Customer Reviews
Believe The Hype! 
2008-02-08
I totally agree with the thoughts offered by J.Franklin. I researched like a maniac for at least two months, spent a lot of time on the AVS Forum (highly recommended) and just going to all the big box stores and seeing for myself under the less-than-scientific conditions.
Now that I think of it, if you're serious about making a fair comparison between Plasma and LCD, the highly lit flourescent environment you'll find at these places could not be worse. I happen to prefer Plasma for all kinds of reasons that I'll spare you from here. You can a/b Plasma to Plasma in a store, but absolutely try to find a friend who has one to see what the tv can really do.
I was lucky in that I happened to stumble upon a couple of the 5080HD in a few social and business situations. Besides being totally blown away by the picture quality, black levels and transparency of the image, I took note that these were industry professionals who had chosen to purchase the Pioneer because they felt it was the best.
I absolutely recommend purchasing through Amazon, preferably directly when they have units available. I got a fantastic price at $1599, no tax and free white glove delivery. If you're interested in a smaller flat panel experience (given that 50 inches is becoming the industry standard and Pionner is dropping non-Kuro units smaller than 50") think about buying NOW. After several months of losing my mind doing all that research and viewing, I'm happily recovering and enjoying the tv experience of my life...
Great TV 2008-01-20
I have had this tv for a little over a year, its truely a great TV, with many conection options and easy to use. I do recomend this TV for a great picture, great sound quality, and its construction. The tv is intelligent and still up to date with most newer TV's. If you are looking for the highest definition possible this tv comes very close. I picked this tv from Best Buy, after looking at 30 different plasma tv's I picked this pioneer.
An excellent TV - but take note of Amazon's incorrect info 2008-01-01
I can't recommend this TV highly enough, especially after the price drop. It's definitely the best TV out there at this size and price. As long as you are sitting more than 6-8ft from the TV, the fact that this is 720p instead of 1080p is irrelevant. It will look better than other 1080p TVs of the same size due to Pioneer's superiority in overall picture quality.
There are some downsides, but they are too minor to list here and can be found in other online forums.
A couple of things to note since Amazon's information for this TV is wrong:
1) The native resolutions for the 4280 is 1024x768. It can display a number of resolutions higher or lower than this, but that is the native resolution of the panel. Therefore, it does not display 720p "natively", like Amazon says. Like all flat panels, anything other than the native resolutions gets scaled to the native resolution. Amazon incorrectly lists the resolution as 1365x768 in the product description. That is the resolution of the 50 inch Pioneer.
2) The speaker is not detachable on the 4280. It is detachable on the 5080.
3) The "Product Dimensions" under "Product Details" shows 16 x 47 x 33 inches ; 87 pounds. This is the size and weight of the TV in the box. The actual dimensions are correctly listed later as 4-1/2 x 40-15/16 x 26-3/4 x 69.6 lbs.
Amazing TV - price is now unbeatable 2007-12-24
I bought this TV after a lot of research on LCDs and plasmas. Was looking for a TV under 42" and it came down to the Sony 40W3000 and this plasma TV.
When I went to a store to check them out, the Pioneer won hands down. I bought it two weeks ago for $1999.98 and it is absolutely amazing! 720p is way sufficient for my 10 feet viewing distance, no need to throw in the extra cash to get a 1080p plasma.
Picture quality, black levels, etc. this is the best TV I've ever had!
And with amazon's great price adjustment policy, I just got $200 back.
At $1799.98 this is now one of the best deals around, and the price keeps falling!
Friend has it 
2007-07-08
Out of the 42in flat screens i have seen this is the best. My friend bought it to replace an older 42in Pioneer he was putting in bedroom and wow this TV is nice. The colours are lifelike, and the blacks are real a real black. If you want a good tv get this or the PDP-5080HD. What i was suprised by was the deep blacks but also the crisp whites. Now when i go to the store that is the first thing to pop out at me, all I see is how white the whites are and the blacks are really balck. Other tv's may have crisp whites but then only give you grey, then if they do black or darkpurple/blue-balck they only give a yellow or bluey white(so obvious tweaking there). The resolution was great even on regular tv signal. When hooked up a blu-ray player it looked amazing, and thought for sure it was 1080p tv.
Overall it is worth the extra money because you can really see the difference. When you buy a more expensive higher quality tv you get what you pay for. My family always had their tv's for over 10-13 years. So this will be the first time I will be recommending to them it is worth it for them to buy this Flat panel to replace their old tube tv's.
We know some people that bought projection tv's when they were coming down in price to where these LCD's are coming now, but 3 years later parts broke and there were a 1 year backorder on parts, and they had to throw out their tv.
So you have to wonder with all these other tv's cheap flat panel tvs that have plastic parts, and plastic casings in the back of them what else are they cheaping out on to get the price down so low? I don't know about you, but I do not plan on replacing my TV like a cheap cell phone in the 2nd and 3rd year. Just like the old days you get what you pay for.
I'm no techie 2008-05-26
I relied on other reviews here to make my decision. I thought I was committed to 1080p for a TV, but the Pioneer 720p is so good I can't imagine a better quality picture, also glad I went for plasma. Needed help from more tech saavy neighbor, there is no such thing as out of the box and plug it in with these TVs. Delivery was excellent, called ahead, box has device that turns red if any rough handling! But basically curbside delivery, will not take it up any stairs, so be prepared to have your own musclemen.
Excellent picture 2008-04-15
I ordered this tv, after reading reviews at a few websites, and decided on it after finding Cnet rated it very highly, and was on its excellent list. Has super deep rich black, the best they have tested yet. The room I have the tv in has very little glare, so a plasma was the way to go for me. It seems a little pricey, but I feel I got a good deal anyway. Its got more connectors than I will ever use too. I am happy.
I purchased from 6th Ave, and it arrived in good shape, through a freight company, who brought it to my home and in the door. We opened it, as it requires I do before I signed for it, and it was in fine shape, though some of the styrofoam packing had been broken. No complaints.
The Greatest Plasma Screen Ever Made 2008-03-31
I have had an eye on Pioneer plasma screens since I saw one for $40,000 8 years ago. They are phasing out the Kuro line in favor of a Panasonic screen that will be re-badged as a Pioneer TV after May '08. I decided to buy one right now and these are just a few of the many outstanding qualities of this TV:
1) TV Menu interface is incredibly feature rich with more options than most TVs yet easy to use. You can save color/contrast/brightness settings unique to each input device (i.e. Input 1, Input 2 etc.) and it remembers it.
2) The best color, contrast and picture of any TV anywhere ever made
3) Great overall build quality
4) No visible blurring
5) Good remote control with many features including TV Guide
The Amazon description is wrong and it is not 87 lbs and is in fact 1024 by 768. Resolution is still outstanding and better than some 1080i or even 1080 p models. There really isn't a single thing I would change on this TV which is amazing.
Yep. It's really nice. 2008-03-12
A nearly perfect TV. I almost pulled the sting on a top of the line 1080p LCD and I'm glad I didn't. If you are in the market for a 42-46 inch screen you can't go wrong with this one. The colors really pop because of the deep blacks and the total picture quality is beyond that of any other set I research both instore and online. I couldn't be any more pleased with the purchase.
great TV, great service 2008-02-28
I decided on this TV after doing a bunch of research and then viewing my short list at a large electronics store. I bought from Amazon since they are a reputable seller I have dealt with in the past, and I saved considerable money over buying from a local store. I could have saved even more money by buying from several other internet retailers but after reading reviews on the others I decided it wasn't worth it. I was scared off by frequent reports of long delays in delivery, harassing phone calls about extended warranties, and horror stories about receiving TVs that didn't work. I received this TV from Amazon 3 days after ordering it and this was with free shipping. My biggest concern was receiving a defective TV - with most internet sales this is your problem to work out with the manufacturer. With the white glove service offered by amazon, the delivery driver brought the TV into my house, helped unpack it, helped me set it up where I wanted, and then we hooked it up and plugged it in to make sure it was working BEFORE I signed for it - had there been any problems up to that point I could have refused delivery and not been charged. I've had the TV for about 1 month and it is great. I am very happy with Amazon and Pioneer.
