sanyo dp50747 50" plasma 720p
price - clearance $498
20% display discount - 100
total price - 398 + tax

old crt broke and looking for a new tv...was looking for 32" lcd but I love my 42" plasma. It's also 720p and we can't tell the difference, so I'm not concerned about that. I know display tvs are frowned upon, but 400 for a 50" sounds pretty damn good, even for 720p. Plus it's walmart so I can always return it. Thoughts?

Here's the AVS thread on it so you can read up on it.

It's definitely an older model, but it looks like it's dropped $1000 in 3 1/2 years. Not too shabby.

Ha yeah I just read that thread. I figured if I could get an extended 3 year service plan (which walmart.com shows is $44 on a TV of this price), it could be worth the risk. My wife and I are far from being videophiles, but is there really that much difference in a 2007 plasma vs 2011?

I'm not a pro on the tech, but if the reviews are pretty good, you're not videophiles/care about the 720, with that price, I'd say go for it.

To play devil's advocate, here are the main gripes I've heard about plasmas - heat, energy consumption, glare, burn-in. Most people say those issues have been corrected with the newer models. I'm not sure if your model, being from 07, may suffer from those issues. Something to consider.

Well I pulled the trigger. It didn't have a remote so I got the manager to discount it by an additional 10% for a total of 30% off.

Regularly a $1400 tv, the last they sold them new, it went for $998. I got it for $350+tax. Not too shabby. Got the $79 2 year extended protection plan for it as well. The TV got great reviews. Only negatives I found were that it just wouldn't last past a year or two. So hopefully if it does go dead, it's before my warranty is up (but we all know it'll be the month after).

That sounds like a solid buy, especially since you are moving form CRT.

Well I hooked the bad boy up and I must admit that it's not quite up to par in picture quality with my 2010 LG 42" plasma that I bought a couple of months ago, and don't get me started on the picture setting options. But overall for a $350 50" how can I complain? No dead pixels to date and the frame is scratch free, so overall I'm very pleased with it being my bedroom tv.

By the way, for anyone that cares, I did some more research on that AVS thread and it turns out that my particular tv was made in the Samsung plant in Mexico. 9 out of the 10 boards on it are samsung boards and the panel is also samsung. So for the most part, it's Samsung parts at least...I'm still hoping it craps out and they have to give me a new model though!