I've been reading these forums for a few weeks now. There’s a lot of threads w/ lots of excellent info here.

I wanted to decide on a few 46 -52 flat panels so that I could catch one on black friday cheap. I've pretty much narrowed my affordable wish list down to samsung lcd 630/650/750, panasonic plasma 800, or the kuro 5020 if it goes on sale; wishful thinking?. I was figuring which ever of those had the best deal on it was the one I wanted. Hopefully one of them will be on sale somewhere.

We sit about 10 ft from the set. Viewing area has no lights behind it but a sliding glass door off to the right that has curtains over it which usually only gives us reflections off our Sony 32” CRT HD HS500 midday at certain angles. Not an issue at all most of the time. So I would think a plasma or Samsung reflective 650 would be ok.

As I read about & see more lcd issues, plasma dimness, panasonic pq noise, 24p/48hz/72hz/120hz viewing, viewing distance/ display size/ viewable resolution, screen finish, pq, reliability, known issues, warranty issues, etc, etc. Now the more I research on here & think about this I’m thinking a little differently because how a lot of those issues will be greatly improved on maybe around April? But they’ll cost a lot more than what I could get in a week right??

With NEO around in a few months I’m thinking I may just get a sam or pan 42” 720p maybe for $500? That would save me around $1k & I could probably sell the black Friday deal for what I paid for it & put that towards a 50” Neo in 6 months? Is it going to be that much better? Any idea on pricing?? But that will be new $$ tech w/ its own new issues, no?

Darn, another thought, Wife & I trying to have our first child so should I also weigh this in?? Maybe I should get a good panel now because I may not be able to get a good one in 6 months???

TV usage is 40% PS3 games, 40%, HD TV, 10% BR, 10% SD as of now.

What will be best w/ PS3 games?

Has anyone owned @ home & setup both sets I'm looking at? What were your thoughts? Did you take one back or move it in another room since it wasn't really that bad or was it?

So what would you do? Get the cheapest 1080p 50-52 sam 650 or pan 800 on black Friday & keep it & be happy w/ it for a long time or get a 42-46 720p (still deciding) for ~$500 & wait it out. For me I’m going to start looking for 42”-46” 720p pan & sam threads & reviews.

And now to make things worse I just stumbled upon this, actually I searched for it (can't link it) SONY SERVICE CODES - Articles, Comments, Discoveries.. I’ve never calibrated my hs500, I don’t have the regular picture settings up too high, they don’t need to be. I swear I haven’t seen a better picture on almost any other friends tv. The almost is a friend w/ the 36"version on mine. So how could I possibly make it look better? That’ll be another thread.

Thanks for the abundance of valuable info on this site

I'll say this, and I dont want to turn into a plasma preacher but for gaming...
My last two LCDs were a sharp aquos and a sammy 4671 which at the time was no slouch, even had 120hz motion on it. Before those on my RPtv I was popping off over a million points in GeoWars on the 360 day in and day out. After I got the LCD my score dropped into the low end of 250-500k max and I was getting headaches. After I moved to a plasma my score jumpped right back up to 1mil+ and no more headaches. I later realized it was due to the LCD lag that I experiencing although it did not jump out at me.

Other types of games, like FPS's did not really suffer from this but those little twitchy ones apparently were suffering at least for me.
Movies and stuff were about equal and the "lag" was not seen of course although now I do much prefer the look of my plasma over the LCD especially once calibrated and the shadow detail is higher. Just remember once you buy one, dont visit this forum and dont 2nd guess your choice, if thats at all possible :D

Either way, once you get a tv in your house you won't have other TV's side by side to compare it to so get your tv and forget the ones you didnt choose.

Darn, another thought, Wife & I trying to have our first child so should I also weigh this in?? Maybe I should get a good panel now because I may not be able to get a good one in 6 months???
Umm, the way I read that, if you buy the TV now you may not have money needed for future kid expenses. Maybe buying a new flat-panel TV now and expecting a new baby soon are mutually exclusive life events? I'm just saying. :eek:

I know, it was just a thought & I decided to throw it in there. I knew I was going to hear something about it.

What I mean is I could get away buying anything short of Kuro now. I think I'd be able to get the 50" neo kuro in 9 months when my wife is expecting. I just don't know how long she would let me to live for after buying it.

I just got done paying off my $10k credit card, I haven't bought any new tech in the last 2 years. So I'm going to reward myself with a good tv that will be paid off.

Right now I'm leaning towards a 720p 42"/50" pana plas 80u. They are cheap!! I think either one will hold me over.

& bayn Thanks for your insight on the gaming. That sounds like a HUGE difference.

I would've bought the 50px80u last night if my wife didn't take my debit card the night before to go out. That salesman must of been thinking I was playing him after I took up 30 mins of his time measuring my car, talking specs & other bs, etc. He typed all my info into the computer, I pulled out my wallet to pay, opened it up & the cursing began. But that may have worked out in my favor now.

I was @ HHGregg & had the 50" px=720p for $1k. I would have perferred the pz=1080p but that was just out of my price range. HH & BB are right next to each other & come to find out BB has that 50" pz1080 p80U on sale for $1400. Thats more of my price range plus I should get 10% off the difference getting it @ HH; That'd be $1390+tx out the door. That should work out, right? Will let you know what happens once I leave work. Haven't had the best luck w/ BB & returns, I guess I'll be giving HH a shot & see if they live up to their price match + policy. I will be very very happy if I get that tv home for that price. Only 7 hrs of work left.

Guess what??? I just got an email from HH highlighting their black friday deals. They have the 50pz80u for $1299.20.. You think they'll match that price today?? We'll see in t- 5hrs.

They matched it, proud new owner of 50pz80u. $1384 out the door..