ok, ignoring optsion 4 and 5 as I plan on buying a bluray player (not PS3) and have HD tv content as well.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B001UAB40E/ref=ord_cart_shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=A33ZFW15ZO0RKP&v=glance

Its a Panasonic 46" THX certified plasma screen. Specs wise its seems really really good and based on what I've been reading it should be great for anythign I'd be watching. TV, bluray, dvd, games, internet, etc.

What do you think?

My dad has a 50" panasonic it does HD very nicely but the SD stuff if very blurry.
just my opinion on it.

Is it plasma or lcd?

it is a plasma

I didn't vote, because I don't have any experience with a similar (read: Panasonic) TV of that kind of size. Just something to consider, incase it might be of interest to you: Is it 3D-ready? I know that's not an issue for a lot of people, but just something to consider incase it is important for you.

Based on the current technology that uses the active shutter glasses, then yes any tv is ready if you don't mind paying $125 for the kit.

The passive system that is used in theaters won't even hit the market for a few years so I'll just buy a new TV for that when it comes out.

Even if you buy a "3D ready" TV now you'll be paying at least $50 for each set of glasses and that is simply ridiculas.

However, thank you for the info, I just happen to have spent a large part of last week reading about that topic. High quality low cost glasses for 3D for home is just not ready yet and I'm not spending $100's on glasses for family/friends to use/break.

TV is good. IF you want 3D ready plasma...Samsung 450 series plasma. I know its not 1080p but you could get a 50 incher for that price.

@Superchunk: Why Plasma over LCD?

Overall better video quality due to much better blacks and faster response times, i.e. no blur. However, you could purchase one of the LED tvs that have the LEDs behind the screen (basically not the super skinny models) which allows them to turn the pixels off resulting in far better blacks similar to plasma, however, these are quite a bit more expensive than their Plasma counter parts with no real advantages.

I have a 50" Panasonic, and while I do prefer my Sony HDTV, it is still pretty good. I don't know what model I have, but I think they make good TVs generally

I am sure you have done your research in finding the best value