Pioneer PDP-5040HD 50'' Plasma TV

• Reviewed by: szynda

  Strengths: Local service center in LA area; Good picture quality; Competative (but high) price point

  Weaknesses: Plasma technology is still very fragile

  Overall: Concern over Pioneer not honoring manufacturers warrenty if purchased from non-authorized resellers or websites. If you search the web for the best prices, chances are if it is under $4,800.00 you are purchasing a unit that Pioneer will NOT provide warranty coverage. It is up to you to determine if warranty coverage is worth $1,200 to $1,600 of the cost.

• Reviewed by: felixml

  Strengths: Beautiful picture out of the box, but requires additional adjustments, if wanted to squeeze out the ultimate video performance.

  Weaknesses: Manual is VERY confusing in relation to connections to multiple video sources and antennas.Satellite, as a source, is not mentioned at all.Noisy video box

  Overall: Easy setup, took less than two hours for two adults with min. instruction reading.The best TV I've owned by far.The color/detail is far superior to any Sony XBR, own two of them.Speaker sound is average at best, should be better, otherwise must be run with audiofile-quality external equipment.TV Remote and DirecTv one do not coexist together well, even the simplest functions require constant going back and forth.Highly recommended, though patience required for the best possible results

• Reviewed by: pmotion1428

  Strengths: (1) handles on the monitor(2) HDTV Rx is not integrated into the display (3) Oustanding Picture Quality (4) Easy to understand User Manual

  Weaknesses: (1) speaker install clumsy-seems like an afterthought by the integration engineers (2) Split screen (both) flicker during channel change (3) Have to use AutoSetup Menu Option to get DTV

  Overall: Easy to read and understand owner's manual for set-up and operation. Online menu easy to navigate. Jaw-dropping experience watching NFL and prime time shows in HDTV using indoor HDTV OTA antenna! No need to go the DTV cable or satellite route. The one set-up complaint would be the speaker attachment. Put the speakers on the bottom and they just don't sit right and the instructions were confusing. Seems like that part of the design integration might have been an afterthought. The other nit is the auto setup for DTV channels. Wished I could manually input those channels myself rather than wait the 3-5 minutes for the progress bar to complete setup. If you quit before it finishes, no DTV info is saved. Other connections like DVD and PC (WinXP) were a breeze to set-up and watching on the plasma display outstanding. Very pleased and happy that I purchased this display. Crutchfield has an online User Manual that really helped me decide between this and other Plasmas. I notice that audio volume level seems lower for HDTV reception than for CDROM or DVD input. I may need to experience more with the setup menu. Had read about green level being a bit much and did notice that at first. But using the Movie display option (Setup Menu) seem to make for more realistic green levels. Someday I may shell out the bucks to get it tuned professionally. But honestly, the picture quality and colors, especially for HDTV broadcasts, are outstanding right out of the box. The handles on the plasma monitor make it very easy to lift and mount on the desktop stand. Handles on plasmas larger than 42" is a must. The Monitor also had eyelets for securing to a wall. Pioneer really put a lot of thought behind this product for giving owners the option to mount on a tabletop or hangon the wall. I liked the fact that this product came with everything (monitor, HDTV tuner, and stand). Purchased it online saving about $1500 versus local retail store. A little wary at first about the online purchase but the purchase, communication, and delivery went very smoothly ... probably better than purchasing it retail!

• Reviewed by: c230k

  Strengths: easy to assemble , handles on both sides of plasma panel , loads of picture correcting alg.

  Weaknesses: bulky media box , using DVI input have to unplug both cable to the media box , else screen will shut off , black can be deeper

  Overall: Seems like ppl dosent like to read too detail of my experience :P Okay , Read the first couple of paragraphs unless u r really into HiFi Displays.ColorColor is excellent for using Dynamic setting. Cinema mode basically make it dim and yellowish. Black is not as satisfactary as JVC Screen I saw in Bestbuy. but for sure better than Samsung , Sony ones.The closet competitor is panasonic, for its claim of 3000:1 ratio, it actuall similar to pioneer contrast but appears truer black. TaTung also has brilliant colour and a good price. TV reception is okay , the pixels correcting functions works great for MPEG1 VCDs but not much help if u have poor receptions.The Display has 2 speakers mounting options , the bottom seems unstable and lean forward. So Side mount is recommended.The main IR receiver is on the display , so u can hide the bulky Media Reciever anywhere u want.Conclusion:I have got it on the internet. For MSRP , I can truly tell u , it dosent worth it. It is not a $9000 quality device. The flickering between changing sources in split mode. The werid positioning of VGA in , Missing DVI input on Media Box , it still has a lot of room to improve its functions.I bought it bcoz of the rebate and end of Pioneer in house Plasma manufacturing ( THey will use NEC panel from now on) $5xxxx it is one of the best screen u can get, but I keep wondering JVC is better. Panansonic is kinda blur :P//added 30th aug//Comcast HDTV the media reciever cannot be used in conjunction of Comcast HD service , the comcast motorola box has DVI out , going thru DVI-to-HDMI cable will not show anything, havent tried direct DVI yet.Using the box's component feeds 1080i format signal , but u r going to lose most of the pixel correcting functions, which is pretty bad if u watch 480i signal program , i have hooked up video 2 to comcast box's s-video to fix those edging pixel lines. //8-30//// previous comments I am going to comment on each input mode :Pc Mode : I have been using the screen with conjuction of Windows media center. connected with the media box's VGA D sub input. I have also hooked up a secondary Pc out put with a DVI to HDMI cable to obtain 1080i resolution. Color: Black appears a bit grey , but over all resolution is excellent. Resoltuion: 1024x768 will allow 4:3 prog. to stretch to full screen width. while 1280x768 may coz 4:3 video appears as letter box.Resize:U cannot use Zoom or strectch for PC Mode , so u have to strecth with ur PC display setting.DTV:ASTCColor: I am not sure about wht format send with ATSC , it seems to be a bit unnatural except for PBS HD channel. Resolution: most of the ATSC r 480p , but it dun seems to me they have DVD quality except PBS HD . ResizeSome of the NBC prog are sent with letter box bar , the size button will not allow it to be strectch, u may use Zoom but over quality is aweful. // HDMI 1080i Mode Color:It obviously shows more faded colour at this mode not not as bright as 720pResolution:1920x1080 is excellent for viewing hi speed content like concert lightings , normally will coz hi artifacts , pioneer has made enough pixel correcting methods available and the resoultion is excellent.Still picture is horrible , but technically , it supposed to be clearer than 720i ... funny//Pioneer refused to send in rebate $$ , if u r going to buy it for that rebate promotion , theres a great chance u will not get it , so dun depend on tht.when I order the item , the page said authorized dealer 's purchase will be honor , soon in a wk time , there add a page excluding bestbuy.com, circuity.com and etc H&B retail stores if u ordered thru online system. So it means they can exclude ur store at anytime they like , the rejection letter also mentioned excluding disturbutors. Why do u want to depend on a rebate that they can exclude whenever late in the promotion period they want? Like me when I sent in the rebate form , next day seeing my store is excluded , hows that .