Sony vs Pioneer plasma HDTV?

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

I am looking to buy a new plasma HDTV. The store I'm currently looking
at has a variety of Sony, Pioneer, LG, … TVs. My wife and I were
looking at two specific 50" models: a Sony KDE-50XS955 and Pioneer
Elite. The salesperson told me a few things which I want to check with
the group:

" She said that all plasma panels are made by Fujitsu, Pioneer,
or LG. She said that the Pioneer panel is rated for a life of 80,000
to 120,000 hours vs the Sony's 30,000 to 60,000 hours. She said that
the Pioneer warranty is 2 years whereas the sony's warranty is 1 year.
Those stated facts would seem to indicate that the Pioneer will be
longer-lived than the Sony. Is that true?

" She said that the separate "media box" (tuner, …) on the
Pioneer makes it more flexible and easier to mount on a wall (even
though we intend to put the TB on a table). Is that a big deal?

" My wife and I could discern no obvious difference in picture
quality between the Sony and the Pioneer (or for that matter between
the Pioneer Elite and Pro models). Is there a significant picture
quality difference we just didn't see due to the environment of the
showroom?

" Are there other factors which discriminate between the two
models? What else should we consider?