I was planning of investing in a plasma and was wondering about opinions between the 2 plasmas.
We don't have a very bright lit room, viewing distance is approx. 10-11 feet. We mostly watch DVD movies, and would get cable HD.
I have checked out the Pioneer and was impressed by the colours and how natural it looked. I couldn't check out the 600U, but did get a chance to look at the 60U, but it wasn't as good.
There is an approx. difference of 500$ between them and was wondering if that was worth it.
I own both, a 42 pioneer elite and the 50 panasonic 600u, to be honest, the pioneer does look maybe a bit better, but $500 better? I don't think so, also I am able to game on my panasonic (xbox 360) and I saw some image retention on the pioneer withing an hour or so of playing on it, so I use my panasonic for gaming and my pioneer for movies.
With the Pioneer, you get a lot of extras for the extra money, the question is are the extra features worth the extra money to you (they certainly would be for me if i were buying today).
Here are the 5070's advantages over the 600U:
Pioneer screen is brighter, handles a bright room better.
Better richer colors.
Individual Input Memory (each input remembers it's own settings).
Two good stretch modes for 4:3 (Cinema and Wide), both of which are better than Panasonic's JUST mode.
Separate ATSC Antenna and Cable tuners with two RF inputs (Panny's tuner is either/or only and has one RF input).
Picture in Picture as well as Split Screen.
Pioneer remote control is WAY better than Panasonic's, and it has an A/V Selection button which lets you change the picture mode on the fly.
Pioneer remote control has Direct Input buttons (takes you directly to your preferred input). The Panasonic does not have this and it's irritating.
Subwoofer output.
Pioneer has much better looking cabinet, but the glossy bezel is like a dark mirror and is more reflective than the screen is. Score one for the Panasonic's ugly cabinet.
50" Pioneer has R/L Speaker jacks (enables you to connect remote bookshelf speakers if you remove the factory speakers).
Of course in a dark room the Panny looks more natural and realistic. Anything related to sound goes through an AV receiver, and for use in a Home Theater type set up Picture in a picture isnt exactly a top desired feature.
I dont watch any 4:3 myself and only use the Panny remote control when setting up/adjusting--never during a movie.