Pioneer: Please, Take Two 50-Inch Plasmas

Pioneer Electronics wants you to see the Super Bowl in high-def so badly that if you buy a PRO-FHD1 50-inch plasma, they'll throw in a second 50-inch plasma TV for free.

Here at Digital Trends, we’re used to marketing folks at consumer electronics makers and media distributors running some pretty unusual—and tremendously over-hyped—stuff at us. It’s generally worst in the run-up to the end-of-year holiday season, but—thanks to modern Western culture’s every-expanding consumerism and waistlines—there’s usually another holiday rigt around the corner. Which means another round of…stuff.

But we have to give the folks at Pioneer Electronics some credit: they’re so keen that consumers should experience the upcoming Super Bowl football game in glorious high definition that, for a limited time, if you purchase one of their PRO-FHD1 50-inch 1080p-capable high-definition plasma televisions…they’ll throw in a second 50-inch high-definition plasma television from the same dealer for free.

Because, obviously, it’s one thing to have a 50-inch high-def display in the living room, but you haven’t experienced high-def until you have an extra 50-inch plasma display in, say, the bathroom.

Of course, there’s a catch. The Pioneer PRO-FHD1 is an $8,000 plasma display, supporting 1080p content and offering two HDMI inputs along with DV-D, component, composite, S-Video, and even RS-232C input, plus all the signal and image-enhancing bells and whistles one might expect from an $8,000 television set. The "free" 50-inch plasma is something of a different beast: the PDP-5016HD, offering WXGA resolution (that’ll do 720p, but not 1080p), but, at a street price around $2,500, still packs a number of features, including HDMI, component, composite, and antenna inputs, plus integrated NTSC, ATSC, and QAM tuners.

If you were considering dropping eight grand on a plasma TV set, then maybe getting a second, 124-pound television thrown in for free (so long as the dealer has one) will be a clincher for you: one for the home theater, maybe one for the den or game room. Or, just maybe, the whole idea strikes you as a bit silly. At this point, we really can’t say. Pioneer’s running the promotion until March 31, 2007 (or as long as supplies last), and buyers have to take delivery from the same dealer selling them the PRO-FHD1. Pioneer also notes not all dealers may be participating in the buy-one, get-another-free special.

(Oh, if you want a stand for the PRO-FHD1? Sold separately.)