whats the best plasma tv available?

[cdblu]

http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/01/16...t-of-the-year/

the pioneer elite pro fhd1 won product of the year. can anyone tell me if there is a better one currently available?

im looking for best pq and im willing to spend up to 10grand

[Gremal]

The pioneer you mention is still king. If I was buying today, I'd get that one. Still using my 3rd gen pioneer I bought five years ago.

[sokrman14]

Very much agreed. Stick with that one. The panasonic is a 65" 1080P for about 10k as well. From this point on it just depends on size when you are looking at 1080p plasmas. There are only a few out there so you gotta look.

[TBoneCapone]

....but from all accounts I heard Plasma's do not last as long as LCD's. Do you know if this is true or not?

[sokrman14]

Kind of true. LCD's last about 30 years, that is called their half life when they lose half of their brightness. Plasma have a half life of about 20 years. So not much of a difference. You will likely go through 2-3 TV's through that time anyways.

[Maximus]

Pioneer still make the best Plasma TVs.

[gvortex7]

Originally Posted by cdblu

http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/01/16...t-of-the-year/

the pioneer elite pro fhd1 won product of the year. can anyone tell me if there is a better one currently available?

im looking for best pq and im willing to spend up to 10grand

I have an insiders opinion on this matter since I look at plasma tv's, among other technologies, all day long at work.

The two best brands in plasmas are without a doubt Pioneer and Panasonic, with Pioneer maybe slightly having an edge since that's all they manufacture as far as televisions are concerned. Meaning they put all their resources in designing the best possible plasma technology available today. Panasonic on the other hand is the best selling plasma brand in the world, so they're no slouches in the quality department either. With that said, I would urge you to wait about 3 more months until Philips releases their long awaited 63" 1080P plasma tv, which judging from the specs will be a beast to contend with. AND!
Get this, it will sell for less the $5000 if what they said at CES is true. I wouldn't rush into buying one just yet, you might find yourself spending half the dough you originally set out to spend.

[Blackraven]

Hopefully Pioneer can release a HDMI 1.3 plasma set within this year.

As well as improve on power consumption and black levels.

[ascian]

funk panasonic and fuuuuuuuuuuuunk phillips. panasonic was rated in consumer reports so all the yuppies went out and bought them 2005 was definitely their year cause of that and pricing, but they are not that impressive. phillips... if you buy a phillips tv there's just no helping you. pioneer is the best. period, exclamation point, end of discussion.

[HDJK]

Originally Posted by ascian

funk panasonic and fuuuuuuuuuuuunk phillips. panasonic was rated in consumer reports so all the yuppies went out and bought them 2005 was definitely their year cause of that and pricing, but they are not that impressive. phillips... if you buy a phillips tv there's just no helping you. pioneer is the best. period, exclamation point, end of discussion.

Somebody needs to cut back on that sugar

[Rup_Muk]

What about "bang for the buck"? And - what about for folks that don't want to invest more than $1K for a 1080p set? For some reason, $1K seems to have become the new "affordability cutpoint" for consumer electronics.

Rup.

[Gremal]

Originally Posted by Rup_Muk

What about "bang for the buck"? And - what about for folks that don't want to invest more than $1K for a 1080p set? For some reason, $1K seems to have become the new "affordability cutpoint" for consumer electronics.

For what's out there now, I think you have no business concerning yourself with 1080p when your budget is $1k. Maybe in a year or two. Just find the best 720 display in your budget.

[Blu Tiger]

I have the pioneer Pro-fhd1 and I couldn't be happier with it. Well, maybe it could be bigger, but picture quality is superb. Well worth eight grand. I might have to trade it in for Pioneer's new plasma technology coming out this summer. They are saying it has a contrast ratio of 100,000:1 (wow). It should even trump SED's if they ever get over their legal problems.

http://gear.ign.com/articles/753/753836p1.html

[cdblu]

100,000 : 1!!!! thats awesome! did you hear anything about pricing? i dont wanna spend more than 10 grand

[Blu Tiger]

No, but it will probably be pricey. I'll do some research.

[HDTV1080P]

If I was in the market for a new display it would be a 1080P Sony SXRD front projector with a 15,000:1 contrast ratio. The problem with front projectors is one needs to have a dedicated dark home theater room. For a bedroom or any where one wants to own a thin Plasma TV the Pioneer FHD1 is the best quality Plasma on the market. The Pioneer Plasma is ideal for high-end BLU-RAY players that have a 1080P/24 output. Pioneer refreshes BLU-RAY movies at 72HZ which makes it the only Plasma TV currently on the market with that option. If you want a Plasma and picture quality is the most important feature go with the Pioneer PRO-FHD1 and also purchase the Pioneer Elite BLU-RAY player which is the worlds best BLU-RAY player in terms of picture quality.
The Pioneer PRO-FHD1 list price is $8,000 but it can be purchased over the Internet for under $5,000 for final delivery price from various places.
http://www.calibex.com/fhd1-/zzcalibex2zB1z0--search-html

Now it’s possible that Pioneer might release a better quality Plasma in late 2007 that has a contrast ratio of at least 20,000:1. The current Pioneer Plasma has a contrast ratio of 10,000:1. The new one that might be released late 2007 has at least 20,000:1 contrast ratio if not more. Pioneer test equipment maxed out at 20,000:1 so they are sure how high the contrast ratio really is.

http://aving.net/usa/news/default.asp?mode=read&c_num=25587&c_code=03&sp_cod e=33&btb_num=641

[Blu Tiger]

Yeah, I have the PRO-FHD1. It is simply amazing. If you buy one now from Best Buy or select dealers, they will throw in a regular 50" pioneer plasma. Buy one get one free. I wish they were offering that when I bought mine.

[HDTV1080P]

That’s a great deal buy one Elite get a lower quality Plasma for a second room. The ELITE comes with a 2 year warranty also on parts and labor. Pioneer has always made good quality products.
I still own several old Pioneer Laserdisc and DVD products that are around 10 years old and they are still working.

[cdblu]

wow! im definitely gonna buy a pioneer but we all know that as soon as i buy it theyre gonna announce a better one. thats the only negative.

[jermwhl]

Keep in mind, that the FHD1 is a monitor only! Meaning it has no tuners in it. If your going to have digital cable/satellite it doesn't matter though. Also it does not come with a stand, wall mount only, or buy the stand seperately. Some websites advertise it as a television, which it is not.
I bought the 60" elite two weeks ago. I love it! I can't get enough HD out of it. I was really worried that it isn't 1080P, but the picture is just so amazing, I can't imagine 1080P being any better. It is native 720P, put can also display 1080i. The manual claims that it can accept 1080P/24 and 1080P/60, but i tried activating it on my PS3 and it doesn't take it.
Also, they are firmware upgradeable, but I haven't seen any significant upgrades for it as of yet. I'm not sure if it has HDMI 1.3 yet or not. But if it would be firmware upgradeable you could do it with that TV.
Also, don't think about your TV becoming obsolete, otherwise you'll buy it and watch all other stuff and get all worked up. If you make the plunge, just stick with it. There will ALWAYS be something better coming out.