Hmm. Well, that Panasonic is in like the top 3 of every site I've read for 42" plasmas, and the price is pretty good now, definitely within the range we're looking for... but that one issue concerns me. That's the kind of shit review sites always miss because they just start up the display to check it out, then that's it, all done. If something's going to explode in a week they'll never know. I hate that. Everybody I've read that had problems with the Panasonic said they did their research, determined it was the best 42" on the market, bought it and loved it, then had something bad happen. Ugh.
This is all too complicated. I want the TV fairy to just give me the perfect television. Yes.
EDIT - Further research avails nothing. Oddly enough, I can't find a better TV for the price than the Panasonic that has native 1080p display... because none of them do. Supposedly on a TV that size you can't *truly* appreciate the difference anyway, so I don't know if getting that one would be worth the risk of the power supply problems I've seen reported. Would it be better to just get something like the Hitachi and not worry about it?
The other issue is shipping. I've never had a TV shipped from somewhere before, and the thought kinda' worries me, especially since places like NewEgg offer absolutely no refunds or exchanges or whatever. But I've looked in stores, and the prices on TVs are just so much damn better online. The differences are sometimes in the $500+ range. That's crazy. Who the hell is going to spend $500 more at a store for the same TV?
Arg. So confused.
EDIT x2 - And the confusion continues. I've seen numerous reports of the Panasonic TH42PZ700U model failing, but no reports of the 50" TH50PZ700U model doing so. Supposedly these are the exact same TV except one is bigger... but is there a chance they'd be using different boards in them? Some are saying power supply issue, others are saying circuit boards... but so far I haven't seen the complaint with the 50" model. Most people also seem happy with the 42", but the fact that in 40 reviews on a site I see maybe 5 with a lousy rating because the TV broke concerns me. The 50" is a hell of a lot more, but if it's more reliable... I dunno'.
I've checked a billion sites and nobody can seem to agree on what brands are best and which lesser brands are at least reliable enough to consider. Panasonic, Samsung, and Pioneer consistently come out on top, and there are lots of people who definitely swear by Panasonic for the price. That keeps making them look like the most attractive option to me. The 42" at this point would be a no-brainer if it weren't for that stupid issue of possible manufacturing defect. I don't know what kind of support Panasonic offers there, or whether or not getting an extended warranty for it would be the smart thing to do if I decided to go for it.