Customer Reviews
720p never looked so good 
2007-08-07
I wavered between the new 1020p 50-inch plasmas and this one and decided on the Pioneer after looking at the different setups at Best Buy and looking at reviews on Amazon and CNET. The new Panasonic 1020p has a brighter picture but it's a lot more money. So I bought this on Amazon even though I was leery of purchasing such an expensive and large item online. I've bought plenty of items over the years on Amazon but nothing like this.
I was impressed by the Eagle delivery (it arrived in 3 days under free shipping; the guy brought it into my house and helped me set it up). I set it up to make sure it wasn't damaged, that everything worked and there were no dead pixels. Everything was perfect.
It's a better picture than what I saw at Best Buy, where it was displayed next to other high-end plasmas and LCDs. Higher priced 1020p plasmas and LCDs have a brighter picture, but under normal viewing circumstances when you are 10-plus feet away from the TV, it's hard to see much of a difference between a 1020p and this Pioneer in sharpness, contrast or rich color. So if you are a videofile, 1020p's will go down in price in 08. But if you don't want to wait and want to save some money on a high-end plasma, this is hard to beat.
Best product - Best Service 2007-08-01
I ordered from Amazon expecting problems, but I was surprised at the great service I received. My set was delivered on time. The delivery man was the greatest. He was alone and when he finally got this huge box in my living room, I asked if he could place the set in my basement. Preparing myself for a negetive response, I almost passed out with joy when he responded, "I will deliver the set anywhere you want it." He then dragged this huge box through my house, out the back door, and down the steps to my basement. He then, opened the box, checked for damage, then connected the set to see if it worked. I have had a lot of deliveries to my address, but this delivery far exceeds any other.
My PDP Pioneer picture is great. The cable guy will upgrade my service to HD and I am promised a clearer picture, if this is possible. Amazon you and your delivery company is the greatest.
Awesome 2007-07-28
The details are certainly plentiful here. I'll just say that the 5070 changes your perspective about TV viewing. Forget watching regular signal on your old CRT. That won't cut it. I pretty much watch the 5070 or nothing at all at this point.
Excellent Plasma 2007-07-24
Like others on this page I have done my research for over a year. I knew I had to buy a plasma in July 2007 so I took my time to find one. This TV is exceptional. Color quality is absolutely amazing.
Unlike many people here I bought my TV from visualapex.com. Their customer service and delivery arrangements were superb.They had a better price with shipping included. Besides they are an authorized Pioneer seller unlike amazon.com.
This is no way against amazon. I think they do a great job but I'd expected them to be an authorized seller for a company like Pioneer.
Now I need to find a Pioneer receiver to go along with this plasma since my old Sony one broke down after 3 years.
Overall I would highly recommend this TV or the new Pioneer 5080 if you are willing to spend at least 2500 on a tv. Trust me; it is worth it.
ps: After watching HD, regular digital cable seems so dull. For the ones who don't have HD, I would get it asap. This TV brings another level of fun with HD.
Bad Luck with Amazon and Pioneer 
2007-07-17
I hope this is useful to some and will help weigh in on any purchasing decisions being made from here or elsewhere. I love the PDP-5070hd monitor, it looks great and you can read about that in the other reviews and I for the most part agree with them. Unfortunately I had some serious issues with each TV I received from Amazon. The first TV stopped outputting the cable video signal after a few weeks of delivery and all I would get is audio. Just to make sure I didn't have a problem with cable I connected it back to my old CRT and it worked fine. I walked through the setup with Pioneer just to make sure I didn't make a silly mistakes but Pioneer confirmed that something was indeed wrong with the TV and would need maintenance. In a few weeks I received my replacement TV (same make/model) and this one would not even make it past the initial setup after turning it on, it would go to black screen and then the power light would blink on and off. Pioneer again confirmed that something was very wrong with the TV and again the newly received TV would need service. I'm currently waiting to here back from a manager from Amazon to see how they will handle this as I consider this a big inconvenience for the price I paid and would like them to step up and compensate me for the trouble all this has caused. Most likely I will ask for a full refund but I have to say at least customer service has been fairly helpful and well handled with some minor mistakes along the way such as Amazon not arranging for the old TV to be picked up by Eagle when they were to drop off the replacement TV, even though this was confirmed in an email from Amazon. I felt I had to follow up with both groups to make sure things went smoothly, but I expect that from most sales experiences. 3 stars, but I'm not sure if the problems are from Pioneer quality, shipping damage (the boxes all looked fine), or maybe Amazon sold me used TVs that were returned and never properly serviced (just speculating).
Best Plasma for the Money 2008-02-26
I did a lot of research before plunking down the cash for HD technology. I first saw this set in a Best Buy and was blown away by both the picture and the price (I hadn't checked Amazon's prices at the time); I did not think this would be the set I would eventually purchase because it was out of my budget.
I wanted to stay away from Sony because of their prohibitive prices and because of some negative experiences I've had with some Sony products of late. This Pioneer was highly rated by CNET and Consumer Reports and other Amazon users. I was concerned about the shipping, but Amazon's White glove service was exceptional as well as FREE! Best Buy charges for delivery and the set was over a thousand dollars more.
One year later the set suffers no burn in and this is significant because there is an XBOX 360 connected to it AND we watch some standard TV, but I stretch the screen to avoid the "Gray Bars" and therefore also avoid the burn in problems as well. It does run warm, so in the summer you will notice it, even in a large room (14 X 26). If I had to do it all over again, Pioneer would still be my choice and so would Amazon, this model has been replaced by the PDP-5080HD and is $1400.00 more at Box Stores.
the perfect vision 2007-12-08
Hi,
I bought this Pioneer disply unit for my hometheater screening.
i wont talk about how good is this unit as many readers covered that but i will talk about a question that many are asking allot, which is better, the Plasma or the LCD display unit?
Its a tricky question and since the questioner needs to know a quick answer its simply its .... hold on I wont say it now, you must read to the end.
History wise both formats date back to the sixties and even before that time since they where only theories on paper.
You know what's funny about the both formats? in all the since fiction movies they made from the twenties up to the mid eighties, there wasn't any flat screen shown in the space ships or command controls, instead, the CRT screen was the only display unit used. It seems that all science fiction writers didn't had a clear vision for the future display units. Even the great Star Wars movie portraying a very advance civilization had only CRT's.
Now back to our time and question.
Both formats have inn's and out's:-
1- The LCD is best suited for bright places, the plasma display is not, but then not all rooms are very let like the showroom's. Plasma will pass this argument.
2- The Plasma is the best display for moving action and sport channels, the LCD is getting there with new display units from Sharp and Sony.
3- The Plasma have that third dimension 3D look, the LCD totally lacks it.
4- The Plasma have the problem of an image burn in (the channel's logo) if you keep watching the same channel for many hours, the LCD has no problem at all, however many Plasma units come with image burn protection and you need to check out the model number in the net to find if it will do that.
5- The Plasma consume a little more electricity and generate more heat than the LCD panel.
6- Both units can display a very sharp and clear pictures, however the Plasma may have a slight notch over the LCD.
7- Many Plasma units are on sale now with prices lower than the LCD units.
Most LCD display units have a similar and sometime even better contrast than Plasma units, however that was only visible in the showrooms due to the high level of the brightness generated by the showroom's florescent lamps, which have a very negative display on the Plasma display units.
There are allot of other issues that makes the picture of each format Excel's above the other like pixel numbers, contrast level, display usage life and even dealers support, so try to check on those when buying a display unit.
If you watch movies allot, then get a Plasma unit.
If you watch allot of TV shows with resident logos, the buy a LCD unit.
Overall if you want the best out there, then buy the new Kuru plsma disply unit made by Pioneer as its best display ever made to date.
Regards
Riyadh
Still Fantastic - One Year later 2007-10-17
We spent a lot of time researching HDTVs and where to buy them.
We are very happy with the Pioneer PDP-5070HD and also very happy that we purchased it from Amazon.
Beware of the online resellers, make sure you ask them upfront whether they are an authorized Pioneer reseller. Amazon is. The websites often imply one thing, but when you talk to a person, you find out the truth.
Be sure that whoever you buy from can deliver the manufacturer's warrantee. I talked to 3 online resellers who tried to sell me their own warrantee to replace the Pioneer warrantee. I also had a number of online resellers try to sell me the "upgraded" delivery services for hundreds of dollars.
Amazon delivered the TV at no charge, in under a week. The delivery people called in advance to confirm the delivery time, they came when they promised, they were very professional and carried the TV up a flight of stairs.
The TV itself is outstanding. It has eye-popping HD and almost as importantly, renders the old style low def standard TV channels excellently as well. A number of other HDTVs have big problems showing standard def pictures. Whatever HDTV you buy, make sure you compare performance of both HD and standard def programs.
It looks great in the room as well. The deep polished black color looks very classy and is easy to clean.
The cable card feature is great. You can save a bunch of money because the TV doesn't require an HD set top box.
One minor complaint. We use the V-Chip to filter programs for our children. When the V-Chip filter is enabled, it can take about a second or two after you flip to a channel before the show appears. After the kids are in bed and the V-Chip filter is off, the channels change instantly as you would expect.
It's what I expected 2007-09-15
This TV is exactly what I expected-- it has a great picture with sharp blacks, vivid colors and high definition. Some of the "local" channels still stink as the picture will only be as good as the feed received.
I really like the extra stuff on this set. The split screen or picture in picture is fun. I like using it when watching two different sports games at once. The snapshot can work when you want to see whether there was a fumble or if he was out or safe at first base.
I have heard that the speakers are great, but I doubt I will find out. They're still in the box. I hooked this set up as part of a theatre system in my basement.
I think plasma TVs are a little pricey. 2000 bones + is a lot of cash to watch television. This might be worth it.
Excellent TV 2007-09-10
Worth every penny. Excellent picture from any angle and no problem with glare or sunlight. I didn't hook the sound bar onto the monitor, so I can't review it.
