I purchased the next best model up from Dell when they had the weird 25% off coupon. Got it for ~ $3900.
I can say a couple of things about it:
1. The resolution is not the most important factor about this display. The real kicker on this one is the best black levels in the business -- very important for watching ANYTHING, especially DVDs. These displays MUST be properly calibrated with a calibration DVD kit (usually available at your local Hollywood/Blockbuster).
2. The resoltion (1024x768) is beautiful, however, using a progressive-scan dvd player. The display is ONLY as a good as the image you feed it, and not all DVD players are alike.
3. Typing up this message on a 42" screen is nice, but it would be better with DVI in. With this panasonic, you get to choose either the multi-input card or the ONLY DVI input card (sold separately) ... so I'm getting a bit of a flicker here at 75 hz from my laptop using a standard analog VGA connector. No way to get rid of the "screen stretch" and have it still look nice, so on windoze it is extra wide.
4. STAND MAY NOT BE INCLUDED -- I had to buy on on E-bay for $75, or get a wall-mount for roughly the same.
The main reason for buying a plasma over a projection setup (whether a rear projection TV or LCD projector) is this: Viewing angle and ability to view with sunlight in the room. If you are only going to watch from one horizontal position (such as a single couch) -- go ahead and buy the sony grand wega. You'll probably like it better, and it's the same weight and pretty slim too. Otherwise if you can keep the room reasonably dark, go for a projector, which will not distort your PCs aspect ratio.
Also to note - with Plasma screens, you are betting on the life of the screen (and that you won't drop it or have a big earthquake). So, with LCD projectors, you know your costs (bulb). But with plasma, if you leave it on accidentally and burn it in (it could take weeks) or if you buy a crappy Sampo and the pixels start dropping like flies or the whole thing dims gradually, you're out of luck.
Panasonic makes excellent plasma screens, and you shouldn't get distracted with Hitachi, Gateway, Sampo, etc (all those crummy ones Costco sells). I have seen them and I can tell you there is a difference. BTW, the Hitachi plasma has horrid XVGA image processing, which results in a very noticeable flicker -- gave me a headache for the 5 minutes I was in Circuit City looking at it.
When my friends ask me what is the best bang for their buck, I tell them to buy some curtains, make themselves a screen and buy a 1024x768 projector with a good DVD player. But buy a plasma if you have a lit room and a wide seating area or you find it annoying when the picture brightness changes when you stand up.
One last weird thing about Plasmas -- especially this one -- when you play DVDs on it, depending upon your DVD player (probably) -- you have to monkey around with the display stretch settings for older (less resolution) DVDs such as "Doc Hollywood". Just a FYI.
I can say a couple of things about it:
1. The resolution is not the most important factor about this display. The real kicker on this one is the best black levels in the business -- very important for watching ANYTHING, especially DVDs. These displays MUST be properly calibrated with a calibration DVD kit (usually available at your local Hollywood/Blockbuster).
2. The resoltion (1024x768) is beautiful, however, using a progressive-scan dvd player. The display is ONLY as a good as the image you feed it, and not all DVD players are alike.
3. Typing up this message on a 42" screen is nice, but it would be better with DVI in. With this panasonic, you get to choose either the multi-input card or the ONLY DVI input card (sold separately) ... so I'm getting a bit of a flicker here at 75 hz from my laptop using a standard analog VGA connector. No way to get rid of the "screen stretch" and have it still look nice, so on windoze it is extra wide.
4. STAND MAY NOT BE INCLUDED -- I had to buy on on E-bay for $75, or get a wall-mount for roughly the same.
The main reason for buying a plasma over a projection setup (whether a rear projection TV or LCD projector) is this: Viewing angle and ability to view with sunlight in the room. If you are only going to watch from one horizontal position (such as a single couch) -- go ahead and buy the sony grand wega. You'll probably like it better, and it's the same weight and pretty slim too. Otherwise if you can keep the room reasonably dark, go for a projector, which will not distort your PCs aspect ratio.
Also to note - with Plasma screens, you are betting on the life of the screen (and that you won't drop it or have a big earthquake). So, with LCD projectors, you know your costs (bulb). But with plasma, if you leave it on accidentally and burn it in (it could take weeks) or if you buy a crappy Sampo and the pixels start dropping like flies or the whole thing dims gradually, you're out of luck.
Panasonic makes excellent plasma screens, and you shouldn't get distracted with Hitachi, Gateway, Sampo, etc (all those crummy ones Costco sells). I have seen them and I can tell you there is a difference. BTW, the Hitachi plasma has horrid XVGA image processing, which results in a very noticeable flicker -- gave me a headache for the 5 minutes I was in Circuit City looking at it.
When my friends ask me what is the best bang for their buck, I tell them to buy some curtains, make themselves a screen and buy a 1024x768 projector with a good DVD player. But buy a plasma if you have a lit room and a wide seating area or you find it annoying when the picture brightness changes when you stand up.
One last weird thing about Plasmas -- especially this one -- when you play DVDs on it, depending upon your DVD player (probably) -- you have to monkey around with the display stretch settings for older (less resolution) DVDs such as "Doc Hollywood". Just a FYI.