I did a bunch of my own research, and talked to my brother in law who is a TV geek and my best man who is an optics engineer at Xerox and a TV geek. They both agreed that a plasma will give you a touch better color, but the bulb will start to burn out and things will get real dark in 5-10 years. Ever seen some of the TV’s at Amherst Ale House? If you have then you know what I’m talking about. LCD’s will last more like 20 years.
Go to sears and look at them all. I couldn’t tell the difference between a decent LCD and a decent Plasma.
I went Sony. Great reputation, great reviews, we found a good price, built in HD tuner, tons of IO, the picture was amazing. I couldn’t believe when I got it home and turned on the Bills in HD. They’ve never looked so good losing!
But yeah, in general Sony and Samsung seem to be the best. I would trust an LG. I wouldn’t spend $1k of my own money on a Vizio or any other off-brand. That’s a lot of money to get something you won’t be happy with or might shit out in a year or two.