Panasonic TH-50PX60U is currently $900, so the discount
prices track that. The difference is smaller for the Panasonic
TH-50PX600U which is $500 more and has more features (better speakers,
cable card). As for selecting the Pioneer, you are in the same boat as
many others in that the all black frame looks much better than the
Panny. But there are differences in the details of the features between
the 2 brands.

You can buy on-line, but you need to be very careful. Plasmas are
somewhat fragile and you want to make sure that the vendor has a clear
policy on replacing your unit if it shows up with a cracked screen. You
should also not sign for the delivery until you have opened the box and
done a visual inspection of the glass for cracks. You will have to keep
the delivery guys waiting. It is also a good idea to note on the
delivery form near the signature that you accept delivery but have only
performed a quick visual inspection of the item.

If you really want to research opinions on Panasonic vs Pioneers (vs
LCD flat panels and other plasmas), go to
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/ and click on the Plasma & Flat Panel
Display forum. It is very active these days, so it can take a while to
sort through all the threads. Other forums there are very useful for
finding out about Over the Air HD reception, HDTV programming, and local
city/region threads for your area.

Alan F

On 10/23/2006 6:53 AM, wrote:
insurance, I have a $1,000 deductible and will probably have to put
out 1 or 2k to get a comparable set.
My contractor offered to go to his insurance company as well, but my
agent is dubious as to whether they will ever pay out.
The police seemed unconcerned with anything except filing a report for
my insurance purposes. This was not a CSI investigation for sure.

Regarding price: at Best Buy online I'm seeing about $900 difference
between the Pioneer PDP-5071HD and Panasonic TH-50PX60U 50inch
plasmas. It seems the major difference in features is the PIP, which I
don't use.
I find the look of the Pioneer, the shiny black frame, very appealing.
I honestly can't tell a lot of difference in the picture quality, but
my observations have been pretty casual I admit.

I'm finding much lower prices on the Pioneer through some online
vendors. But do you think it is safe to order online and have a big TV
like that shipped to your door? I have had mixed experiences ordering
electronic equipment that way. The best price I found was from
TriState Camera, which seems to be well rated:
http://www.tristatecamera.com/lookat...u=PIOPDP5070HD
They sell the Panaxonic for about $2400 by the way.

thanks for all your helpful and informed advice,
Don

You should check out the Samsung plasmas too while you're checking.
Both at the stores and on the AVS forums. The HP-S5073 (and 5053) have
the shiny black frames that you (and I) like. The 5073 also has a
non-glare screen.

I was dubious about ordering online, but I saw good reports about
Vann's, and their price was very good too. They shipped my 5073 the day
they got the order and estimated it would be here in 8 days. It was
here on the fourth day. I'm very pleased with both the tv and with Vann's.

Bernie