The Panasonic website states early April, but I saw in another forum that someone is having a TH-50PZ85U deliver Wednesday 2/27/08; so you may be able to order it now. If you can get an EPP price, the 46" will be < $1600 +tax. MSRP $2,200
What is an EPP?
I believe it stands for Employee Purchase Plan
...hoping it'll come in 'round $1700 on sale before too long.
Question: anyone have an opinion on using an HTPC with a 720P screen? I might use my screen for gaming, too, so I don't want to be limited to a resolution lower than my graphics card can handle.
$1,944 is thru EPP, if you're eligible. I checked it out today.
I am scheduled to recieve my TH-50PZ85U on Wednesday, March 5! Bought direct from Panasonic through the EPP for $2002.32 (before tax), plus free shipping! I will let you know how it looks and compare to the TH-50PX60U that my brother has.
HOPE IT LOOKS AS GOOD AS ANTICIPATED........ LET US ALL KNOW WHAT YOU
THINK AFTER A COUPLE HUNDRED WARM-UP HOURS.
THANKS IN ADVANCE, FOR YOUR REVIEW.........
Best viewing,
Riverledge.
Join Borders Rewards Perks [free] and you will be provided with a coupon code. Connect to the Panasonic site from the Borders page and;
TH-46PZ85U Price $1631.52 TH-46PZ80U Price $1545.00
Price reductions also for the 50" and 42" sizes.
Good Luck
While you may buy the Panasonic cheaper than the Pioneer, it is like buying a Toyota Camry vs. buying a BMW. The Pioneer 720 model (actually 768) has a scaler circuit which can scale the video signal of a Blu Ray to 1080P and look really great. Pioneer has the blackest black levels of any tv on the market. If price is your main consideration, then choose the Panasonic.
Hilarious post, Mr. Paul...obviously written by someone who made the mistake of buying a Pioneer 720p model - a model that's rated lower in Consumer Reports than the Panasonic 720p models, not to mention the 1080p variety. Look who bought the Camry.
Just look at the screens and you can see a difference. I don't care what's on paper. I think the Pioneer has a better picture than the Panasonic. It does all come down to the blacks. However, I'm anxious to see the new Panasonic with it's higher contrast ratio.
I have the 77U and have owned it since December. It is a great set and I have no reservations about my purchase. I have read others complained about a clicking noise, I havent noticed one. I Think you have to decide what you are using it for and your budget. I dont think I will go the blue ray route, I have too many movies on conventional dvd's to go out and buy them again (if they were all available) on blue ray. If blue ray is what you really want maybe you should spend more and buy the more expensive set but I would really compare the two when using a blue ray player, I have been told it really doesnt make a huge difference but again I havent done that so check it out for yourself. As far as regular tv no one is broadcasting in 1080p and wont. It takes too much bandwith. Another thought is that you can buy TWO 77U tvs for almost the same price as the other set. What I would really like to see is first run movies (leagaly) downloadable on the internet so I could watch them at home without going to the theater, but that is many years off I think. for now I will just enjoy my 77U, it has a great picture, and great sound (if you dont want to use your sound system you dont have to).
I dont have a plasma myself because ive beentold by someone who works with tvs that they are not as reliable as hd ready tvs , i was going to buy one my self untill my friend advised me not to he said he would never touch them because they onlt tend to last 12 months thenyou start having problems with the picture, colour ect, but the choice is your, i would not entertain them myself.
In response by mikey7353
1. Just because someone that sells TV's thinks Plasma TV's are bad doesn't make it so. Consumer Reports rates Panasonic Plasma TV failure rate a 2%, less than LCD, LCoS or any other type out there.
2. Plasma TV's are HD ready TV's, along with LCD, LCoS and all flat screen TV's sold by now.
3. Plasma TV's are rated for 40.000 to 100.000 hours of use, more TV than you can watch for 20 years.
Unfortunately, just because someone makes a statement doesn't make it a fact. LCD or Plasma are both a perfectly acceptable choice, and the differences are getting to be so trivial that it is simply a matter of size and personal preference.
The display category leaders for plasma (Panasonic and Pioneer) and for LCD (Sony and Sharp) produce excellent screens that most people will be very happy with for many years to come.
The differences between this years and last years models are usually so small that the average consumer will never notice the difference.
The difference between the PH and the PZ models (720P vs 1080P) tends not to be worth the price premium unless you start getting a 58" or bigger screen, since most people can't tell the difference from normal viewing distances.
The biggest complaint before, was people buying a smaller screen than they would have preferred in hindsight, a problem mostly disappearing with screen prices dropping drastically and even 58" screens available for just over $2k.
In the meantime, relax and enjoy your screen.
RIVER.
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