VIZIO P50HDM 50-inch HD plasma reviewed

With prices for plasma sets continuing to drop, Personal Tech Pipeline took a look at the VIZIO P50HDM, a 50-inch HDTV set that goes for as little as $2,699. While that price might mean some sacrifices, the P50HDM has what looks like a solid set of specs, including a 10,100:1 contrast ratio, 1366 x 768 resolution and HDMI. The biggest missing piece is probably the lack of a built-in tuner, something you'll need to factor into your purchase price. PTP found picture quality to be solid, once default settings were tweaked a bit, commenting that it "performed well, even in a well-lit room, putting out an impressive amount of image power." Critiques were reserved for a few minor issues such as a poorly designed remote (so toss it and get a universal!), and the usual problems you'll get with all plasma sets, such as the risk of burn in if you keep it on the same channel all day (which we all know would go away to a big extent if broadcasters would ditch those darn watermarks).