The only good brands are these 3

SONY

Samsung

Phillipes

everything else is $hit. I know this from a personal perspective. I am getting an HD TV for my room for christmas, a samsung 32" 720p HD TV at $599.99

 Leo-j, you shouldn't be giving advice, you didn't even know yours and everybody else's computer monitor was default HD already.

95% of maturity is learning to keep your mouth shut instead of saying something that makes you look immature.

I have a 32 Vizio. It is the best selling TV in my store and Vizio is the #1 selling HDTV brand in America. My TV good as a TV and I also use it as my monitor. Since it doesn't have 1080p, I don't recommend it as a monitor if you want to play computer games! Vizio seems to have the best warranty and is definitely one of the least expensive brands in America.

I would buy another one without much thought because they are so cheap but I am sure there are better TVs out there.

If you're looking at a size of 42" or bigger, I would recommend getting a plasma TV. Pioneer and Panasonic are the best brands, and Panasonic is usually a fair bit cheaper while offering comparable quality.

Okay guys!

Quick question now. I have a choice between a 42'' Vizio at 720p for 1000 dollars. I'm willing to spend more, so this is probably my least favorite.

The two I'm now most keen on are two Phillips televisions -- a 42'' LCD 1080p, and a 50'' Plasma 720p.

The question I have is now obvious; should I get a 42 inch with slightly higher resolution, or a 50'' with slightly lower? I'm personally leaning towards the slightly lower, as I personally noticed virtually no difference between the two displays at the store I was at, and I watched for a while. If this is the wrong choice, please correct me!

Suggestions?

Edit: Also, is there any important difference between Plasma and LCD?  

Plasmas have better response times, wider viewing angles, better color reproduction, and most importantly, better black levels. There is a slight risk of burn-in, but only if a static image is left on-screen for weeks at a time. Also, the screen can reflect glare under some circumstances.

LCDs have no glare and basically no risk of burn-in. They consume less power and are usually a bit lighter and slightly less thick.

EDIT:  Plasmas function best in an environment where the light can be reduced during use.  If the room is consistently bright during use, LCD may be a better choice.

However, I would strongly recommend against getting any plasma other than a Pioneer or a Panasonic. The difference is more significant between brands for plasmas than it is for LCDs.

The product reviews I've seen don't note any difference between this television from philips and those from Panasonic or Pioneer. What, in your experience, is the difference?

All the reports I've heard about Phillips plasmas have mainly been focused on the questionable quality of the product itself, if not necessarily the picture quality, and the poor customer service. Pioneer and Panasonic have both made names for themselves as leaders in the fields of plasma technology; the black levels and picture quality on their product lines are generally the best that can be found. Black level is one of the most important features when talking about picture quality; the contrast levels for plasmas are able to be much higher than LCDs due to the fact that a pixel can be turned completely off, whereas with LCDs some light will still escape.

Is there a specific model you're looking at?