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Last week, I too found myself looking into purchasing one of the three brands you've listed (as well as the Pannie LCD). I was all set to buy the Pan PT50LC13 until I saw the Hitachi 50v500. After tweaking both sets I found their PQ was roughly the same. Still, I had my eye also on the Sony but, according to the salesperson, two of the four he's sold recently have experienced bulb problems. In the end, I decided on the Hitachi. Why? I'm not sure. The featuresets were roughly the same. The Pannie and Hitachi were priced about the same too. I think it came down to styling, the remote, and the fact that I think the PQ was slightly -- very slightly -- better on the Hitachi. The Sony was priced too high.
My biggest fear about buying any set was how it would handle SD. I have bad digital cable and the signal quality varies by channel and sometimes from day to day. But I've found it not to be as bad as I thought ... actually, some stations are gorgeous (others are pretty bad).
However, I will say this: I probably would have been happy with any of the three I was considering.
One suggestion: If the set will be delivered, purchase a stand and take it home. That way, you'll be able to place it and get an idea of just how BIG the set is PRIOR to its delivery.
Another thought: I think -- THINK -- the Hitachi will remember settings for each input. I think -- THINK -- the Sony will NOT. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong ... right now I'm too lazy to test it on my set.) Not sure about the Pannie, however. Also, the Hitachi has a slot for a PC Card in case you want to do a slide show. I thought (and so did the salesperson) it was a Cable Card originally.
What you have going for you is that you've at least narrowed it down to just a few. Your final choice will probably come down to a few little things (ie, appearance, price, remote, et al).
Good hunting.
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