Hi All,

I'm looking to buy a new HDTV in the next few days and after researching for over 20 hours in the last few days I have a few questions. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Having started with a 800 dollar budget in mind (on Black Friday) I have narrowed my choices down to the following 2 TV's even though they are more expensive than my original budget.

50" Plasma Panasonic TH-50PX77U MSRP $2100

This looks like the best TV have found so far based on reviews from places like CNET. It has 720P resolution but accepts signals up to 1080P. From what I read it has great black levels. It also has an antiglare coating.

vs.

50" Plasma Hitachi P50H401 MSRP $1999

This TV is slightly cheaper and closer to my original budget. The 1080HD resolution is just confusing to me but it is my understanding that with either a 720P signal or 1080i signal the TV must still scale in one direction. I'm not sure if this is better than the Panasonic or not since it doesn't scale at all for720P. This TV also accepts signals up to 1080P. I don't believe the black levels are as good but the TV has still gotten some great user reviews.

So those are my 2 options right now. Both TV's sound like they have excellent PQ. If anyone can help me out I would really apreciate it based on the prices I have listed above. Or if someone has an idea for a different LCD or Plasma that would be in the above price range on Black Friday that would help as well. Thanks ahead of time.

Stro

EDIT I removed the prices for Black Friday...

Twenty hours? There's a lot of info on both sets if you want to SEARCH for it. Also the mods don't like price talk here, only MSRP.

Alright, well 20 hours of nothing but reading about TV's in this class is a long time actually. Especially considering I've never owned one to know if most of it will matter for my general purpose viewing. I also went to both hhgregg and cirtuit city but its very hard to tell how that compares to what the TV will look like in my living room.

Anyhow, I'll remove the part about the prices if I can figure out how to edit my post.

I really was just hoping people with more knowledge on the subject (people here obviously) could help me out with my decision. I only posted the price because thats a big factor in which TV I buy but I'll try and remove it.

Stro

Since the Hitachi's (42" and 50") are available at phenomenal prices (that should be our first warning sign!), I did some quick reading yesterday. Also saw them at Sears and CC. Not impressed. PQ clearly below the competition (and I'm usually not that discerning as many here). Sub-average CR rating: HD/DVD/SD= vgood/good/vgood. Not very rave reviews in The Perfect Vision and Home Theater Mag (both available online). A couple of threads here. But yeah, the price is great. So, if you aren't very demanding, it may be worth checking out.

Otherwise, I'd suggest spending the extra $ on the Panasonic which is a proven quantity. Personally, I prefer the glare-y (x75u) screen to the anti-glare one. But YMMV.

My Hitachi 42" picture looked just as good as the panny's at sears if not better. Don't listen to all the "BS" about the Hitachi's picture being inferior buy this set you can't go wrong for the price. As far as black levels are concerned the blacks on my set look black to me not gray or any other shade.
And if you don't like it you can always return it.