Customer Rating: 
Summary: Unbelievable!
Comment: Pros: Contrast/blacks are amazing, Optimum mode takes care of all the adjustments very well, no need to play with color/picture settings,Light sensor great for nightime, Sound is sweet, lots of depth, amazing simulated surround, great center channel voice emulation, just add a sub and your done, even the surround sound in the headphone jack is great, sounds like there is a quality amp on it, my Denon AHD-5000 headphones blaze with bass. Response time with 72hz 3:3 pulldown for movies is the smoothest motion enhancement I have seen. Menu is very easy to operate and love how the picture shrinks down to the side when in the menu. I have read lots of reviews on this model saying how great it is, but seeing is believing. This is the best flat panel I have seen. Most of all Amazon is the best, they have the best deal , while supplies last of coarse, everywhere else was charging 100 -300 more.
Cons: Doesn't stretch HD signals for Blu-Ray or DVD that are 235:1 or 185:1 evenly to fill the whole screen, only stretches width not height, but most people watch it normal without stretch, so this isn't a deal breaker for me.
Other Thoughts: People complain about a buzzing noise, if you have the sound off and you put your ear up next to the TV you can here a slight buzz or hum, That is what plasmas do, it is the balast firing for the gas to ignite the pixels. Unless it is extremely loud it is normal. I have heard it on all plasmas, maybe when your at a store there is a lot of background noise so you can't here it then until you get it home. My job is TV's and I have lots of experience with lots of brands of flat panels and this is the best picture by far. LCD looks like garbage in comparison. Of coarste there are some nice LCD's out there if you need it to do other things like PC or Video games, I have an LG LCD 47" for that, but if you are looking for TV and especially Movies for a Videophile, this is it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great TV - Great picture and great sound
Comment: Great price ~ $2,500 delivered in 3 days. Picture looks great with hdmi from cable box. Auto sizes screen depending on signal. Love it! Buy this TV.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Plasma but...
Comment: Honestly? I've been researching Plasma's and LCD's for about a solid year now. 1: LCD's are about 5 years behind Plasma TV's so if your local salesman tries telling you otherwise just compare pictures. The fact you notice Plasma's are VISIBLY deeper in color and crisper should give you a real good clue. Where as Plasma TV's are about a year from reaching true black levels, LCD's are easily 3 to 5 years away still. So I've fully decided on a Plasma. Not to mention overall, prices are now much more competitive with Plasma's.
Secondly, In comparing Plasma TV's two brands consistently rate among the top 2. The Pioneer Kuro and the Panasonic Viera. The lates Kuro Elite 50 inch (Soon to put out a 46 and 42 inch model which is more preferrable to me.) is rated as having almost near black level. The JUST receently released Panny alledgedly is even SLIGHTLY better by all color testing measures. I think it was released like last week and isn't even on the U.S Market yet. So anyway, I read this as I was about to buy the Panny 46 inch 800u NOT 80u. The Panny 800u is extremely highly rated and at a much more reasonable price than the entirely over priced Pioneer which caters to the upper income bracket. Silly if you ask me. Same technowledgy just high priced by a mile. So that narrowed my search to a Panny.
3: So I'm about to buy it when I read a just released report on next years models. It appears to be rumored both Panny and Pioneer intend to or have reached ACTUAL TRUE black levels. So that stopped me in my tracks. Why pay over 2 grand when next years Models will be far superior. The argument is they will always be better but from my research, with Digital the new standard in Feb and many needing new TV's, there will be an even bigger push to get out the most improved model possible next year to attract the new consumer. (Which is sorta bogus cause all you need is a cable box and wallah digital) but many will be completely duped into thinking they need a new TV. So with that new push for the latest tech, recent rumors and money conerns, I personally recommend waiting a year.
BUT, if you buy a TV? I myself recommend the 46 to 50 inch Panny Viera 800u. It's been consistently rated higher than the newer 850u and visually, I myself see no real difference to the Pioneer which is at least 1200 more.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Awesome TV but....
Comment: After doing countless hours of research on the best TVs, LCD or Plasma, Pioneer or Panasonic, I came to the conclusion that Pioneer Plasmas are the best. And then after reading countless reviews on how amazing this TV is I finally decided to get one. It was definitely a hefty price tag, but from what I read, it was well worth it. After watching a couple blu-ray movies from my PS3 and playing Oblivion it simply did not meet my expectations. Granted my expectations were extremely high after reading the reviews. I had upgraded from a 42" LG LCD and the difference was just not worth the price tag. It is definitely better. I love this TV but I guess i was just setting my expectations too high. I guess I simply wanted the images to pop out of the TV. And I don't know, maybe I'm doing something wrong. Maybe my settings are wrong, or the calibration, but it's just not what I thought it was gonne be. If you have the $3k-$4k to drop on a TV, by all means, drop it on this one. But if you don't, believe me when i say there are worthy alternatives for a much smaller price tag.
Customer Rating:
Summary: What kind of guy are you?
Comment: I typed a huge review and I ran out of space. This really pissed me off - but I like this TV enough that I'm rewriting a shorter and different kind of review.
WHAT KIND OF GUY ARE YOU? I'm a guy that wants things done right! "Right" being the way I think it should be done, because I'm a guy that thinks I'm smarter than most other guys, even if I'm not. I'm a guy that's pissed off at Amazon because I wasn't allowed enough space to write my original massive super detailed review. I'm a guy that is irritated when I have to ask a waitress more than once for the same thing. I'm a guy that's pissed off when airlines charge for a second bag or for a beverage. I'm a guy that wants an iPhone more than anything but doesn't have one because I hate the way Apple is trying to force AT&T on me. I'm a guy that is planning to drop Comcast because they are planning to cap users internet usage even though I'll never come close to 250GB a month. I'm a guy that researches 20 different websites to find out every little detail about products I'm interested in. I'm a guy that will go into a store and ask employees a bunch of questions that I already know the answer to, just to see if they really know the product and are worth my time and money. I'm a guy that knows the difference between lossy and lossless. I'm a guy that will wait and wait for a new product so I have the newest thing on the block even though it's killing me. I'm a guy that will buy the best piece of gear that I know about and can afford. I'm a guy that will never buy Bose speakers. I'm a guy that will trade in a component XBOX360 to get one with HDMI, then feel stupid because it's only HDMI 1.2 instead 1.3. I'm a guy that researches whether the Farajouda chip or the Reon chip is better or if the Realta is really all that. I'm a guy that will buy 5 different HDMI cables and 3 different indoor antennae to see if the .99 Monoprice is as good as the Monster cable and then return whatever didn't make the cut. I'm a guy that will sit for hours and hours until I'm zombie at 3 am trying to figure out which of my AV components deinterlaces the best. I'm a guy that spent the cash on a Denon 4308CI AVR instead of the 3808CI because I wanted the wireless feature, but never use it because it would force me to run my wireless network at 802.11b/g instead of 802.11n. I'm a guy that believes in my heart that I can see a difference between 1080i and 1080p!
Are YOU the same as ME? If so, then this next line will help should help you choose a Television:
I'm a guy that bought a Pioneer Kuro. And it's awesome.
Summary: Unbelievable!
Comment: Pros: Contrast/blacks are amazing, Optimum mode takes care of all the adjustments very well, no need to play with color/picture settings,Light sensor great for nightime, Sound is sweet, lots of depth, amazing simulated surround, great center channel voice emulation, just add a sub and your done, even the surround sound in the headphone jack is great, sounds like there is a quality amp on it, my Denon AHD-5000 headphones blaze with bass. Response time with 72hz 3:3 pulldown for movies is the smoothest motion enhancement I have seen. Menu is very easy to operate and love how the picture shrinks down to the side when in the menu. I have read lots of reviews on this model saying how great it is, but seeing is believing. This is the best flat panel I have seen. Most of all Amazon is the best, they have the best deal , while supplies last of coarse, everywhere else was charging 100 -300 more.
Cons: Doesn't stretch HD signals for Blu-Ray or DVD that are 235:1 or 185:1 evenly to fill the whole screen, only stretches width not height, but most people watch it normal without stretch, so this isn't a deal breaker for me.
Other Thoughts: People complain about a buzzing noise, if you have the sound off and you put your ear up next to the TV you can here a slight buzz or hum, That is what plasmas do, it is the balast firing for the gas to ignite the pixels. Unless it is extremely loud it is normal. I have heard it on all plasmas, maybe when your at a store there is a lot of background noise so you can't here it then until you get it home. My job is TV's and I have lots of experience with lots of brands of flat panels and this is the best picture by far. LCD looks like garbage in comparison. Of coarste there are some nice LCD's out there if you need it to do other things like PC or Video games, I have an LG LCD 47" for that, but if you are looking for TV and especially Movies for a Videophile, this is it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great TV - Great picture and great sound
Comment: Great price ~ $2,500 delivered in 3 days. Picture looks great with hdmi from cable box. Auto sizes screen depending on signal. Love it! Buy this TV.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Plasma but...
Comment: Honestly? I've been researching Plasma's and LCD's for about a solid year now. 1: LCD's are about 5 years behind Plasma TV's so if your local salesman tries telling you otherwise just compare pictures. The fact you notice Plasma's are VISIBLY deeper in color and crisper should give you a real good clue. Where as Plasma TV's are about a year from reaching true black levels, LCD's are easily 3 to 5 years away still. So I've fully decided on a Plasma. Not to mention overall, prices are now much more competitive with Plasma's.
Secondly, In comparing Plasma TV's two brands consistently rate among the top 2. The Pioneer Kuro and the Panasonic Viera. The lates Kuro Elite 50 inch (Soon to put out a 46 and 42 inch model which is more preferrable to me.) is rated as having almost near black level. The JUST receently released Panny alledgedly is even SLIGHTLY better by all color testing measures. I think it was released like last week and isn't even on the U.S Market yet. So anyway, I read this as I was about to buy the Panny 46 inch 800u NOT 80u. The Panny 800u is extremely highly rated and at a much more reasonable price than the entirely over priced Pioneer which caters to the upper income bracket. Silly if you ask me. Same technowledgy just high priced by a mile. So that narrowed my search to a Panny.
3: So I'm about to buy it when I read a just released report on next years models. It appears to be rumored both Panny and Pioneer intend to or have reached ACTUAL TRUE black levels. So that stopped me in my tracks. Why pay over 2 grand when next years Models will be far superior. The argument is they will always be better but from my research, with Digital the new standard in Feb and many needing new TV's, there will be an even bigger push to get out the most improved model possible next year to attract the new consumer. (Which is sorta bogus cause all you need is a cable box and wallah digital) but many will be completely duped into thinking they need a new TV. So with that new push for the latest tech, recent rumors and money conerns, I personally recommend waiting a year.
BUT, if you buy a TV? I myself recommend the 46 to 50 inch Panny Viera 800u. It's been consistently rated higher than the newer 850u and visually, I myself see no real difference to the Pioneer which is at least 1200 more.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Awesome TV but....
Comment: After doing countless hours of research on the best TVs, LCD or Plasma, Pioneer or Panasonic, I came to the conclusion that Pioneer Plasmas are the best. And then after reading countless reviews on how amazing this TV is I finally decided to get one. It was definitely a hefty price tag, but from what I read, it was well worth it. After watching a couple blu-ray movies from my PS3 and playing Oblivion it simply did not meet my expectations. Granted my expectations were extremely high after reading the reviews. I had upgraded from a 42" LG LCD and the difference was just not worth the price tag. It is definitely better. I love this TV but I guess i was just setting my expectations too high. I guess I simply wanted the images to pop out of the TV. And I don't know, maybe I'm doing something wrong. Maybe my settings are wrong, or the calibration, but it's just not what I thought it was gonne be. If you have the $3k-$4k to drop on a TV, by all means, drop it on this one. But if you don't, believe me when i say there are worthy alternatives for a much smaller price tag.
Customer Rating:
Summary: What kind of guy are you?
Comment: I typed a huge review and I ran out of space. This really pissed me off - but I like this TV enough that I'm rewriting a shorter and different kind of review.
WHAT KIND OF GUY ARE YOU? I'm a guy that wants things done right! "Right" being the way I think it should be done, because I'm a guy that thinks I'm smarter than most other guys, even if I'm not. I'm a guy that's pissed off at Amazon because I wasn't allowed enough space to write my original massive super detailed review. I'm a guy that is irritated when I have to ask a waitress more than once for the same thing. I'm a guy that's pissed off when airlines charge for a second bag or for a beverage. I'm a guy that wants an iPhone more than anything but doesn't have one because I hate the way Apple is trying to force AT&T on me. I'm a guy that is planning to drop Comcast because they are planning to cap users internet usage even though I'll never come close to 250GB a month. I'm a guy that researches 20 different websites to find out every little detail about products I'm interested in. I'm a guy that will go into a store and ask employees a bunch of questions that I already know the answer to, just to see if they really know the product and are worth my time and money. I'm a guy that knows the difference between lossy and lossless. I'm a guy that will wait and wait for a new product so I have the newest thing on the block even though it's killing me. I'm a guy that will buy the best piece of gear that I know about and can afford. I'm a guy that will never buy Bose speakers. I'm a guy that will trade in a component XBOX360 to get one with HDMI, then feel stupid because it's only HDMI 1.2 instead 1.3. I'm a guy that researches whether the Farajouda chip or the Reon chip is better or if the Realta is really all that. I'm a guy that will buy 5 different HDMI cables and 3 different indoor antennae to see if the .99 Monoprice is as good as the Monster cable and then return whatever didn't make the cut. I'm a guy that will sit for hours and hours until I'm zombie at 3 am trying to figure out which of my AV components deinterlaces the best. I'm a guy that spent the cash on a Denon 4308CI AVR instead of the 3808CI because I wanted the wireless feature, but never use it because it would force me to run my wireless network at 802.11b/g instead of 802.11n. I'm a guy that believes in my heart that I can see a difference between 1080i and 1080p!
Are YOU the same as ME? If so, then this next line will help should help you choose a Television:
I'm a guy that bought a Pioneer Kuro. And it's awesome.