I my self have a 42" 1080p Panasonic Plasma HDtv, model: 42PZ800A, the image is beautiful and best of all it was cheap at the time I bought it. It cost $2300AU including delivery and 3 years extended warranty.
In any case I'd highly recommend a plasma screen from Panasonic, right now they have an even better model than what I have, just go to their site and find the model that suits your needs, and then shop around and haggle and see how far they can drop it, or at least what they can add to it.
As for burn in, it's not an issue any more, despite what people say, because all the newer sets have technologies put in place during design to avoid damage done by static pictures, in fact the only way you can burn an image in permanently is if you have a static picture on screen 24/7 for over a 2 week, and as a gamer that won't happen, but if your scared, just remember that watching ordinary TV will remove any perceivable image retention assuming there is any to begin with....to say the least, one really has to try burn an image into a Plasma screen cuz normal use won't do it....I know cuz I own and game on a plasma.







