Are the Pioneers worth the extra money?  

good question

yes, excellent.

Good god you know how to start a flame thread.

Some will say yes, some will say no; it is subjective.
The Pioneer has more features than the Panasonic. IN MY OPINION, the Pioneer has a better picture.
If you purchase on-line, the price difference is much much less.

To me, yes - but not for any single particularly big reason, just lots of little ones. On the 50" Pioneer, I prefer the removable speakers (I have a sound system), the look of the frame (I prefer all black), the shape of the stand works better for my application, AND I also happen to just slightly prefer the Pioneer PQ (although they are both excellent). I have also considered the 9uk, but I'm not sure I want to deal with the input cards - I think I would rather just have all the inputs I need and a tuner right from the get-go in case I need them.

You have asked a good question that is impossible for anyone else to answer for you. Value is in the eyes & ears of the beholder...

I like the picture quality of the Pioneer better. My main TV is a Pioneer (Elite, which has an even better picture to my eyes) but for some other areas of the house, where we don't make watching TV as much of an event, I've put Panasonics and I think they're great.

Agreed. I personally looked at both the Panasonic and Pioneer 50" plasma tvs a few months back and went with the Panasonic. Both are great sets and both (in my eyes) had equally outstanding picture quality. Value in my eyes were in the Panasonic.............you gotta decide for yourself.

Buy the one you think is best. How many hours do you watch TV? Say you watch three hours per day, times 365 days per year, times the 10 year life of the TV, and at most you are talking about an additional 10c per viewing hour. To my way of thinking its worth the money to look at a better picture (I am Pioneer Elite owner).

That is a good way of thinking about it. But some people can't calculate their income over that 10 year period, and have to calculate how much they can afford NOW. Although I didn't have any money contraints, I figured that the money I saved I was able to buy the wall mount and a TV stand for my components (DVD player, receiver, etc...). Now if there was a HUGE difference in picture quality between the Panasonic and Pioneer plasmas, then I would have definitely gotten the Pioneer without any hesitation. But, both plasmas produce outstanding picture quality so it made the decision for me very easy. Now as I stated earlier though..........the original poster will just have to compare both sets for themselves and decide which one in their eyes is worth the money. After you make the choice, just be happy with your decision and never look back because regardless of which one you decide............THEY ARE BOTH GREAT!!!