I cant see spending $500 on top of the Panny for the NEC cause of the ugly silver surround.

Was the panny you looked at including the video board for HDMI -HMDC inputs? Also the NEC has a three year warranty. Should not have to pay extra like you do for the pannys.

its the Pioneer 425CMX that does not include the board. But it looks like you can only get a board for around $250 for component only. To add DVI and component, it looks like you need a $500-$700 board - its a pretty silly system IMO. I would really prefer the look of the monitor though.

They all look the same, same features, etc from what I can see. Looks like the vr5 has 2 hdmi inputs..are they different generation displays? BTW, as soon as I can figure this out, Im ordering the NEC.

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i bet that plasma is better than some sony plasmas out there right now and its cheaper.
For example this TH-65PV500E by Panasonic.

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