$1500-2200 range
1) Panasonic 50PX75/77U
2) Samsung 5054
3) Samsung 5064
4) Panasonic 50PZ700U
5) Others?

$1500-2200 range
1) Panasonic 50PX75/77U
2) Samsung 5054
3) Samsung 5064
4) Panasonic 50PZ700U
5) Others?

#4

'cept the 700u is slightly north of the posted price range, unless the op has got some discounts lined up like a few bb employees have reported. ;)

I think quite a lot of folks in this thread might be keen on the answers to this question. Can more people please offer either biased or unbiased opinions?

If not the 700u then what's the second best? And also 75u or 77u? Which one is better for SD?

I think quite a lot of folks in this thread might be keen on the answers to this question. Can more people please offer either biased or unbiased opinions?

If not the 700u then what's the second best? And also 75u or 77u? Which one is better for SD?

The only difference between the 75U and the 77U is the screen and the side speakers. The 77U has an antiglare screen.

The only difference between the 75U and the 77U is the screen and the side speakers. The 77U has an antiglare screen.


And the remote control (PX75 is not universal).

Panasonic PD50U or PD60U EDTVs

If not the 700u then what's the second best? #1

And also 75u or 77u? Which one is better for SD?75U, then 77U.

#4

Chris

Option #5 Pioneer PDP 5080HD :D

Option #5 Pioneer PDP 5080HD :D


The pioneer elite pro-1140HD is last years model and a few of the authorized dealers have sets left. 6Ave electronics is authorized and has new sets in stock. These are priced competitively with the very best prices on 5080's and produce a better picture with regular DVD's & SDTV. They also have more accurate colors straight out of the box.

I did a lot of test runs at best buy and Mag hifi making sales reps plug in a regular DVD player into component inputs and put in a regular DVD and watching the same 5 minutes of a movie. Boring, but very effective to show you what set will actually look best with the movies you already own.

ian

The Perfect Vision tested four 50" plasmas in it's August 2007 edition, including the 64 Sammy and the 77U Panny.

They seemed to like the Sammy better:

Even standard-def programs looked smooth, sharp, and clean. I watched Law & Order on TNT, with all the gritty police action and smooth courtroom finagling clearly rendered. Sure, it was softer than HD, but what do you expect? The Samsung did a more-than-respectable job of upconverting standard-def images to the panel’s native resolution.

They gave the Sammy 7 out of 10 and the Panny 6 out of 10 for video processing.

You can download the August 2007 issue HERE (http://avguide.com/the-perfect-vision/back-issues)

If you can find a 50 inch plasma that can give you the quality SD signal that my 5080 does...well, jump on it. Not to mention the color, color accuracy and saturation levels that this panel provides.
And to think I initially started ( 6 months ago) out thinking I was going to get a Panasonic...

good luck!!

'cept the 700u is slightly north of the posted price range, unless the op has got some discounts lined up like a few bb employees have reported. ;)

You mean the rebate?

I have a 700u, the analog signal is decent. The only thing I don't like about it is that I have to turn the picture above middle to make it decently bright.

Though for sd, I would think a 720p panel would do a better job as it's at a lower resolution to upconvert the sd signal to. I'd look for last year's Pioneer if you can, the 5070 and the 1140, you could get a decent price on those units.

I'm considering many of the same panels, but I'd replace your #4 option with the Pioneer 5080HD, since they're roughly the same price and the only place the PZ700U beats out the Pio is in resolution (according to the consensus reached on these forums), which will be really hard to discern unless you're sitting 6 feet away from the set...

I'm leaning towards #3, personally. To my eyes, the '07 720p Sammy's are a cut above the '07 720p Panny's -- I find the picture to be far more detailed (even moreso after removing both from their torch modes); and the new Sammy's have more menu options and inputs (VGA + 1 extra HDMI over the Panny's). That said, many users on these forums have reported issues with judder and temporary IR.

Most professional reviews seem to give the 5054/5064 high marks for its SD picture.

I would also assume the Pio5080 to have a great SD picture, since it seems to do everything exceptionally well. To me, the only major downside is price -- ~$700-800 more expensive than the 75U, 5054, & 5064.

You mean the rebate?

I have a 700u, the analog signal is decent. The only thing I don't like about it is that I have to turn the picture above middle to make it decently bright.

Though for sd, I would think a 720p panel would do a better job as it's at a lower resolution to upconvert the sd signal to. I'd look for last year's Pioneer if you can, the 5070 and the 1140, you could get a decent price on those units.

Is the rebate available to general consumers? I was just saying how I'd rule out the PZ700U since it's nearly the same price as a 5080, but if it could be had for a price closer to the 720p Panny's, then it would definitely warrant some consideration. Resolution aside, it does look slightly more impressive (seems to have better blacks and detail, even from distances beyond where the resolution difference is discernable) than the 720p Panny's.

What kind of SD are we talking about?
Analog cable? STB or DVD connected with composite/s-video?
Are you going to use High Definition satellite or cable box? Upconverting DVD player?

I owned # 1 and #2
#2 was my choice .I found it to have better picture with many more features.
PS.
Anti-burn screen protection in #2 Works outstanding :)

Is the rebate available to general consumers? I was just saying how I'd rule out the PZ700U since it's nearly the same price as a 5080, but if it could be had for a price closer to the 720p Panny's, then it would definitely warrant some consideration. Resolution aside, it does look slightly more impressive (seems to have better blacks and detail, even from distances beyond where the resolution difference is discernable) than the 720p Panny's.

No, but if Pioneer comes out with something similar to this, I'll be selling my Panny.

Back on topic, after checking on street prices, I'd say go for the 5080, a couple hundred more dollars for a few years of better enjoyment is worth the investment.