50-inch Plasma Wars: Dell Beats Panasonic

In a survey of 308 consumers from Baltimore, Chicago, New York and San Francisco, Dell's W5001C plasma TV bested a similar model by Panasonic, TH-50PX500U. However, before discarding the Panasonic model I must note that Dell was the sponsor of this survey...which was conducted by a third party, Guideline Research. Still, you have to wonder if Panasonic would've won had they sponsored the survey.
Read the survey by clicking here

In a statement from an online press release, Gerry Smith, vice president of displays and imaging for Dell said, "This is the second year in a row that Dell TVs have come out on top in the ‘HDTV Challenge’. The results reaffirm that customers value the outstanding picture quality of Dell televisions as much as the price."

My Thoughts: I read the survey results and think this was a pretty fair competition, though the Panasonic's contrast ratio, while good, was much lower than Dell's, which says to me that Dell should have won. Hey, Dell makes more than just good computers, and their prices are very competitive.

To give equal time to Panasonic, they also make excellent plasma televisions and really it would be difficult to choose between the Panasonic and Dell. In the end, it might come down to who's brand name I trusted more.