Need recommendations on a widescreen HDTV. Pioneer, Sony, RCA, Mitsubishi?

If money were no option, the Pioneer Elite series is the reference for hdtv rpts. 2nd choice would be Sony - though a tad overpriced. 3rd Mits - I have the 65819 and love it. Last rca. Should also consider Tosh.

I'm leaning towards the Mitsubishi 65809. But like the Pioneer better. Thanks for your opion.

I've been researching this myself. It seems popular opinion points to this:

Pioneer Elite
Pioneer
Toshiba
Mits
Panny
Sharp
Hitachi
Sony

That's the order of pic quality without professional help, although Hitachi may be higher in the list, I haven't studied them carefully yet. After calibration by an ISF certified professional and some other tweaks, almost any of these look just about equal, with the Elite at the top still. You may have noticed I left RCA out. That was intentional.

There are some other options, though, that may affect decisions:
I was all happy with choosing a Panny until I discovered that you can't have different video settings for different inputs, it doesn't have memory for this. Mits seems very nice and has a lot to choose from with good deals available, but they need the most tweaking to get a top-notch pic. Toshiba is hailed as 2nd only to the Pioneer for SDTV quality. Pioneer Elites are quite expensive, and the lower line is hard to find at the moment and are often only sold at stores I wouldn't be caught dead purchasing something of this magnitude in. Sony has DVI models, but others should by year-end.

Also, Philips makes a 64" with 9" guns inside. All others 64" and smaller have 7" guns. 9" guns can do HDTV better. Mits has a 73" with 9" guns. And, hey, don't forget the DLP models. They aren't cheap, but they have some special advantages, plus more are coming at lower prices.

Lots of research necessary for this purchase. By the time I finish all mine, we'll have all new products available. :(

Personally, today, I want a Pioneer SD533 for price/PQ/performance.