After doing TONS of research and going back and forth on 1080 vs. 720, I went for this beauty. I don't have a Blue-Ray player and I don't own a PS3 (yet) so I couldn't take advantage of 1080. Broadcast HD TV is 720 anyway. I have owned this set for about 10 months and at the time the same size LCD was $500 more and the screens on the LCD's of the day just were not as bright as plasma IMO.

Best thing to do, go to your local electronic store, compare TV's side by side and then buy it on Amazon. First of all Amazon rocks! Customer service is awesome. 2 weeks after we bought the TV it dropped $150 and when I called Amazon they gave me the difference back! This is only good for up to 30 days after your purchase date. No tax for us in CA, and Free white glove delivery. TV came on time, delivery company called me to schedule an appointment for delivery. The delivery guy brought the TV in and help set it up and even cleaned up the mess.

TV was a breeze to setup. I have HD Comcast cable running in via composite cables, a Wii via composite, a media center PC into the VGA port and a DVD player plugged in through one of the HDMI pots. Couldn't get coax to work directly connected to the TV but no big deal, I watch it through my cable box anyway.

I read online that you had to "break in" a plasma or you would have burn in early on. I had the TV's settings dialed in to my room brightness but still kept it at 50% brightness. Even at that setting the TV was still VERY bright! Yes it is a plasma TV and YES there will be burn in at some point. After playing Guitar Hero III for hours with friends yes there is a ghost of the game burned into the screen. Flip the channel to any HD FULL SCREEN channel and in about 10 minutes, its all gone.

Early on we would run the anti-burn feature on the TV when we went to bed to keep burn in from being permanent. Set the sleep timer for 30-60 min, and start the scrolling anti-burn feature. The next morning when we turned on the TV, it was all gone.

All in all, I love it!

PROS:
Great picture
Great color
Looks good on or off
Sound is impressive for such small speakers
Lots of inputs

CONS:
Burn in after gaming or when watching sports (score board or news ticker)
Plasma uses alot of energy vs LCD
Plasma puts off alot of heat for a TV. Keep airflow open around TV
VERY heavy, need two people to move safely

This is a very good TV for the price! My mom has a Samsung and spent over $3,000.00 on hers, and the quality of this one definitely outshines hers! I just upgraded to an HD cable box and the picture is very good. I gave this 4 starts because burn in and ghosting happens fairly easy on this TV. You have to be VERY careful if you are watching channels that have a logo on it for more than 40 minutes. I even have the contrast/brightness/color, etc. all below 50. My kids love to watch Nick, and I had the Nick logo stuck on my TV for days... (after watching for only 1 hour) Another time I was switching DVD's and my DVD player was on and the word "Pioneer" was burned into the TV in bright pink for 3 days; it was left on screen for no longer than 2 minutes. Other than that...great deal! Great picture!

I BOUGHT THIS UNIT ON MARCH 10,2008 THIS IS JUNE 20TH AND I HAVE BURN-IN. I CONTACTED SAMSUNG TO FIND OUT THAT THEY DON'T COVER BURN-IN. PLEASE BUY A LCD. THE WARANTY ON THIS PROUDUCT SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I purchased a 58inch HP Pavilion HD TV roughly 2 years ago. The computer went out in the TV. HP replaced the TV as they could not fix the problem. The technician, (whom was wearing an HP shirt and name badge), that installed the new TV said that with the new TV my warranty resets. He told me this because I expressly asked "what happens if the new TV ends up having the same problem?" Less than 9 months later the new TV also broke with the same computer problem. I contacted HP technical department and I was told that the warranty explained to me by the HP technician was incorrect. They went as far as to try and say that the technician was from a 3rd party and didn't work for HP. I asked for the 3rd parties name and was told that HP wasn't required to give me that information. I implore anyone that is considering buying a TV from HP to consider Sony or any other product TV besides HP.

I love everything about this TV. Great picture. Great size. Great looking. Great price. Everything I hoped for when I wanted HD TV. I've had it for 6 months and I'm still blown away by it. Especially sports. I'm a big time hockey fan and the difference between this and the picture on a very nice Pro Scan regular TV is unbelievable. It's like having your face up against the glass. Football and baseball too. I had one little problem when I first got it. I sometimes had to turn it on a couple of times to get it to start up, but that problem disappeared after a few weeks and hasn't occurred for some time now. I'd recommend this set to anyone. My brother got a 50 inch LG and I think they're both about the same quality.