50" LG 50PA5500 1080p Plasma HDTV $600 + Free Shipping (expired)

How does this compare to the Panasonic 50u50? The club version of the Panny is $598 and ill be buy one or the other this week.

Quote from oneness : black friday tv's are gimped, not always slam dunk better deal waiting for that. plus quantities are limited

Yup, very limited, and who wants to wait 10+ hours in line during Thanksgiving in the cold.

I'm conflicted too. Obviously BF is no guarantee and there's not even any prelim ads out right now. Ugh

Great TV, I just got the 6500 which is almost exactly the same as the 5500. PMed it on a Best Buy sale 2 weeks ago via Amazon ---> way, way better customer service than Dell (see below).

However, I would recommend NOT purchasing this TV through Dell, here's my story for those interested:

On August 27th (when this deal went FP) I bit on the deal. I bought the Dell Gift Cards to get the free $50 promotional card and ordered the TV (which I did on the phone as Dell won't apply multiple cards if you order online.) A couple days later, I got an email saying my order had shipped and the estimated delivery would be September 6th. On the 4th, I hadn't received an actual tracking number aside from basic info listed on Dell's order history, so I contacted Dell to see what was going on. The woman I talked to said that my order had shipped, but was currently being called back to the warehouse because of a verification issue with my credit card -- the reason being I had just moved and my billing address hadn't updated fast enough on my credit card (I don't blame Dell for this.) After explaining to the woman, she was able to fix the billing address issue and said when the TV got back to them, it would be re-shipped under a new order number. After a couple of days, I checked the new order number and the estimated delivery is Sept 16th, but I never received an email saying it shipped. So, I called Dell who told me my order was on hold due to lack of funds on the gift cards I used -- the ones I bought specifically for this TV. They claimed that I had used my gift cards on the first TV order AND that the cost of the TV was now $150 more and if I wanted it I had to pay that IN ADDITION to paying the amount on the gift cards. After 2 hours, 8 transfers, and explaining my situation each time, I finally got somebody that understood what had happened and helped me cancel my order. He told me the amount on my credit card would be refunded, but to get my money back from the gift cards I would have to talk to the gift card department. As of today, I have not received a dime back from Dell and will likely be on the phone with them all day trying to get my money back.

Quote from Graphikzking : Hmm $400 for a 1080p 50" plasma - if that comes I think I'll have 2-3 plasmas in my house in just over a month!

i have a 1 br apartment but I will too!

oh, also my friend got this TV 2 weeks ago from the FP deal and said it's awesome.

Quote from dubleo : Black Friday is coming...

umm, that is alwasy true. I suppose you could say "Black Frtiday is coming" on December 1st & you'd be indisputably right. I think everyone is aware that the calendar is cyclical.

One thing you are ignoring, however, that is at least disputable, is that the deals from the last couple Black Fridays have not actually been that great, and/or very very limited (hard to get in on). So you maybe be counseling people to wait months for ... nothing.

Very tempting deal. But I'd already talked myself (and wife concurred) that I would get at least 55". Oh well. In the meantime our 5+ year old, mediocre 37" polaroid LCD keeps going along ...

I'm now in the market for something of this size, but am I wrong in assuming that Plasma isn't the preferred type of display anymore? I was thinking LED is the preferred?

Perhaps LED is better, but much more expensive. I need to educate myself before I make this purchase. I'm getting rid of a 20 year old Sony Trinitron tube TV, so this is big for me!

I have a similar one, I like it very much except for the glare!

Grabbed this from Fry's for $54x after taxes and I think you'd be hard pressed to find a better value at any size in the Plasma market. Considering my mom's budget Insignia-badged Samsung (a well-known 720 value TV like this LG) was $435 for a 42", this is a good deal.

Is it the best plasma I've ever seen? No. Does it have a great picture once you mess with the settings? Absolutely. OTA HD Cable looks really, really good, as do BluRays.

Quote from jottect : I have a similar one, I like it very much except for the glare!

Could you please elaborate on glare? How bad is that? That is the ONLY thing I am concerned about. I always had LCD (almost 7 years now) and this will be my first plasma if I end up buying. THANKS!

I think the best time of year to buy is dec/jan if you want a great tv at a great price. That's my experience with SD atleast. Most of the best fp deals are around that time of year for tv. Black Friday is more and more disappointing every year.

Quote from sudeh : I got BestBuy to pricematch the 6500 they had in store at Dell's 5500 price.

How did you talk them into that?

Quote from karnage320 : However, I would recommend NOT purchasing this TV through Dell, here's my story for those interested: ...

Ends up adding $50 to buy from Best Buy (for the tax), though you don't have to worry about it being shipped (and also easier to return if there's a problem). Worth it?

Quote from pauladams11 : Ends up adding $50 to buy from Best Buy (for the tax), though you don't have to worry about it being shipped (and also easier to return if there's a problem). Worth it?

If your Best Buy has it in stock, I would say absolutely worth it.

Quote from PalmBayChuck : I'm now in the market for something of this size, but am I wrong in assuming that Plasma isn't the preferred type of display anymore? I was thinking LED is the preferred? Perhaps LED is better, but much more expensive. I need to educate myself before I make this purchase. I'm getting rid of a 20 year old Sony Trinitron tube TV, so this is big for me!

I'm sure people will have differing opinions, but in general plasma has always been preferred for viewing angles, lack of motion-blur, and price.

A lot of people complain that LEDs look good because the brightness/contrast is jacked up really high, so it makes blacks look grey. Plasma can make a black-black.

It looks just as good from the side as it does from the front, no greying/viewing angle problems. I have a couch that sits to the side of the TV, so it was important.

A lot of games prefer plasma.

One thing to consider is that (I believe) all plasma screens are glass, so even "matte" plasma screens will glare much more than matte LED screens. I have a large window that faces the plasma, as well as a lamp that sits off-center, so glare was a big concern for me. It's not horrible, but it's definitely there. I'd recommend seeing the 5500 in person to see if the glare is going to be a deal-breaker or not.

Quote : How did you talk them into that?

I had a surprisingly helpful Best Buy rep. They didn't have any 5500/6500s on the floor, so I said I was interested in seeing what the TV looked like. He walked me over to a 4500 and said it should be very similar. I liked it, and said Dell has the 5500 for $599 and if he could match that price (with a 5500 or 6500) I would buy it, otherwise I'd head home and order it off Dell's website. After he pulled up the specs on the 6500 vs the 5500 on his computer, he couldn't find any differences, so his manager okay'd the match.

I'm out of the loop I guess when it comes to plasma TV's. Is burn in still an issue with plasmas? Would I be better off with a similar LED TV?