Re: tv question
I cannot believe the VT series were bad, you probably got a (rare) bad piece. The VT is top of the line Series in the Panny line-up and have consistently won Editor's Choice awards from CNeT.
I just don't like Sammy for the substandard parts they put into their products (even though I know I'm going to end up with the S4) and nearly all of their tech products have a guaranteed shelf-life of a few years tops (if that).
I have a Panny GT20 (purchased in early 2010) that's gone through MAJOR power spikes and outages (without a UPC) and touch wood has managed to squeeze through unscathed (although having said that now, I'm sure it'll die in the next year). I genuinely believe you just had a bad piece.
My next TV upgrade WILL be whatever VT series version is out at the time.
@ Florida, I won't go with Sony and LG is a shittier version of Samsung. Stay away from Korean brands as much as you can.
Price-performance combination, you cannot beat a Plasma and since Panasonic bought ALL of Pioneer's Plasma Patents, they are merrily on the way to becoming the world's best TV Manufacturer. The reason I mention Pioneer is because back in early 2000s, Pioneer was the best manufacturer of Plasmas via their Kuro line-up. They were unbeatable until the day Pioneer stopped making them because they had invested so much in R&D, their overpriced (at the time) Plasmas were out of reach for most consumers and they had to shut down their Plasma TV division.
Panny went on a buying spree of their technology, gradually introducing Pioneer tech into their TVs until sales volumes resulted in prices dropping and Plasmas became increasingly more affordable. As a result, Panasonic now holds the distinction of being the world's best TV manufacturer.
In fact look at [URL="http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-33199_7-57451748-221/editors-choice-tv-and-ratings-revealed-midyear-report-card/"]this link[/URL]. 4 of the top 5 TVs on CNeT are Panny Plasmas.
There isn't an LCD or LED that can hold a candle to their Plasmas and this will hold true until OLEDs become affordable mainstream hardware.