I was alos looking at the Sony 50" last weekend & almost bought it. I am having a tough time letting go of my Toshiba 36" Cinema Grand HDTV. The picture is incredible but the wife wants a thinner set so we can place it elsewhere in the room. Who am I to argue with a wife who says maybe we should get a plasma so we can hang it on the wall?
The problem is that we really can't get a plasma, I don't want to spend more than $2500 for a TV, microphones-yes, TV-no We were set shopping last weekend & decided we can't purchase from Best Buy, you can't even see the sets in that place, too crowded. I am still leaning towards the Sony 50" but need to see other sets.
Carl,
I'll urge you to run down to Costco and check out that Vizio 50" plasma for $2499. I know it's slightly beyond your budget (after tax), but the Costco return policy is basically like an extended warranty and that's worth it's weight in gold. The picture is fantastic and very comparable to the high end Panasonic and Pioneer plasmas. Chances are, the Costco has one of these setup next to a 'name' brand, so you could see for yourself. Another great thing about the Vizio is that it has a holy ton of inputs...2 HDMI, 2 component, 2 analog (s-video or composite) and an RGB input. Oh yeah, it does Picture in Picture as well as picture by picture (divides the screen into two). I've used that to watch two HD football games on Sunday
I moved from a 32" Sony Wega to the Vizio and am very happy. There was no way I was going to get a projection set of any kind. IMO, that would be a step down.
For great reviews (from picky people like ourselves)
check out
www.avsforum.com There is probably in depth reviews of every set you can think of on there.
Later,
pjdavep