Got my plasma from the US for P150,000 inc. of shipping/taxes/duties. Model name is TH42PD50u. To compare with locally available Panny model (42PA30)- 8th gen plasma (vs. 6th gen local), 8.5+billion colors (vs. 1.04B), 4000:1 contrast (same), 2048 shades of gradation (1024 local), 60,000 hrs (same), ntsc tuner (vs. pal). They claim burn-in is practically a non-issue with 8th gen plasmas- you can use it as your pc monitor or play videogames hours on end without worries.
Only drawback is, warranty is not honored by local Panasonic dealers. To be honest, I didnt care since the 42PA30 is P320K, I dont think Id spend 170K for repairs. In fact its cheaper to buy another one in case my current unit bogs down.
Of course its up to you if you will follow my lead and get the latest plasma for half the price. If you think it's too much of a hassle having one shipped from abroad, then just get the local model, which is still way better than the rest.
One last thing, I dont recommend buying HD panels now. This model can rival those HD plasmas twice its price when viewing DVDs, even when placed side by side. Trust me on this. As of now, we have no use for HD units since HD programming isnt available locally, HD-DVD/bluray will only be available at the end of the year (inc. HD-DVD/Bluray players) and same with Xbox 360 (4th qtr 05) and PS3 (2nd qtr 06). Plasma prices are on the decline at a rate of 20%/annum. By the time these new tech becomes the standard, HD plasmas would be 40%-60% cheaper!