Price Paid:  $3400.00 from Best But

Summary:
This TV got my wife's attention because of clear picture and the Ambilight feature. She just sat in front of the TV on the floor until a salesman made us an offer we couldn't refuse. We compared this TV to the Samsung 50 competition. It was awfully close, but the Philips had the edge with the backlight feature. I also liked the Panasonic picture. Overall I don't regret my purchase at all. We also got 2 years no interest financing. That was an incentive to buy. I also compared the TV's at Costco, after I had already commited to the Philips. The Pioneer and the Panasonic looked good, but didn't offer the Ambilight feature, and weren't cheaper either. I'm happy with my purchase. Eventually all TV's will be cheaper and have more features than mine, but I feel good about my purchase today.
Plasma is my favorite thin screen technology. I'm not a fan of LCD, or anything projection. That leaves just Plasma. At least that narrows down the selection process. I wanted a 50 inch TV because the 4:3 aspect shows would need to look large too. 50 inch gives that.

Strengths:
Picture Perfect HDTV
Ambilight backlight
My wife can use it
My wife loves it.
Future ready with HDMI inputs.

Weaknesses:
Expensive compared to CRT TV
I can't get the digital audio input to work.
It could benefit from another analogue audio input.
Supposedly, burn-in could happen, but I don't forsee that happening with my type of usage. I have never burn-in a CRT before by being careful not to leave a static photo on them.

Similar Products Used:
None, this is my first Plasma TV