My son is looking at 3 plasma tv's a LG 50PG20, a Panasonic 50PX80U and a PN50A450 all 720P and in the same price range. Sears has the Panasonic for $900 (thru Tuesday), Best Buy the Samsung for $1050 and a local tv store the LG for $1200.

Any thoughts on these three models? Even though it's higher priced I'm slightly leaning toward the LG only because it's from a local dealer that's been in business since 1950 and they have superb delivery and setup plus they service what they sale.

Any comments on the LG 50PG20?

If you use a HMDI cable to connect say a dvd player to the tv can you still run an analog audio cable also to a receiver (old and it lacks any digital inputs) at the same time?

You shouldn't have any problems running an analog signal out to the receiver. I do it with my Sony BDP and have no troubles at all.

As for the plasma and which is the better buy. I say trust your eyes and then consult with your wallet to see if it is going to contest what your eyes have decided.

I agree with E'pin about the TV selection - but the trick is getting a chance to really evaluate them on a level playing field. Have the LG dealer let you take in a disc you are familiar with (Blu-ray would be ideal, but DVD can suffice) and let you adjust the display from the standard show room "torch" mode to a more accurate setting. Use the remote yourself, figure out what you think of it - both in picture quality and in ease of use. Try to do the same at Sears and Best Buy (although you'll likely be stuck with whatever the store feed is for picture, you should be able to get the remote and start exploring). I haven't heard anything about the LG 50PG20, but here is a review of the 50PG60 .

As for the setup, there's no problem using HDMI for video only and then running audio (be it digital or analog) to a receiver. I've been doing that for quite some time now with the Model 990 and several HDMI sources.

Okay thanks!

My opinion of the LG's is not very high. We have over 60 of them where I work, my buddy owns a bar with 6 of them, the Celtics have 10 of them and they always seem to have artifacts. My 2 cents.

I'm no fan of LG either. But, I have seen some displays that are passable in their line. They all seemed to have a fairly hefty price on them though. That has is to say that has been my experience with them anyway.