OK, Please bear with my first post, folks... thanks in advance:
Topic 1: I have done some research in the many past weeks and was first leaning towards the Panasonic TH-42PHD5UY mostly based on the "shootout" on *******************.com. However, I have yet to see a great picture from any Panasonic 42 inch that I've looked at in Brick and Mortar stores. I always liked Panasonic products, but was worried based on actual viewing. I imagine in all the stores I've seen the Panasonics, they probably were set up/hooked up incorrectly. I've seen the Pioneer 433cmx model (actually the 4330hd) in real life and it was beautiful and based on this forum, like the "future" expansion capability of the expansion slot. However, again was worried how the shootout scored the Pioneer 3rd with a "rating" of 43 while the Panasonic got a 62.(whatever those numbers stand for...)
Anyway, I can't bring myself to buy the Panasonic without seeing it perform nicely in real life. Any new input on these two from anyone out there?
Topic 2: If I do go with the Pioneer 433cmx, what else will I need to watch regular TV? Can someone guide me as to the pros/cons/necessities of the options I have: i.e. TVP-1000 card vrs. PDA-5002 vrs. no additional card at all?
Topic 3: What if anything else do I need to view real HDTV? Do I need a scaler / line doubler / whatever that is, and is that part of one of the TVP-1000 or PDA-5002 cards mentioned above?
Summary: Could one of you much more experienced people, sit back, and tell this novice what to do, to put it "all together"?
T H A N K S !!!!
Topic 1: I have done some research in the many past weeks and was first leaning towards the Panasonic TH-42PHD5UY mostly based on the "shootout" on *******************.com. However, I have yet to see a great picture from any Panasonic 42 inch that I've looked at in Brick and Mortar stores. I always liked Panasonic products, but was worried based on actual viewing. I imagine in all the stores I've seen the Panasonics, they probably were set up/hooked up incorrectly. I've seen the Pioneer 433cmx model (actually the 4330hd) in real life and it was beautiful and based on this forum, like the "future" expansion capability of the expansion slot. However, again was worried how the shootout scored the Pioneer 3rd with a "rating" of 43 while the Panasonic got a 62.(whatever those numbers stand for...)
Anyway, I can't bring myself to buy the Panasonic without seeing it perform nicely in real life. Any new input on these two from anyone out there?
Topic 2: If I do go with the Pioneer 433cmx, what else will I need to watch regular TV? Can someone guide me as to the pros/cons/necessities of the options I have: i.e. TVP-1000 card vrs. PDA-5002 vrs. no additional card at all?
Topic 3: What if anything else do I need to view real HDTV? Do I need a scaler / line doubler / whatever that is, and is that part of one of the TVP-1000 or PDA-5002 cards mentioned above?
Summary: Could one of you much more experienced people, sit back, and tell this novice what to do, to put it "all together"?
T H A N K S !!!!