No regrets what-so-ever. As it was, I was poised to buy the Sony Bravia but I felt that the picture was not as good. It actually looked blurry to me. Again, this is my own personal opinion. Additionally, the Bravia is more $$. Two of my other TV's are Sony Trinitrons and they have been very good to me. I'll make one more suggestion. A lot of times these big electronic chains will let last years model go a lot cheaper than the brand new model. Sometimes the only difference between this years and last years model is the contrast ratio. While it is true that the higher the contrast ratio the better your picture, sometimes the difference is something like 6000:1 vs. 7000:1. Again, I'll bet most people will be hard pressed to see the difference..especailly for a thousand dollars. Please remember, this is my own opinion. If you do go after a left over model, make sure it has all the features you were looking for in a brand new model. You have a tough decision to make. Will there be a gaming system, like Playstation, hooked up to the TV? Will there be anyone who will leave a static picture on the set for a really really long time? Will the set be kept in a room that is bright most of the time? If you answered yes to all these questions, then you'd be better off with a LCD. If not, then you'll be able to get a bigger screen for a lot less if you go with plasma. One other thing. How far away will you be viewing the TV from? Most people think thas getting a gigantic set and plopping themselves down three feet from the screen will give them a movie theater like experience..buzzzzzz, wrong. The only thing it will do is first give you a headache and then make you angry because the picture will look like a million little boxes. In any case, LCD's look less boxy close up. Again, see these things for yourself when you go looking. By the way, you're not a pest. ;-)

Most good plasmas,such as the new Pioneer Kuro models can be engaged with a slight movement of the picture that is impossible to detect when watching, so even when playing games burn-in is quite unlikely. With a Pioneer or a Panasonic plasma a good rule of thumb is don't use it for gaming during the first 100 hours of watching or for static scroll lines on the picture bottom, such as on ESPN and some news channels. After that, good plasmas have a white-out feature in case of the slight chance of residual burn-in--it basically erases it. Since I am a videophile that loves watching good movies and shows, I watch in a dim to dark room. Without a doubt a Pioneer Kuro and even the latest Panasonics have a much superior contrast than any LCD model and this makes thepicture more natural and richer, or if youn want, the colors POP with exactitude. In a bright room and if you have gamester kids and grandkids that frequent the HDTV, I would get a Sony XBR or Samsung, or even one or two of the JVC models. But the 52" Sony's, Samsungs, Sharps,and JVC's aren't quite as good as their 46" and 40" models. The Sony 46" XBR4 or 5 and 40" XBR 4 or 5(and even a 32" XBR 4 or 5 for the bedroom) are about as good as LCD's get at this point. I have a 40" Sony XBR 4 in my bedroom and love it, but compared to my Pioneer Kuro 50" (5080) and in my media room my Pioneer Elite PRO-150FD 60", the Sony isn't in the same ballpark. If your room is dim enough and a 50" plasma is large enough I would save money and the new Pioneer Kuro PDP-5080. While it isn't a 1080p screen, as long as you sit at least 7 feet away it will look as good as any 1080p screen and it is available online between $2,375-$3,000 delivered. Just don't buy the way overpriced warranties. Panasonic sells a 1080p 50" plasma a little cheaper, but I find the Pioneer better. If you want to get an even bigger screen either get the Panasonic 58" 1080p which can be gotten online delivered between $3,200-$3,900. The 60" Pioneer Kuro PDP-6010FD will cost delivered online between $4,050-$5,000--with some dealers asking for full price--up to $6,500. I would get the 60" Pioneer over the 58" Panny, unless budget is a huge issue. Greg

Really depends on the lighting condtions, beyond that, a matter or personal preferences. Plasma's, to my eyes gives a sharper, more 3d quality image on HD broadcasts. However, plasma screens are pretty reflective and if they face windows, forget about it without closing the shades. For a dedicated home theater, plasma would be my first choice, also because you can get larger plasma screens. The largest LCD screen currently is the sharp at 45". LCD's are great for very bright rooms, zero concern for reflections, as the picture stays very bright and clear. THe old rule about being so many feet from a large screen no longer applies with the newer HD sets. Matter of fact, you want the largest plasma/lcd you can afford as you want to be closer for any HD broadcasts, because their is less concern about the old "screen door" effect. However, for standard definition broadcast, you still want to be a bit further away so you don't see the lesser picture quality. Panasonic makes a great 42" and 50" plasma that has been extremely popular with consumers. Sharp has a new 45" lcd that is the largest (currently) lcd, though they do have a 57" and 65" coming very soon. However, those larger sizes are gonna be very expensive. Basically, you need to visit multiple showrooms. You will find that some showrooms, a particular model looks extremely good, next to another brand that looks bad. My opinion (my opinion only) is that depending on which model they want to push that day, they are going to make sure it looks better than the others. That's why I suggest looking at multiple stores. I will include a link to a GREAT website for all things video/audio and if you ask a question, there are a ton of very helpful people. But first, make sure you do a search to see if someone has asked the question before. Regarding HIGH DEF, remember there are still very few channels that broadcast in high def, but it is the future, though not the very near future as far as I can tell. Also, the standard for the new DVD hasn't been decided yet, but they are selling dvd players that are high def now I believe. However, it will take awhile for the studios to ramp up to selling content that is actually high definition. That said, a good dvd player should upscale the image nicely enough to look spectacular on your brand new HD plasma or LCD. Here is a link that might be useful: AVS Forum

Well.... First off, the security guys are apparently clueless. Putting four speakers in the ceiling makes NO sense at all....NONE. There are a lot ot things that I, as a pro in the AV business, would want to know. 1. Wall mounting? 2. Want/need surround sound? 3. Cable or satellite? 4. DVD (at one or all)? 5. Any existing AV gear that you would "like" to keep using? 6. Would you want distributed Audio? 7. Would you want distributed video? Surely there is a true systems integration firm in your area? A company that specializes in AV installations rather than security installations?