Buying Opinions Needed

I am looking at purchasing a new HDTV and have settled on 2 different
options:

1) 55" Sony SXRD (KDS-55A3000): I had originally settled on this rear
projection for price and 1080P, but my company's parent company owns a
distributor that sells Pioneer, so I started looking at:

2) 50" Pioneer (PDP5080HD): This retails for about $3000-$3500, but I
can get it for $2300+tax. I really hadn't considered a Plasma because
of the cost, but this is in my price range. The "problem" is that it
is only 720p. I do like the picture at different viewing angles,
however.

Any opinions on these sets or the choice? And do I really care that
I'm only getting 720p, when I'm not in the market for a Blu-Ray or
HD-DVD player in the near future?

Thanks.

In article ,
kjw wrote:

I am looking at purchasing a new HDTV and have settled on 2 different
options:

1) 55" Sony SXRD (KDS-55A3000): I had originally settled on this rear
projection for price and 1080P, but my company's parent company owns a
distributor that sells Pioneer, so I started looking at:

2) 50" Pioneer (PDP5080HD): This retails for about $3000-$3500, but I
can get it for $2300+tax. I really hadn't considered a Plasma because
of the cost, but this is in my price range. The "problem" is that it
is only 720p. I do like the picture at different viewing angles,
however.

Any opinions on these sets or the choice? And do I really care that
I'm only getting 720p, when I'm not in the market for a Blu-Ray or
HD-DVD player in the near future?

Thanks.

If you're going to sit at 10' or better from a 50" TV, you most likely
wouldn't be able to see a difference between 1080i and 720p. Test it at
the store to see if you agree.

kjw wrote:
I am looking at purchasing a new HDTV and have settled on 2 different
options:

1) 55" Sony SXRD (KDS-55A3000): I had originally settled on this rear
projection for price and 1080P, but my company's parent company owns a
distributor that sells Pioneer, so I started looking at:

2) 50" Pioneer (PDP5080HD): This retails for about $3000-$3500, but I
can get it for $2300+tax. I really hadn't considered a Plasma because
of the cost, but this is in my price range. The "problem" is that it
is only 720p. I do like the picture at different viewing angles,
however.

Any opinions on these sets or the choice? And do I really care that
I'm only getting 720p, when I'm not in the market for a Blu-Ray or
HD-DVD player in the near future?

Thanks.

The 50" 5080 Pioneer is an excellent set and is argubly the best 50"
768p plasma available. The 2007 model year xx80 series Pioneers have the
best black level going for plasmas. The actual screen resolution is
1366x768p, not 720p, hence 768p. Don't get too hung up on 768p
resolution, because at 10' sitting distance and 50" screen size, you
will very hard pressed to see a difference between a 1080p and a 768p
display for movies, TV shows, and sports. HD-DVD or Blu-Ray will look
outstanding on it regardless of the 768p resolution, whenever you
finally settle on one. HD programming from free Over The Air (OTA),
cable or satellite will also look very good.

At $2300, I would take the 5080 Pioneer in a heartbeat. The 5080 also
comes with 4 HDMI ports, 2 component, a VGA port, and a
ATSC/QAM/cablecard tuner for a huge number of input options.

If you really want 1080p in a Pioneer plasma, the 1080p 50" 5010
Pioneer is just becoming available now, but has a stiff list price of $5000.

Alan F

The 50" 5080 Pioneer is an excellent set and is argubly the best 50"
768p plasma available. The 2007 model year xx80 series Pioneers have the
best black level going for plasmas. The actual screen resolution is
1366x768p, not 720p, hence 768p. Don't get too hung up on 768p
resolution, because at 10' sitting distance and 50" screen size, you
will very hard pressed to see a difference between a 1080p and a 768p
display for movies, TV shows, and sports. HD-DVD or Blu-Ray will look
outstanding on it regardless of the 768p resolution, whenever you
finally settle on one. HD programming from free Over The Air (OTA),
cable or satellite will also look very good.

At $2300, I would take the 5080 Pioneer in a heartbeat. The 5080 also
comes with 4 HDMI ports, 2 component, a VGA port, and a
ATSC/QAM/cablecard tuner for a huge number of input options.

If you really want 1080p in a Pioneer plasma, the 1080p 50" 5010
Pioneer is just becoming available now, but has a stiff list price of $5000.

Alan F





Thanks. You've pretty much given me that push off the fence towards
the Plasma. Just to muddy the waters even more, I can get that 5010FD
that you mentioned for about $3300+tax. I just start thinking of the
things that I can do with the extra $1000, though, and wonder if I
really would regret not getting the 5010FD.

kjw wrote:
The 50" 5080 Pioneer is an excellent set and is argubly the best 50"
768p plasma available. The 2007 model year xx80 series Pioneers have the
best black level going for plasmas. The actual screen resolution is
1366x768p, not 720p, hence 768p. Don't get too hung up on 768p
resolution, because at 10' sitting distance and 50" screen size, you
will very hard pressed to see a difference between a 1080p and a 768p
display for movies, TV shows, and sports. HD-DVD or Blu-Ray will look
outstanding on it regardless of the 768p resolution, whenever you
finally settle on one. HD programming from free Over The Air (OTA),
cable or satellite will also look very good.

At $2300, I would take the 5080 Pioneer in a heartbeat. The 5080 also
comes with 4 HDMI ports, 2 component, a VGA port, and a
ATSC/QAM/cablecard tuner for a huge number of input options.

If you really want 1080p in a Pioneer plasma, the 1080p 50" 5010
Pioneer is just becoming available now, but has a stiff list price of $5000.

Alan F





Thanks. You've pretty much given me that push off the fence towards
the Plasma. Just to muddy the waters even more, I can get that 5010FD
that you mentioned for about $3300+tax. I just start thinking of the
things that I can do with the extra $1000, though, and wonder if I
really would regret not getting the 5010FD.

Tough call. You have to weight whether that the TV is not really 1080p
is going to bug you down the road even if you have to sit 5' from the
screen to see a difference versus spreading the $1k over how many years
you plan to keep the TV. Also, the 1080p model will have the bigger
price drops over the next year as they close the gap between 768p and
1080p models. A year ago at this time, the brand new Pioneer 50" 1080p
Pro-FHD1 monitor started out at a cool $10K list, so there is already a
huge price drop for the 1080p model.

Can't help you much with this decision except to say that both
Pioneers are excellent plasmas and are better than the 2006 models.

Alan F

Can't help you much with this decision except to say that both
Pioneers are excellent plasmas and are better than the 2006 models.

Alan F


Again, thanks for the opinions, as they were exactly what I was hoping
for. I've downloaded both datasheets from Pioneer and aside from the
1080P, I see very little (if any) feature difference. I think I'm
going to take follow your opinion that I really won't see a difference
between the two and save the $1,000.