Ok guys here is my situation. I sold my JVC DILA 61fh97 to a guy Thursday. I had my mind made up on going Plasma and was going to get the Panasonic 50" 80u version. Local B&M stores were either all sold out or wouldn't budge on price. Instead I bought the Best Buy Insignia 50" plasma. I am coming from an LCD and this plasma really has my wife and I wowed! The picture is jaw dropping good, especially HD football. What I am trying to do is decide if I should keep it or order the Panasonic 80U online, I would be getting the panasonic for cheaper than the insignia since I wouldn't be paying taxes. The Insignia did come with a free Insignia Blu-ray player though but I have a PS3 for Blu-ray so that isn't too big of a deal. I know Panasonic is well known for their quality plasmas and just can't help but think the Panny would be alot better tv than the Insignia even though right now I am simply floored by the pic that plasmas have! I should have gone plasma a looooong time ago! What are some of you guys' take on how much better the Panny would be over the Insignia?

I'd get the panny.

I'll bet on Panasonic though I don't own an Insignia.

Well now after reading through the thread on dying Panny's with blinking light problems I may be too scared to go with a Panny. I think the Samsung Plasmas looked awesome in the store and that is who made the panels for the Insignia.

samsung does make some good tvs, but i wouldnt bet on insgnia as if its a sammy. there is a reason why insignia isnt known for being top grade. for a long term piece of mind i wouldnt hesitate getting the sammy. you may notice more features on the sammy also.

If you're happy with your plasma performance then no worries!:cool:

Well now after reading through the thread on dying Panny's with blinking light problems I may be too scared to go with a Panny. I think the Samsung Plasmas looked awesome in the store and that is who made the panels for the Insignia.If you're afraid of Panasonic based on the relatively few owners who have suffered a component failure then you absolutely positively do not want to own an Insignia product - they're garbage. Panasonic is rated as the most reliable TV you can buy, but that's not to say that even the best brand name can't have the occasional electronic failure - it's just the nature of modern electronics that use thousands of little components made in other countries. Every brand will have some failures, but Panasonic is said to have the lowest percentage over every other maker.

AFAIK, LG supplies the Plasma panels for BB's Insignia product line, not Samsung.

Ok guys here is my situation. I sold my JVC DILA 61fh97 to a guy Thursday. I had my mind made up on going Plasma and was going to get the Panasonic 50" 80u version. Local B&M stores were either all sold out or wouldn't budge on price. Instead I bought the Best Buy Insignia 50" plasma. I am coming from an LCD and this plasma really has my wife and I wowed! The picture is jaw dropping good, especially HD football. What I am trying to do is decide if I should keep it or order the Panasonic 80U online, I would be getting the panasonic for cheaper than the insignia since I wouldn't be paying taxes. The Insignia did come with a free Insignia Blu-ray player though but I have a PS3 for Blu-ray so that isn't too big of a deal. I know Panasonic is well known for their quality plasmas and just can't help but think the Panny would be alot better tv than the Insignia even though right now I am simply floored by the pic that plasmas have! I should have gone plasma a looooong time ago! What are some of you guys' take on how much better the Panny would be over the Insignia?

Keep what you have. I doubt you will get that much of a PQ upgrade.

not to say that even the best brand name can't have the occasional electronic failure - it's just the nature of modern electronics that use thousands of little components made in other countries. Every brand will have some failures.

+1

Don't base your purchase decision on a few owners having trouble with thier sets.
The number of people having trouble is so small compared to the owners with no issues at all.
It may seem like alot of people posting about a problem here, but people who are having issues with thier set, this is where they come to get help.
Think of how many people out there that are having no trouble at all, they are not likely to come here and tell everyone that they are not having issues.

Do you have a Fry's Electronics store near where you live? If so, I would look there for your Panny 80U. The last two weeks they have dropped the price on this set significantly below that of BB or CC. You can check their website, but they don't always list the in-store sales price on their website.

I bought my pz80u there a couple of weeks ago and am VERY happy with my purchase

I'm new to this world of HDTV and was looking at the Insignia line at BB(only for BB) as well(primarily price point) and the sales rep told me that LG , like stated above, makes panels/parts for them. More research and found that Insignia uses several suppliers from which they get their parts. One specific TV line may use parts from X while another from a different supplier. How can you really control quality of your product like that. I no longer even consider Insignia, heard they have way too many problems. While on one expedition to BB a Woman and her son were just returning one, DOA. I'm in the same boat you are now, panny or sammy 50" 720p. All paths have lead me to panny for plasma with sammy 2nd. Debatable no doubt but that's what I've gotten from all this post reading, etc. Saw Hitachi 50" 1080i other night price dropped to 50% -P50H401/A- but not reading great things about it which is bummer because I don't care for the glossy black bezels all the rage now. I find it hard to believe a company like Hitachi would make such a poor performer. CNET crushes it but most owners agree black aren't that great but tweaking helps other issues. But for same money the panny CNET's very well for entry level HDTV. I read that sammys tend to be brighter and colors sharper ,more accurate but pannys have better blacks and therefore colors don't wash out as bad. Panny has no PC input sammy does. I personally like the sammy better because when I see a set I like it tends to be brighter but want plasma over lcd because of overall PQ. Good luck and go panny/sammy.

AFAIK, LG supplies the Plasma panels for BB's Insignia product line, not Samsung.

The 50" 1080p Insignia Plasma is manufactured by Proview using a Samsung panel.

DV, everyone is right. If you're concerned about the reliability of Panasonic plasmas, you should be several times more concerned about the reliability of the Insignia plasma. You should only consider the Insignia if 1) you like the image quality of it (and imo it's pretty damn good for the money) and 2) you don't mind risking the fact that you may have to sell it for parts on Craigslist in 12+ months. For me, that wasn't a problem as I tend to buy a new TV (and sell my old one) every 24-ish months anyway.

The only thing good about house panels (westinghouse, insignia, etc) is their price point. But seeing that you can get a panny for cheaper than the insignia, its a no brainer to me.

One thing to consider is the quality control of the Insignia's compared to the Panasonic's. Also from what I understand store brands do not carry in-home service warranties if your displays happen to fail on you. You may want to check on this with BB. IMO, the 50PX80U or Samsung 50A450 would be my choices for long term use.

Chris

I currently own one of the maligned 42" LG-based Insignia sets that was sold last year and early this year. I purchased the extended warranty (would have for any other set in this price range, too), but I haven't had any problems with my set. I know there are better sets, but I have a hard time believing Insignia went out and asked some company to build a set (in my case) that looks exactly like the LG 42PC3D, but use a cheaper set of electronics and an inferior LG glass when you make it. Nor do I believe, for example, that Insignia built many other components that look like another company's but they used inferior electronics (the Insignia 5.1 surround sound receiver (looks and feels just like my Sherwood receiver at home including the remote, except it has HDMI input/output) and the Insignia Blu-Ray DVD player (looks exactly like the Magnavox set sold by Wal-Mart) both come to mind...).

Be that as it may, ultimately the choice is up to you, OP. If you believe that this house brand has inferior components, was designed to be junked in less than a year, and you don't feel comfortable with that, 'upgrade' and go with a Panny or a Pioneer. If you like what you have and feel comfortable with the technology, then keep the Insignia.

Personally, when I read all of the posts about the crappy technology in Insignia products, I wonder what the opinion is based on; is it because the poster has owned and/or maintained that particular technology, is it based on published documentation that outlines the failure and return rates of that technology (which I'd love to see, btw), or is it based on the opinion of a friend of a friend and the like...I personally own several bits of Insignia technology and find them all to be pretty comparable to their name-brand competition (surround-sound speakers same as similar KLH speakers...MP3 technology for their Sport and Pilot players designed by Joytoto who also makes devices for iRiver).

Chasing perfection will leave you frustrated and always looking over your shoulder. If you find something you like better than the Insignia set, then by all means get it. If you have something that you like, stick with it.

What I am trying to do is decide if I should keep it or order the Panasonic 80U online, I would be getting the panasonic for cheaper than the insignia since I wouldn't be paying taxes.

Actually, you are still responsible for paying taxes, even if the retailer does not collect them.

If the prices are within a couple hundred dollars, I think the Panasonic is the better overall value, no question. But since you already own the Insignia and are happy with it you have to weigh the PITA of exchanging TVs.