Eh, I wouldn't say the "best". Pioneer Elite products (including their plasma screens) are far superior to Sony. However, you probably won't find the Elite line at Best Buy or Circuit City. They are only sold at high-end retailers.

About 15 years ago, Sony sued Hitachi for stealing their trade secrets. Somehow, Hitachi was able to duplicate Sony's product technology and production techniques and sell their products for less, because they didn't have to invest in the R&D. I purchased a Hitachi 43" Plasma monitor over 3 years ago, and it still works as well as the day I bought it. I also paid about half of the going rate for 43" plasmas at the time (which was about $3k).

Yep. LG stands for "Lucky Goldstar". I thought I heard they acquired Zenith, the American company that made good TVs in '60s and '70s, but went downhill in recent years.

Here is a somewhat on-topic question:

If you are wall mounting a flat screen, what is the standard practice for routing and hiding the required cables? I am assuming you need power, coaxial cable, and video cables? Anything else? Is it typical to just snake them up the wall and pop them out behind the tv?

I LOVE LOVE LOVE MY FLAT SCREEN. IT IS A VIZIO AND CHEAP!!! GREAT QUALITY AND VERY AFFORDABLE! I READ THE REVIEWS ON IT BEFORE I DECIDED TO PURCHASE IT, GREAT REVIEWS. ALSO, IT IS AN LCD TV 37". PERFECT FOR THE LIVING ROOM!

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Run a two inch flexible conduit.
I used an orange plastic thingy that is normaly used for running fiber optic cabling.

Then you wan to pull power, Svideo, composite, component (two sets), HMDI, coax and 3 sets up speaker wire. Even if you are not using them now, you may well be in the next 5 years.

For that finished touch, run a IR repeater cable so your remotes work when you point them at the TV. Then take all your stack of AV equipment and maybe a PC media server and stuff them in a closet.

Makes for a nice look.

Look Ma, No cables!
http://www.2729parrish.com/image_dis...4163.jpg&w=298

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Peace Out, Philly!

I think Best Buy's high-end "Magnolia" section at some of their locations may sell the Elite line. I believe that the Best Buy over in Cherry Hill in the Wegman's plaza has a Magnolia section.

To Tenzo-

First thing, I work at Geek Squad not Best Buy, partner companies, but completely different when it comes to sales. Plus I'm on the road and in houses 95% of the time. When was an Agent, however, I took in all the repairs for TV's, computers etc., and from experience and what I've seen happen to TV's and what the service plan covers, IT IS DEFINITLY WORTH IT. this is coming from someone who doesn't give 2 sh!ts about 'numbers' and how much the store makes that day. I've seen Projection TVs with screen burns, tv's surged so bad the inverter melted, blown bulbs, melted boards, even "loose connections" and a lot of wear and tear like loose/completely off buttons, speakers blown etc. COMPLETELY COVERED cust. owes NOTHING. And with most plans like the 3 or 4 year, right before the term ends, people will surge there tv's on purpose and most likely get a new one becuase the TV is old and parts connot be found. I see this everyday, people get a BRAND NEW TV for the $200 extra they spent 3-4 years ago. Now tell me thats not worth it. Grant it, there are people who purchase the plan and nothing happens to there TV so OK they spent $200 for nothing, but wouldn't you rather drop that extra cash in advanced so if and when the TV actually breaks your not shelling out more $ for reapirs or a new one?? It is insurance fraud in a way but to the point no one questions you know? we're raped everyday with income tax why not? Best Buy and Cheney are Hand in Hand haha just playing

Now, when it comes to 'Value', then yes small names will always be considered better because most list the same/simular features as brand names. But when you put a TV's features to the full test, you find that BRAND NAME TV'S ARE WAAAAYYY BETTER THEN THE REST! Why don't you go to a store, say BEST BUY, and actually look at the TV's side by side in REAL LIFE and see for yourself. Sonys by far have better picture quality for Blu-Ray disc and high end media and HDMI like the PS3 and XBOX. Most TV's when connected to comcast or directtv are going to look the same except maybe viewing angles, that because most LCD tv's are 720 progressive (720p) native, or 1080 interlaced (1080i), which is now the standard, but if you want top of the line then BRAND NAME 1080P tvs blow all other 1080p TV's out of the water. IT'S ALL ABOUT QUALITY NOT VALUE WHEN IT COMES TO AN INVESTMENT LIKE A TELEVISION. WHY NOT PAY A LITTLE MORE FOR SOMETHING YOURE ALREADY PAYING A LOT FOR ANYWAY.

WOULD YOU CUT YOUR KIDS COLLEGE FUND SHORT AND SEND HIM TO DEVRY BECAUSE THEY HAVE THE SAME CLASSES AS PRINCETON???

sorry, I meant 120Hz refresh

Every single review I have seen says the Best Buy extended warrenties are bad. Consumer reports says No. If that wasnt proof, just look at what best buy considers the margin.

As for requesting a replacement or repair when you don't deserver it or 'insurance fraud', that comes under stealing with me. And if that happens, that just means that Best Buy has to inflate the cost that much more for their margin and it's even a worse deal. (in laimens terms it's a bad idea)

Here are what some people have experianced in Best Buy warrnties:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/retai...uy_exwars.html

Or

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Peace Out, Philly!

TVs in a consumer electronics store are not REAL LIFE.

http://forums.cnet.com/5208-6035_102...sageID=2657386

"After reading the glowing Cnet review of the Sony KDS-SA55300, I couldn't wait to see one in person. I was very disappointed with the display models that I saw at Best Buy and Circuit City. They were nowhere near as bright as the plasmas or LCD throughout the store. I realized that the lighting in those places is really funky and I wondered if those stores are trying to understate the picture of the rear projection TV's so that they can sell more plasmas and LCDs. Then I went to a Sony outlet store and had the same disappointing result. I believe that Cnet has the most comprehensive and reliable reviews on the net, so they must have had good reasons for rating the KDS-553000 so highly. I'm stumped. Has anyone else had this experience or are my eyes just getting old and weak?"

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"All of this will not be finished in the first one hundred days, nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days, nor in the life of this administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin."

~John F. Kennedy

The life of a plasma display is 12 to 55 years depending on personal use. 5 years is a old rumor from the 90's when stores were still trying to clear out the giant rear proj. units. Use the same electrcity as a LCD, most of your high end TV's are plasma display.