Like sands through the hour glass ...

Are you one of the many folks bummed out by Pioneer’s announcement that they would be exiting the Plasma TV market? Were even more bummed when you realized this mean the Kuro line was going the way of the buffalo as well? 

Have you been wallowing in self-remorse for 5 months knowing you were on the cusp of obtaining intense blacks, ultimate contrast, and endless calibration options, just to have the rug pulled out from under you by a softening economy and market shift towards less expensive LCDs? If so ... Days of Our Lives called and they have a plot line in mind for you ... or it’s your lucky day!

It’s not too late to grab that Pioneer Kuro of your dreams, and at significant savings. Beach Camera (a Pioneer Authorized Dealer) currently has the 50” KRP-500M for a very-low $1699 with free shipping and free wall mount ... but wait, there’s more. Link to Beach Camera through Bing.com (Microsoft’s new search engine) and Steve Ballmer will throw an extra 6.5% cash back your way, bringing the total price down to $1594. That’s a price worthy of all the melodrama. 

The KRP-500M is part of Pioneer’s Plasma Swan Song in the consumer plasma market. It carries the same panel and processing as the Elite PRO-101FD, but stripped of a few features you might not need anyway like stand/base, speakers, tuners, and two HDMI inputs instead of four.

If you’re integrating a set into a Home Theater or other setup with AVR, Speakers, and TV Source you can just consider those missing features money in your pocket.  Even if you weren’t planning on incorporating an HT (maybe because you couldn’t afford it after buying a Kuro) ... well now you can!

Via FatWallet.com

Stephen Hopkins

Stephen Hopkins is chief technology editor for EH Publishing. He writes product reviews, features, and focuses heavily on 3D TV, iPhone and iPad apps, and digital content.