Any comments = Gateway 42-Inch Plasma TV under 3K

I went to my local Gateway Country store this afternoon and checked one out. They were using some type of Bose Lifestyle HT system and cheapo cables. I'm no videophile, but I wasn't really impressed. I'm not sure if it was the plasma itself or the crappy ancillary gear. I sure am tempted at the price however.

It's not hdtv; it's just DTV. Highest resolution is 780 x 480 which is good for 480P or progressive scan from a DVD. Pioneer has a plasma for about $4500-4700 street price that does HDTV.

It's the same as the Sampro that sells at Costco for about the same price. It's not a HDTV monitor. The Sony is better, but at a higher cost. The Sony PFM-42B2 is 1024 X 1024 pixels, but cost a couple grand more. I'm reluctant to go plasma for reliability reasons. It's so new that no one knows the life expectancy of the screen. Everyone admits that they cannot be fixed or recharged. Once they are dead they're dead. The manufacturers estimate (possibly biased) is 12 to 15 years of life expectancy. That's if you only watch 4 hours a day and don't turn the brightness up too high. What a dilemma. They look so beautiful, but is it worth the risk of spending $5K and up for something that may be a paperweight in 4-6 years (maybe more, maybe less). I think I'll try to hold out another year and see how the technology evolves.

For excellent reviews of all the recent contenders in the Plasma field, check out plasmatvbuyingguide.com. And for more info than you could ever want, avsforum.com. Long and short, the overwhelming consensus seems to be that, even at the cheapest entry in the 42" plasma market, the Gateway just aint worth the scratch.

Plasmatvbuyingguide.com and avsforum.com both seem to think the new 42" Panasonic for around $3800 is the best plasma currently available.