Do not buy Panansonic. I purchased a 50" Panasonic Plasma TV, model TH50PZ85U for $2500.00 back in March 2008. Recently my TV would not turn on, all I get are 10 blinking red lights coming from the power display. I did a search on the internet and to my suprise, there is a very large community of people having the very same issue with their TV's and apparently it is too costly to repair (over $500.00, with three boards needing replacement plus the power supply). Panasonic customer support knows there is a problem with these TV's but there reply is "It's out of warranty". Search the internet, you will see most people had their TV go bad right after the first year when the warranty expired.
When I purchased my TV, I was expecting it to last at least 10 years. My TV lasted a little over 3 years. $2500.00 down the drain for 3 years of use. I don't abuse my TV, keep it clean, and have hooked up to an APC power conditioner.
By the way, I own other Panasonic products (TM 700 Camcorder and ZS7 digital camera). I purchased these because I believed in this company. I have lost confidence in this company after getting burned out of so much money.
You are going to see people post how great their Panasonic TV is, and I will agree that the picture quality is superb, but for how long? Are you willing to pay your hard earned money for 1 to 3 years of use? This thread is about reliabilty, not how good your TV looks.
I don't think I'm going to repair this TV. The way I see it. I will repair a TV with parts that will probably fail in a year or two. I will cut my losses and look for another brand of TV. This time I will research a little more on RELIABILITY.