I wanted to give thanks to everyone who gave there two cents about my tv situation. I recently sold my Sony 40" xbr2, and picked up the last Pioneer 5080 I could find in several states. I was pretty nervous about selling the XBR because I loved it, so much. However that changed once I seen the Pioneer 4280 playing an hd dvd. Anyways once I got the set I unpacked it, let it warm up and later on got it hooked up. I checked it out , no dead pixels, no buzz ( not even a hum), and everything worked great. I didnt know how going up in size ten inches, and down in resolution would work for me. I can honestly say Im way more happy with the 720p pioneer than the 1080p xbr. The black levels are insane, movies look as good as I could imagine. I have a pretty descent collection of blu-ray movies, and can say they look way better on the pioneer. By the way thanks to D-Nice as well, the break in dvd works great, and I love the reference settings. To anyone uncertain about plasma, the picture is insane, and I can tell you after 6 hours straight of cod4 yesterday I had no hint of burn in or IR. Thanks again to everyone.

BTW if you can get your hands on the Pioneer Kuro 2007 Demo disk, its a great way to show off the crazy picture the Pioneer plasma offers. Not only black scenes, movie trailors, and high res clips, but it also has Pioneers benchmark testing videos / images. I got the blu ray from my pioneer rep and its great. Thanks again to everyone.

Are you able to rip this Pioneer Kuro 2007 Demo disk or know where i might be able to find it?

Do you mind if I ask where you got your 5080? I've only found three dealers that still have them. Amazon is one of them, and they ship from 6 ave. I just hope I can snag one before they're all gone, because I don't want to spend more than about 2400 on a set, so that I can afford a new sound system to go with the 5080. But my disability check won't start for another 2 months, so might be SOL on getting a 5080. Hopefully the wife will approve of me buying the 5010 if the 80's are gone lol Anyway, congrats on the 5080. I hope I can go through the same experience as you did, soon.

Do you mind if I ask where you got your 5080? I've only found three dealers that still have them. Amazon is one of them, and they ship from 6 ave. I just hope I can snag one before they're all gone, because I don't want to spend more than about 2400 on a set, so that I can afford a new sound system to go with the 5080. But my disability check won't start for another 2 months, so might be SOL on getting a 5080. Hopefully the wife will approve of me buying the 5010 if the 80's are gone lol Anyway, congrats on the 5080. I hope I can go through the same experience as you did, soon.

For that amount have you been by a Tweeter/SoundAdvice (or even other places) to see what the 1150HD's are going for? You may want to take a look. Also, regarding 5080's.... Best Buy's website may not have them when you check stock but you may want to go into a store and see if they can still get them. They keep inventory in warehouse/distribution centers that feed larger areas. The BB warehouse I had been in contact with in FL recently still had some even though the stores all show up online as not having any. Just a thought. Finally, forum sponsor Invision Displays (very well respected) shows they have the 5080 on their front page.

Thanks sma, but I called Invision yesterday only to find out that they sold the last one, the night before. I saw the 5080 at best buy a couple of days ago. I'll check out Tweeter as well for the 1150. That's the elite version of the 5080 right? Thanks for the tip.

I just called tweeter today and the elite 1150HD is cheap, cheap, cheap. There are no more Tweters in CA, so I got my local shop to match the price and picked one up today :)

Dave

Buko,
Do you like playing COD4 better on your 5080 than your Sony lcd?
I have a 5080 and I must say, I enjoyed Gaming as well as BLu-ray/HD-DVD a little better on my KDL52XBR4. But when it comes to cable HD and Standard def. I enjoy the pioneer more.
In alot of circumstances I preferr the XBR4 over the 5080 and vice versa. The blacks are better on the 5080 but in alot of circumstances the XBR4's blacks were very good.
I am not sure why gaming seems to look better on the Sony LCD's to me. I guess it because the xbr4 has a little more "POP" to it when it comes to bright levels. But the Kuro destroys it in black levels. .

Well I actually work for best buy, so I was able to search for the closest store with a 5080, which all were out in Michigan except for Lansing. I drove an hour and a half to go get it. As far as the gaming , COD 4 looks amazing on the pioneer, I would not go back to my xbr 2. I sit fairly close while playing, im usually in a chair about 3-4 ft from the screen, For everything else 10ft.