I didn't snag one no. If more show up on Thursday I might go nuts and do so as the money will be there in the bank by then. The truth is a flat panel is more practical for me, it's just that - as I said - at �999 the SXRD was such a beast of a TV for relatively little it would have been hard to resist.

8th Gen Pioneer plasmas interest me. Those begin shipping in June. Fujitsu's 58 series plasmas and the commercial Panasonic plasma displays are always decent, and in September the 2007 'X' series LCDs from Sony will be out. That's how my flat panel shortlist is looking, with slight favour going to the Pioneer if it lives up to the hype and if they've finally got their screen retention defences down as well as Panasonic have.

I just have to think very carefully what decision I make here as I am trying to rebuild my entire set up. An HDTV is the priority for this year. Then I'll look into making changes to speakers and amps in 2008. I'm torn whether to stay analogue or go DSP as DSPs bind me to an all Meridian set up and may also have lower resale value should I ever want to sell anything given the rather niche market of Meridian owners. I wouldn't mind so much being having an all Meridian digital set up, but to do so I`d need to feel safe about where they were going in future with HDMI support and the new audio codecs. I should be more trusting of dear old M, but I'm a former Tag Mclaren owner and have been burnt before. smile

Eventually whatever audio upgrades I make with speakers/amps…etc I`d ideally like to be good enough to move into a dedicated room with projection, so since I`ve a desire for that goal I`m more accepting of a good display that will work well for SD, HD and gaming rather than really needing the biggest display I can lay my hands on as I don`t expect it to be my primary display for movies after a while.

Must get the money to make my film so I can then be more financially free to buy such toys. smile

Sorry to keep nudging us off topic.