Well since I don't game much anymore the wife and I settled on a plasma set. Specificially we bought the Pannasonic TH-42PZ80U. The PQ looked good from we saw in stores, so i picked it up through an employee purchase program. Decent price, made me happy.

Is there anything I should be looking out for with this TV? I know about IR and Burn In, not looking forward to wasting 100 hrs just to break it in but oh well.

The next upgrade will be to a Blu Ray player, kind of excited about that as well. TV should be delivered on Friday, then it goes into a moving truck on Saturday. Maybe Tuesday of next week I'll get to set it up. lol.

.....we bought the Pannasonic TH-42PZ80U. Is there anything I should be looking out for with this TV? I know about IR and Burn In, not looking forward to wasting 100 hrs just to break it in but oh well.Aside from maybe being careful about displaying black bars and logos and tickers on the screen during the first 100-200 hours, there isn't really anything else you need to do - just watch the TV and enjoy it and don't obsess about it. You don't even need to dial the settings down like so many people say to do; just adjust it to your liking and watch it normally. You'll probably find yourself fiddling with the picture adjustments for the first few weeks.

The screen is easily damaged and the glossy bezel is easily scratched, so be aware of that and don't let anything touch the TV, and don't let anyone else clean the screen (some cleaning ladies have ruined their master's plasmas by cleaning the screen the wrong way, or wiping the bezel and scratching it). A swiffer works well on the glossy bezel, and a microfiber cloth sprayed lightly with distilled water works well on the screen (wipe lightly so as not to damage the coating).

I've found my 11G Panasonic to be rock solid in all areas including IR.....I would just treat it like a TV (:eek:) seriously..;)

Thanks for the reply's. It should be here tomorrow. Looking forward to setting it up next week.

Thought of a question. Is it best to watch this with programming formatted for 16:9 for the first 100hrs or so? I ask because I can kill that with movies easily, but I'd rather not risk SD programming at first if its not in the right aspect ratio. Thanks.

You can watch any type of programming. If it is not 16:9 then use the just button on the panasonic remote to stretch any 4:3 programming. Also you should not watch any dvd movies that display black bars for the break-in, if you need to watch movies make sure they are either in 4:3 or zoom the movie with the remote.

Thought of a question. Is it best to watch this with programming formatted for 16:9 for the first 100hrs or so? I ask because I can kill that with movies easily, but I'd rather not risk SD programming at first if its not in the right aspect ratio. Thanks.You're getting an 11G Panny so you don't have to fret too much about anything. You might notice some faint IR that goes away quickly during the first couple weeks, but after that your paranoia should fade and allow you to just enjoy the set for what it is. (a tv with an exotic sounding name;))