Opinions wanted:Best plasma in $5-10K range

[zachman]

Been doing my own research but interested in input of others.

[optivity]

Save your money... buy at the low-end of your price range...

$5500 will get you an 8th generation Panasonic TH-50PX500U that includes:

Sub-Pixel Controller
Color Purity Optimizer
2048 Shades of Gradation
HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface)
Cable Card Ready
NTSC/ATSC/QAM Tuner
480i/480p/720p/1080i Signaling
Integrated Speakers
PCMCIA Wireless Networking
3000:1 Contrast Ratio
1000 cd/m² Brightness
60,000 hours panel life

Go to Tweeters to see the 7th generation ONYX series PDP's. Presumably the 8th generation Panasonic 50/500u series panels will render a superior picture.

Why pay more for something else?

[yobob]

If you can go all the way to $10K (I wish I could), many here would recommend the Fuji P50XHA40US. It has Pany glass and AVM-II. Pretty much unbeatable.

And the MSRP splits the difference between $5K and $10K.

[Mit07]

In the $5k range you have the Pioneer 5050HD, and the Panny
TH-50PX25U/P.

[7Below]

Runco, Fujitsu or Pio-Elite are your top choices along with ISF Calibration.

Go see them to determine which you like most.

BTW, Panasonic, NEC, etc. make nice displays too that have great $/performance. If you got the $, however, a properly tuned Runco/Fujitsu/PElite is in a different league.

[bkushner]

Pio Pro-1410HD is an amazing panel...61 " Under $10K

[HDTV888]

It's a no-brainer, Panny 65", under $9.5k
(Or two Panny 50", near $4k)

[schassen]

I think the display also has to fit your environment. I liked the Pioneer a lot, but it did not compare to the Fujitsu 50" in my house. And I tell you, living in the NW I have a lot of different ambient natural lighting that occurs. I don’t know about the Pioneer but about 10 after I made the purchase I got a call from the NW Fujitsu Rep. asking how I liked the set. Now after spending 8K on something I thought that was impressive. He also took some time to talk to me about set-up and cautioning me on the out of the box brightness. Over all it was a great experience, and still is every Friday night!

[zachman]

Thanks for the responses- just interested to see if I missed some option. Anybody feel there is a great LCD that beats some of the above mentioned plasmas? I'm fairly convinced I want to go the plasma route, but could go the other way if there is some great LCD model that I can go check out.