@tabsina:
You are very professional, and I think you are quite a good person for not giving me a backlash about my post which may or may not have seemed harsh.

Anyways, I do think that if you have the means to do so, you should go for a great tv.
And just to basically reiterate what others have said Sony and Samsung do make great tv's.

I think game mode on certain tv's can be (or any customizable mode) can be set to the optimal settings for any game system or any input at all. I just got a 52" 1080p Sony XBR4.
As far as price is concerned, you could go amazon which would be cheaper, but also riskier.
The Sony XBR4 is actually beginning to be phased out, which means sales right now. The 52" at my local best buy is not even available any more, and they won't be receiving any more shipments either since they are awaiting the XBR6 and 7 lines.
any way, you should go to Sony.com and look at the tv pricing, (which is very high)

I believe the 52 inch was something like $3500 on the site, but brick and mortar retail stores are having sales down to $3200. At circuit city, I was able to haggle to get the online price in store. Then I haggled to get the online 10% off discount.

So I paid $2879 after tax for the Sony 52" XBR4, and I am sure you or anyone else could do the same (or considerable cheaper for the 46") and end up getting what is now basically the top of the line tv for a lot less then you would think.

@firstparagraph - I guess the reason is that i don't see the point in getting into arguments over the net, if i didn't think your point was valid, i would have just ignored it (or tried to).. but i agreed to some extent and wanted to clear up my contention for the first post

@restofpost - You are the second, after makingmusic, who has suggested the XBR4 which is comforting in regards to the reliability and quality of that model.. thanks for writing up all the various purchase tips, unfortunately however, living in Australia, i'd have to find local stores that stock the tv meaning the prices would probably defer based on the places I choose here..

My problem with the XBR4, however, lies in the reason I chose to write plasma in the first post (but i'm glad people are still giving me various other things to look at), which is that i'm (and my family) love sports, and 75% of the time the tv is on (including things like gaming) we are either watching something like soccer or football, etc.. my concern with the XBR4 is that it is an LCD, and i've heard that they don't produce as good an output when it comes to fast motions, for instance in sports broadcasts, can either you or makingmusic give your impressions of watching things like sport on that particular model?

I was also suggested from someone, outside of the forum, to look into the Panasonic Viera TH-PZ700 which i'm taking a liking to, except that it doesn't offer a size between 42" and 50", and after checking the link earlier in this thread, i came to the conclusion that around 45-46" would be best for our room.. i then came across the new TH-PZ85 model that comes in 46" that seems perfect in every way for my needs.. however it seems to only be released in USA at the moment, so i don't think i'll be getting that.. anyways.. my point was, what do you all think about the TH-PZ700 line?