A local store has a display model for sale. Regular price was $6,500 now on for $4K.

Is it worth it ? considering that Pioneer no longer makes plasma tvs since 2008 ?

I know the TV is very highly rated for PQ etc.. but I am bit concerned about warranty, parts, etc..

I'd be worried about how much use it got during it's display life. That thing could of been run for 3 years all day long every day and it's life left may be short.

that's a good point and one that I asked the manager of the store in an email I sent him. Hopefuly, it was not run all day for 3 years.. that would be bad.. but then again, how would I know for sure ? he can tell me anything he wants.

If it were me, I think I'd pass on this one for the reasons mentioned. Just my opinion...

If your that interested to know the hours the tv has run for. Find the IP address of the tv from the tv menu and go look it up on a laptop. That is how I know the hours my Kuro has been run for.

Riker,

I say go for it. Pioneer state 100,000 hour panel life. Even at 10hrs a day for three years, thats 10,950 hours. Pioneer will be honouring its after-sales plasma service until 2017 (You can find this on their website). You should not have an issue with after service.

Good luck.

Yeah, I would look at the hours used.

Would be tempting for me. I've been looking constantly for a NOS Kuro, any size. Sigh.

I don't think I'd be tempted at $4k. Maybe at $2.5-3k. Even then it would be a stretch. Of course, that could be just because I'm wanting a projector next.

Yeah, $4k is too much. Sure the list was $6500, but they were selling for $5000 new before Pioneer got out of the market.

I love my non-Elite 50", but even $2k was a lot.

Well it's all moot now, the store manager just emailed me and told me the tv was sold yesterday.

So, fogettaboutitt..

I will be looking at the Panny VT25, the Samsung 8000 and some Sharp models..basicaly I have no frigging clue what I want other than a large tv 60" or more and the best PQ that $4K can buy me.

Make it simple and just pick the one that looks the best to you, because I guarantee that if you start researching you will find that each one of those TV's has some sort of problem someone can complain about.

4K seems like a lot of money to spend on a 60inch TV, at least in 2010.

I picked up a 50 inch LG plasma for $900 last November and it looks great, like I couldn't be happier.

I know you are not looking for a front projctot, but just to give you an economy of scale, you can get an awsome front projector for about 2K and have more then double the screen size.

With all due reapect, I think if you spend that much on a 60" TV, someone is getting rich, and it ain't you!

a buddy of mine just got a panasonic G25 50" for close to 1,000$ might want to look into that maybe?

Where does he live and what are his work hours?

60" and larger TV's up here are very expensive. you really have to wait for them to go on sale and even then it takes a little talking to get them down to reasonable pricing.

I'd get a projector AND a screen AND a 50" Panasonic plasma or something. That's just too much money for mature technology.

Like Jay said.. this ain't the states. up here in the Nation's Capital, things like TVs are considerably more expensive, for no reason, than in the US. Yes, $4K seems like a lot for a 60" not named Kuro Elite but most upper end 60" TVs here , even these days, are all in the ball park of 4K . It's sad, but that's life in my city.

If I'm lucky and get a really good deal, I might be able to swing a Panny VT25 65" for $4K including TAXES !! wouldn't that be something HEY !! but I'm not holding my breath.

Time will tell.. whatever I end up with and whenever I end up with it, I'll be sure to let you guys know, just in case your shopping in Ottawa for a tv

Again Jay you are so right. Every time I click on another review, I get the " it's the best I've ever seen" to " problems from the last gen are still not fixed, buyer beware ! " etc... and on and on..

You can find dirt on ANY device ever made if you look hard enough.

Your advice rings through, words to live by my friend.
Cheers

Since everything cost more in Canada, does that mean that the average pay is higher than in USA?

Not everything costs more, especially Axiom speakers. Generally, minimum wage levels are "considerably" higher across the board than in the US. From my experience, executive level pay in the US is higher, however, at the mid and lower level, pay levels in Canada are, in many cases, higher than their US counterpart.

Like everything else in a so-called "free market" system, prices are determined by market size and competition.

A quick Google search shows that the average Canadian Salary is around $63,000 while in the US it is around $81,000.

But this may not tell the whole story.

In Ontario the minimum wage is around $10.00 while many states do not even have a minimum wage.

The US also has more head offices than Canada, meaning that there are more VP's and CEO's and investors living there, since they make mountains more than us mere mortals, this could def. skew the results.

Our population is only 10 percent of the US so it really isn't a fair comparison.

My feeling is we have a larger average of people relatively speaking that are considered middle class, and less very very rich and very very poor. This is our “socialistic” society. You may view this as good or bad. I tend to like the system, but I am biased, I live here.

We surly don’t see the same level of poverty in our inner cities like we see in the US. Although there are places I don’t frequent by myself in Toronto or Montreal at night.

Our taxes are higher but our health care and education are significantly cheaper.

Tuition for one year of University in Ontario is around $6000, around $2000 in Quebec. Where it can be three to four times that for a community college in the US.

This gives Canadians a better financial head start when finishing school over the US. Student loans here can be paid off in about a 1/3 of the time than it does in the US setting up a more stable financial future.

No one in Canada will ever have to mortgage their house to get health car for a child or to pay for post 2ndary school education.

Interesting stat; Canada and California have about the same population, 35 million give or take a few. In 2009, the number of homicides in California was around 2500, in Canada 611.

One of the biggest contributes to violent crime is poverty. I let the numbers speak for them selves.

Interesting. Thank you. I worry a lot that I'll lose my job and not be able to get another one, so I won't be able to pay off the mortgage.

I suppose this isn't the "forum" to discuss these issues, however, since it has been asked, it is interesting to especially take note of your comments comparing post secondary education costs "vis a vis", Canada/US and it would seem the Americans are very concerned about this, at the "highest" levels. The US has gone from first to twelfth in the industrialized world in the number of youth attending college and I am sure costs have a significant bearing on this and WILL affect the future competitive capability of the country. Canada is number one.

Taking in to account all of the things in this discussion, regardless of the costs, it is interesting to note that even with ratings by US publications of "liveable" cities around the world, Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary along with several European cities are always at or near the top of the list.

The vast majority of US cities are "well" down that list.
As a wise person told me a long time ago, I guess there is a "price to pay for everything".

Pioneer confuses me so much with all their seemingly redundant products. Whats the differences between elite/non elite Kuros? They both produce the darkest blacks right? I have never personally viewed a Kuro although I hear they are legendary.

The Elite models had more calibration friendly settings. The same year's models did use the same panels, and could produce the same black levels. There was a run of monitor-only (no TV tuner or speakers) display made after the last TVs which actually had even better panels in them.

I wish I didn't read that. I missed out last year getting a 50" Kuro monitor at $1200 NIB, shipped because I hesitated that it might not be worth it. Grr.

I had already dropped $2000 on my Kuro TV, when the monitors showed up at about $1500. I really wish I had waited a few weeks. But things were getting hairy finding any Pioneer displays in those days, there was no way to know their were readying their next generation TVs when the bottom fell out. Pioneer took final run of the best panels they ever made and put them in those monitors, and basically liquidated them.

My original plan was to get one of the monitor Kuro's since we have to have some sort of external tuner anyway. No need for speakers as it would have been run with the Axioms. It was a great deal that I wasn't ready financially to take advantage of.

I have a Pioneer PDP-6010 Kuro that I bought a year or more ago and it wasn't cheap, Imo it still has the best picture I have yet to see on any set out, and I've never regretted the purchase.

Most of my friends who came over are wow by my 50" 720p Pioneer as compared to their FullHD LCD/Plasma, they always said how come mine have a better picture than theirs when they have more pixel than mine :p

And my KURO is already a 3-4 years old model.

Yes indeed.
A friend of mine, keen on bargains and deals, got a floor model 55" Samsung plasma and the colours are whitewashed out.
I helped him tweak the settings but to no avail.

I am not 100% there isn't a signal issue, but most of his channels, with satellite look like crap compared to our feed. Watching hockey is like watching a snow storm.

It wasn't the "Winter Classic" you were watching then, with authentic snow?

on a marine corps base, and erratic... i wouldn't try it... :P

60"ers are getting rare indeed.
If you can... Find a kuro 6020.
Change out the audio board...
Viola !! Elite 151 plasma.
Opens alls modes for calibration
Did this my self on mine. (pure)
Info. on the avs forums under "plasmas"
You can do this with the 5020 as well.
Cheap way to get a top of the line set.

Cheers

Cruzzco

Neat. I found this step-by-step: http://www.hippotechsolutions.com/?p=2613

I'll probably order the Elite board, even if I don't plan to do this mod right now, it'd be nice to have it around while I can still get them.