Pioneer or Panasonic

tMark20002

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First of all - hello, I am a newbie

I am about to buy a 50" plasma. The two I seem to have narrowed it down to are either a Panasonic TH50PX600 or the Pioneer PDP507XD. I would really welcome peoples oinions or suggestions for a better choice.

Thanks
 
First of all - hello, I am a newbie

I am about to buy a 50" plasma. The two I seem to have narrowed it down to are either a Panasonic TH50PX600 or the Pioneer PDP507XD. I would really welcome peoples oinions or suggestions for a better choice.

Thanks

Use the forum search, there are plenty of posts on this subject mate. In short though, the Pio seems to be the more favoured choice.

If you have cash to splash, go for the 50" Fujitsu. Can't be beaten on PQ :¬)
 
Pioneer wins the Panny by a small margin.
 
I had set my heart on a Sony 40 inch W series but then I went around to my mates house who has a TH50PX600. The 50 inch SD picture blew me away particularly as I have issues with standard definition on the W series.

So I am now thinking about getting a 50 inch TV but noticed that I can buy a Panasonic TH-50PX60B for under £1600. The TH50PX600 is around £1000 more for just a different set of speakers and a SD card slot.

The problem for me is that the Panasonic looks nothing special while the Pioneer looks so good on the wall. I intend to get KEF 3005 speakers in jet black, which will go great with the Pioneer but is the pioneer worth the extra money over the TH-50PX60B?
 
If you are going for external sound, you need a plasma without speakers I'd suggest. They are physically a whole lot smaller than the ones with elephant's ears on the side, and 3" bezel all the way round, and usually much thinner too. Look so much better wall mounted, and there may well be performance benefits, as with TH50PH9, or Fujitsu XHA58, which incidentally looks gorgeous as well as having the best PQ out there.
 
but is the pioneer worth the extra money over the TH-50PX60B?
Well you could look at the new 7th gen 507 pioneer 50" (£2100)as being a right bargain now,,,as it was only about 4 months ago that the last 6th gen pioneer 50" 506 was £3000+
 
The Pioneer looks so much nicer than the Panasonic but you do pay a bit of a premium right now. I'm tracking the price of the Pioneer and am hoping it is going to creep to below the £2000 mental barier I have soon (it can be had for about £2029 at the moment).

Somehow those extra few quid saved will make make me feel better, £199x seems ok, £2xxx seems a bit sick and wrong heh. :rolleyes:
 
In the chocolate world I would equate as follows

Pioneer = Godiva (Best Taste)
Panasonic = Fannie (Best Value)
 
I'm a bit surprised that the Panny owners aren't fighting their corner,so to speak.I have the Panny 42PX600 and am very happy with it.I chose this model over a Pioneer based on looks and the fact that nobody seemed to be mentioning issues with screen burn/image retention as they were with the Pioneer.I was a fan of the piano black surround though,until I realised how much of a dust magnet it is and the fact that it doesn't look anything special (IMHO).

Having said all this,I do believe that they are so closely matched that whichever you choose you will be happy with.Good luck.
 
Aye the picture quality on both seems very similar (i.e. great) but these 7th gen Pios don't seem to be having the retention probs of older models. Basically buy either and you'll be a happy bunny. :thumbsup:
 
So how close can you view a SD picture on both models and it still looks good? I am having my garage converted so my viewing distances will be around 8-9ft and 15ft. No problem with 15ft but is 8-9ft too close?
 
If you are going for external sound, you need a plasma without speakers I'd suggest. They are physically a whole lot smaller than the ones with elephant's ears on the side, and 3" bezel all the way round, and usually much thinner too. Look so much better wall mounted, and there may well be performance benefits, as with TH50PH9, or Fujitsu XHA58, which incidentally looks gorgeous as well as having the best PQ out there.

Fujitsu P50XHA58: 1216 x 726 x 100 mm

Pioneer PDP-507XD: 1224 x 717 x 115 mm
Detachable speaker: yes
Undermounted speaker: yes
Elephant ears: no

What's so good about the Fujitsu PQ? I've never read a single adjective from those who otherwise like to mention it so frequently, let alone a decent comparison of PQ aspects. Strange. I prefer the Pioneer's PQ myself, best 50" panel there is. Can't wait to get rid of my Panasonic for this.
 
I'm a bit surprised that the Panny owners aren't fighting their corner,so to speak.I have the Panny 42PX600 and am very happy with it.I chose this model over a Pioneer based on looks and the fact that nobody seemed to be mentioning issues with screen burn/image retention as they were with the Pioneer.I was a fan of the piano black surround though,until I realised how much of a dust magnet it is and the fact that it doesn't look anything special (IMHO).

Having said all this,I do believe that they are so closely matched that whichever you choose you will be happy with.Good luck.

Perhaps when you have a 'supercar' you don't need to floor it at the lights :D Panny owners know that they have the best PQ (after the Fuji) but at a very good price. :D
 
I'll step in here, if it is out and out picture quality you want don't buy either.

The Panny Viera range is better than the Pioneer, but the Panasonic commercial is still quite away ahead of the Viera, and if you have the money get the Fuji.


The Pioneer still has problems with blacks, it is almost there, but almost is not good enough, feed it decent HD and you can forgive it, but viewing TV it falls along way short of the commercial screens still.
Shame, as £2100 is a great price, but only if it does the job, and for me it doesn't, I wanted one for a second set, but even for that it isn't good enough.
 
Gizlaroc - Was that the 6th or 7th gen Pioneers you looked at? I compared the 507XD with the 50PX60 and could barely tell the difference with both HD and SD.

The only thing that swayed me towards the Pioneer particularly was the looks (shallow I know) and the threat of the nasty, purple wigglies on recent Panny's.
 
After looking at the Panny 42 600 and the Pioneer 427XD, I couldn't see muhc difference in terms of picture quality but the Pioneer whips it's ass in terms of aesthetic looks!

My budget is around £1500-1600, if the panny had been in a nice black finish then I may have been swayed but for that budget I think the Pioneer is going to win for me - unless people can tell me why it shouldn't?
 
It was the 507XD.

Don't get me wrong it is a fine screen now, but it still doesn't go black enough for me, and when fed with regular TV it didn't look a patch on what I am used to at home. I really wanted it to be the one as I needed a second set for the second room, and was hoping to put the 507 in to front room and move the PHD8 into the other room, but there are too many things that annoyed me on it.
Think it will be a Fuji for me, or bring the old 32" philips down from the spare bedroom and save a couple of grand! :)
 
I paid a visit to Comet today where the 50 inch Panny and 50 inch Pioneer were side by side. The Pioneer is in a league of its own when it comes to looks. The Panasonic just looked plain and dull although the picture quality looked very similar.


I find it hard to believe that Panasonic style designers could not have come up with a more attractive surround by now
 
Many thanks for all the replies - i am ashhamed to say that the look is a factor and i think i will go the pioneer route - partly because it also has a PC input and i intend to get a windows media centre PC. I will start a new thread on this bit

Thanks again
 
I was in a similar situation recently but in the end I decided on the 507.
Comet in Stirling had both virtually side by side and I found the pioneer better suited my taste both in terms of picture quality and indeed asthetics, which has to be considered when the missus is in tow.

I just need a decent wall mount now and i am almost decided on the RS100 universal pullout tilt and swivel at £139.
Has anyone else got one of these brackets ?
How do you rate it in terms of useability and ease of installation etc etc ??
 
Many thanks for all the replies - i am ashhamed to say that the look is a factor and i think i will go the pioneer route - partly because it also has a PC input and i intend to get a windows media centre PC. I will start a new thread on this bit

Thanks again

Why are you ashamed to go for looks? Thats what its all about ultimately whether its coloured pixels or a nice case :rotfl:
The Pio is the best looking imo panel there is, wish I had one.
 
Well I think you have made a good choice on piture quality alone because for me the Panasonic has way too many issues.

Flickering on bright backgrounds, green tinge (smearing) on every Pana I've seen
Solorization on colours, posteriztion which gives the picture a waxy look and of course the purple snakes. Build quality.

I agree that the the picture has a darker starting point but there are decent reviews around that point to this crushing black detail and it certainly has less dynamic range than the Pioneer

Panasonic are are still churning out sets with processing faults and STILL not really owning up to the issue.

The Pana pro panels are exellent but are really designed for the boardroom or an airport. They highly configerable and enthusiasts like this, but it is not a tv and is best suited with a processor and some serious source kit.

The picture you end up with is really down to personal preference. With no qality control issues the Pio or Pana have been the best bets for a couple of years now but at the moment the chances of you getting a Panasonic 60/600 without a fault are slim, the 50" sets seem better but every 60 I've encountered looks washed out.

The biggest problem is these sets are actually getting too cheap to sustain componant quality.
 

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