[johnyboyd]

Hi


I am looking at the Panasonic Plasmas, specifically TH-50PX500U and the

TH-50PX50U. There's a price difference of about $500, and I'm wondering whether the higher price is worth it.


My viewing is mostly broadcast TV (HD and SD) and DVDs.


Apparenrtly the 50U does not have a PC input, so is there a way I can hook up

my PC to this?


thanks

-j.boyd

 

[lipcrkr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnyboyd Hi I am looking at the Panasonic Plasmas, specifically TH-50PX500U and the TH-50PX50U. There's a price difference of about $500, and I'm wondering whether the higher price is worth it. My viewing is mostly broadcast TV (HD and SD) and DVDs. Apparenrtly the 50U does not have a PC input, so is there a way I can hook up my PC to this? thanks -j.boyd

Conceivably you could use DVI/HDMI connection if your graphics card has DVI but have heard this doesn't really work too well.

 

[valhallak]

The 500U looks better IMHO and has PIP capabilities as well. Seems there are other differences but none that really affected my criteria when I picked the 50U.

 

[Krusty the Klown]

The TV Guide feature is excellent if you're using OTA broadcast input. The speaker upgrade is good also if you're not using a home theater system. I'm not sure you can really rationalize the extras as being worth a full $500, but it's not different than options on a car - lots of extra margin for the manufacturer.

 

[snoots]

I tried hooking up my PC to my 50U to playback video and recorded tv shows. I have a monitor available next to my chair so for me it was not worth messing with. If you want to hook up to a pc and use the plasma a standard pc monitor I think your result will vary based on your pc's video card and output cable options. However if like me you wanted to watch videos buy an IODATA linkplayer. They are cheaper than buying a high end video card , they upconvert to 1080I and can playback many different formats from any network device in your home that can run the server software. Linux, NAS box PC's etc. My extracted SD tivo programs actually look better through the player than live does !!

 

[yobob]

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnyboyd I am looking at the Panasonic Plasmas, specifically TH-50PX500U and the TH-50PX50U. There's a price difference of about $500, and I'm wondering whether the higher price is worth it.

You will be doing good to even find a 500 nowadays. Panasonic has sold out this year's production quota.


Hopefully you will be able to find some dealer to whom Panasonic "owes" some of the final-run panels. Probably won't get any discounts from MSRP, though.

 

[dchester]

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnyboyd Hi I am looking at the Panasonic Plasmas, specifically TH-50PX500U and the TH-50PX50U. There's a price difference of about $500, and I'm wondering whether the higher price is worth it. My viewing is mostly broadcast TV (HD and SD) and DVDs. Apparenrtly the 50U does not have a PC input, so is there a way I can hook up my PC to this? thanks -j.boyd

The picture quality is the same on both (very good BTW). The 500U has more inputs, better sound, and a few more features (like PIP and TVGOS). I got the 500U and thus far am very happy.