The KRP-500 is one of the best TVs out there, as long as you can still find one. Pioneer plasmas have excellent black levels, and I'd buy one over LED LCDs, the Sony XBR and Samsung Series 9. Three guys that I work with have Pioneer. I know one guy has the Pro-101, the other has the KRP-500, and I don't know what the last one has, but it's the 720P set. The rest, including me, just couldn't afford it until the price dropped for that short time, and now they're mostly gone. If you can get one, I couldn't recommend any TV over it.

Samsung is still a great TV. I'll probably buy one because I use it for my computer monitor, but I would love to have a Pioneer plasma!