Anyone familiar with the pioneer PDP 5051HD @ Bestbuy

Is this Besybuy's equivalent of the PDP -5045HD? Also I'm about to pull the trigger on a 50" plasma but their is a ton of conflicting as to whether or not the Pany TH-50PHD7UY is equivlanet to the Onyx series or the TH50PX25UP. I have read "reviews" stating both. Does anyone know for sure? Thanks in advance.

The 5051 is bestbuy's equivalent of this year's pioneer 5050. I'm pretty sure the 7uy has better specs and features than the onyx series. They are both more advanced/newer than the 25u's. There is new panny consumer models coming out in april/may that are very similar to the 7uy's.

The prices on the upcoming 2005 Panasonics HDTV's have dropped considerably! These 'may' be the retail prices I came across,but can not confirm.

TH-50PX500U $5,499.99

TH-50PX50U $4,999.99 (No cable card)

So the street prices may be close to $4,500 for the 500U and $3,999 for the 50U.

The 5051 is bestbuy's equivalent of this year's pioneer 5050. I'm pretty sure the 7uy has better specs and features than the onyx series. They are both more advanced/newer than the 25u's. There is new panny consumer models coming out in april/may that are very similar to the 7uy's.

Wassim17: Are you saying that the presently available commercial 42PWD7Uy has the equilivant PQ to the just-released consumer 42PD50U?

I saw the 50U recently and it had beautiful PQ, but I prefer (and only need) the features of the 7UY, but don't know if the PQ will be the same, and unfortunately, can't view the 7UY in person. Should I await the next release of new commercial models?

If anyone owns the 42PWD7UY and has seen the new 42PD50U and can offer their opinions on the comparative PQ, I would very much appreciate hearing their views.

Orcasite

Yeah, they should have virtually the same pq as each other. The only thing that was added to the consumer line is a feature called sub-pixel control in the pd50u, and nobody is even certain that it is in the ed version of the 50u's. When it comes to the ed's, it's a lot less of a difference between generations (6th, 7th, and 8th) than the hd models. If you're looking to get the commercial model, I would say that you should probably just get it now, since the new commercial models usually come out in the fall (october/nobember). And I doubt the new commercial ed models would add much to the wd7uy.

New models are normally introduced at the January CES show. The Panasonic 2005 models are to be release now thru June. Which include:

TH-50PX500U
TH-42PX500U
TH-50PX50U
TH-42PX50U
TH-37PX50U

"The announcement of most interest to Panasonic fans is the “PX500U” series, which are set to arrive in June with the long-awaited “7/8” generation glass (same as ONYX series). The Panasonic TH-42PX500U and TH-50PX500U will carry unofficial list prices of US$4500 and US$5500, respectively.

A brief assessment of this plasma shows no screen-door effect at four feet, when viewing a 42-inch HD model. That’s due to Panasonic’s new “sub-pixel” technology, which reduces jaggies. No 37-inch will be available in the 500 series, but a lower-priced “PX50” series will. The 50 series offers different cosmetics but no SD or CableCARD slots. Both lines have terrestrial tuners and discarded the generally disliked “swept design.”

Actually, the 50u's do have cablecard slots, but dont have sd card slots or computer inputs.

More information on the 2005 HD sets:

http://www.onecall.com/NewAndHot.mpt?ProductID=26643