Criteria:

40-42 Inches
Good Black Levels
Good SD Playback
HDMI
Available locally, Internet would be considered.
<$1,400 with tax (in MD)

Basically it will be used for crappy College SD Cable, XBOX 360 Games, and HD DVD, and upconverted DVD. I have a B&W Surround Sound System, so speaker quality are not an issue.

Please Help.

ummm that is really easy

www.frys.com

samsung 4264
panasonic th-42px77u

either one can be had for closer to $1100 or so plus shipping. Or try one of the forum sponsors - visual apex, plasma concepts, cleveland plasma or invision displays.

ummm that is really easy

www.frys.com

samsung 4264
panasonic th-42px77u

either one can be had for closer to $1100 or so plus shipping. Or try one of the forum sponsors - visual apex, plasma concepts, cleveland plasma or invision displays.

Indeed, Fry's has them for very cheap, but I think you should check with one of the sponsors and buy from them -- I've heard nothing but good things about the support they offer.

I second the Samsung. Should be easy to get now in that price range. A very good quality set. :D

Criteria:

40-42 Inches
Good Black Levels
Good SD Playback
HDMI
Available locally, Internet would be considered.
<$1,400 with tax (in MD)

Basically it will be used for crappy College SD Cable, XBOX 360 Games, and HD DVD, and upconverted DVD. I have a B&W Surround Sound System, so speaker quality are not an issue.Panasonic TH-42PX75U is a great all-around Plasma with excellent black levels and very good SD performance. If you want or need a non-reflective LCD-like screen then add a few hundred dollars more for the TH-42PX77U.

Panasonic TH-42PX75U is a great all-around Plasma with excellent black levels and very good SD performance. If you want or need a non-reflective LCD-like screen then add a few hundred dollars more for the TH-42PX77U.

I can never disagree with Randy.

Wait. I'm still in shock that a 42" plasma is going with him for college?!

I am a senior, and have a full time job during school with Morgan Stanley. So its not a stretch to buy this tv if its in the budget I want.

is the antiglar screen of the Panasonic 77U really necessary? the 75 seems to be perfect price, but out of stock. Would Circuit City or Best buy have good pricing, or honor any discounts?

Randy,
Im sort of in the same boat.I cant make up my mind ,I am about 7 to 8 feet away from tv.Do i want a 42inch or 50inch.I saw somewhere where you said there was some noise in the pic from anything within 8 feet on a 50 inch and that the 42inch didnt have it at 8 feet. :confused: Well i live in VA and thats a long ways away from Frys,good prices on tvs.I like the blacks on the panny but the samsung has a really sharp pic and i like watching horror movies with my wife.Hard to pic which one.So Randy if you had to pic which size and namebrand what would you pic?
P.S. this site rules

according to cnet, the sammy outperformed the panny in almost every catagory, including blacks. They claim that it has deeper blacks then the Pioneer PRO-FHD1.

http://reviews.cnet.com/flat-panel-and-plasma/samsung-hp-t5064/4505-6482_7-32331280.html?tag=lst

bundyho3, like you, I can't decide between 42 or 50. I'll be 7-10' away.

the samsung appears to be 600 more then i am willing to spend.

No its not--its $XX50 at Frys right now, exactly $250 under your budget. You may have mistakedly been looking at the 50"

damn! the price on both the th42px75u and hpt4254 at frys is a really good deal rihgt now

according to cnet, the sammy outperformed the panny in almost every catagory, including blacks. They claim that it has deeper blacks then the Pioneer PRO-FHD1.

http://reviews.cnet.com/flat-panel-and-plasma/samsung-hp-t5064/4505-6482_7-32331280.html?tag=lst

bundyho3, like you, I can't decide between 42 or 50. I'll be 7-10' away.

um that article said it had compareable blacks not better, it says it has better color accuracy, but give no statistics, and says its anti-glare is not as good as the pannys.
The only thing I see it beeting the panny on according to them is color accuracy, but this is cnet I will wait to hold judgement till sound and vission or hometheater mag do a review

Wait. I'm still in shock that a 42" plasma is going with him for college?!

No sh**! In my day I'd have been lucky to get a black & white set with a clothes hangar antenna in my dorm room. Oh these kids today. Probably drives a Lexus between classes :cool:

My pick would be Pioneer. You can pick up a Pioneer pdp-4270HD within your budget.

is the antiglar screen of the Panasonic 77U really necessary? the 75 seems to be perfect price, but out of stock. Would Circuit City or Best buy have good pricing, or honor any discounts?The 77's Anti-Glare isn't necessary if you don't have problems with reflection or glare or an otherwise brightly lit room, but if any of these are a problem in the room then the 77 will give you LCD-like anti-reflectivity while still giving you that great Plasma picture quality and viewing angles. I'm amazed at it's effectiveness and rave about it in this thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10752727&&#post10752727

Randy,
Im sort of in the same boat.I cant make up my mind ,I am about 7 to 8 feet away from tv.Do i want a 42inch or 50inch. I saw somewhere where you said there was some noise in the pic from anything within 8 feet on a 50 inch and that the 42inch didnt have it at 8 feet. :confused: Actually what i probably said is that i can see SDE at 7 feet on a 42 inch 768p set but not at 8 feet (i say that a lot), and on the 50" 768p sets i see it at 10 feet so it's very important for someone to check their sensitivity to SDE at their viewing distance on the different sized sets before just blindly taking people's recommendation to "just get a 50", it's the best size at your 6 foot viewing distance....". Had i listened to the general consensus on this forum to get a 50" for an 8 foot viewing distance i would have had to return it for a 42 incher. I'm soooo glad i checked the SDE thing before buying !!

Well i live in VA and thats a long ways away from Frys,good prices on tvs.I like the blacks on the panny but the samsung has a really sharp pic and i like watching horror movies with my wife.Hard to pic which one.So Randy if you had to pic which size and namebrand what would you pic?I know i would not buy a Samsung, but i would buy a Panasonic or a Pioneer without reservation. But some Samsung owners say it's a little sharper than the Panasonics or Pioneers but from what i've seen the image has more edge enhancement and doesn't look as natural as the two P brands. And a Samsung engineer told me that their new Filter-Bright anti-glare technology makes their Plasmas as good as LCDs, but that's an outright lie because i looked at them in a few stores and they're just as reflective as all the other Plasmas. And Samsung's repair and parts network sux. I trust Pioneer and Panasonic's build quality, but i never have and probably never will trust Samsung. My friend's TV repairman father says Samsungs historically have been more problematic and difficult to get parts for, with long lead times compared to Panasonic.

newegg has a 42" pioneer plasma for a pretty tasty price right now

The samsung 5054 can be had for 1599 delivered at frys..I ordered one a couple days ago and it will be delivered tomorrow.
It's an absolutely fantastic set, and i'm sure you will love it.

If you can afford 50 inches, I would say go with 50 inches, as 42 inches will seem smaller by the day..on the other hand so will 50 inches if you have a size addiction like me :D

i think its gonna be the Panasonic. Now i am just having trouble deciding if the anti-glare screen is needed, and where to find it locally?

Sears has both the 75u and 77u in stock.

Best Buy LOW LOW price on Pioneer 4271, same as 4270, Plus 0% financing for 36 months-no brainer!!! :D

Philips 42" 9631; has Ambilight and PixelPlus, outstanding PQ, good blacks, excellent SD.

Philips 42" 9631; has Ambilight and PixelPlus, outstanding PQ, good blacks, excellent SD.
ambilight in my opinion is just a gimmick. I've seen it and just don't like it, to distracting in my opinion. This is however just my opinion

I like Ambilight, but it's pointless for me as I have a small lava lamp that I keep on top of my subwoofer which does pretty much the same thing with respect to ambient lighting.

I like having some dim lights on personally, other wise my eyes get too fatigued when watching at night.

I like Ambilight, but it's pointless for me as I have a small lava lamp that I keep on top of my subwoofer which does pretty much the same thing with respect to ambient lighting.

I like having some dim lights on personally, other wise my eyes get too fatigued when watching at night.


I do too I just don't like the back of my tv glowing. Its to distracting for me and personally I feel it takes away some from the picture when its coming from the back of the tv.

BB has 24 month financing right now or at least that is what they told me.

Correction 3 years on Panasonic

we ended up getting a 42" panasonic 75U Plasma. So far its great, even without the anti-glare screen.

How should I break it in?

Can I calibrate it using normal DVD AVIA?

Indeed, Fry's has them for very cheap, but I think you should check with one of the sponsors and buy from them -- I've heard nothing but good things about the support they offer.

The Fry's price IS very tempting, however, especially for several hundred dollars less than the forum sponsors.

Anyone know if they're an authorized reseller?