March 22, 2006

Dell Says Dell W5001C HDTV Better Than Panasonic's TH50PX500U HDTV (What Did you Expect Them to Say?)

You know, I normally don't trust a study commissioned by a company that says their product is better than everybody elses. According to Dell's press release:

ROUND ROCK, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 21, 2006--When considering picture quality and price(a), consumers chose Dell's (NASDAQ:DELL) W5001C plasma HDTV over Panasonic's TH50PX500U model in a four-city, head-to-head viewing competition.
The consumer preference study of 50-inch plasma HDTVs was conducted from November 2005 through February 2006 in Baltimore, Chicago, New York and San Francisco. Following viewings of each TV, 308 consumers were asked their preference if the Panasonic and Dell TVs were priced $500 and $100 apart. The Dell won at only a $100 discount to the Panasonic.

Guideline Research, on behalf of Dell, conducted the Dell HDTV Challenge at shopping malls in the four cities. It pitted the competing plasmas against each other in viewings of indoor and outdoor, bright and dimly lit, and high and lower contrast scenes from a high-definition movie.

While I don't necessarily trust Dell, I think the results are pretty legit and mirror what we've been saying. The Dell and the Panasonic models are two of the best HDTVs out there and are a steal for the price.

The funny thing is that this survey took place over 3 months in 4 of the biggest cities in the US and they only surveyed 308 people? Maybe it's time for Dell to hire a new research company? I'm sure Dell could hire a research company to research the best research company. Ouch! I have a headache now.

More at Dell.com

Compare Prices: Dell Plasma

Compare Prices: Panasonic Plasma