The wife has agreed that our 20" CRT is killing us so we can get a nice TV (as long as it doesn't break the bank). I haven't much of a clue as to what would be good right now, so I'd really appreciate some suggestions.

The basic situation is as follows.

10ft of viewing distance. I think 50" will be workable.
Several windows, but we have blinds and curtains up that block much of the light.
Most viewing will happen from a computer hooked up via DVI-HDMI, so pixel perfect is important. (I saw someone mentioned plasmas have problems with this?)
Related to the above. 1080p is going to give the best option from the computer for anything that isn't video.
We already have a working (though old) sound system with optical/coax in, so the sound on the TV isn't important.
The <$1000 is probably flexible, but not by much. If there were a good reason to spend a little more, we could probably pull it off.
The wife wants a flat panel. I'm honestly fine with a DLP, but she doesn't like them.
The TV may end up being in the corner as there will be some rearranging going on. The viewing angle shouldn't vary by too much, but there may be some.

I have a Samsung PN50B550 that I got from amazon.com and I love it. I haven't had any problems with image retention, the picture is fantastic, and I have absolutely no buzzing from the set. They brought it into my house and made sure it worked. I registered it on Samsungs site and they gave me 3 monthes of extra warranty plus the year that comes with the set. I'm going to purchase an extended warranty within the original warranty period and I should be set. Great picture for the price, check it out in action at your local best buy, sears or hh greg. I paid right around what your budget is for it. 1080 p content looks fantastic and even upscaled dvd's. Standard defintion is also very good on the set. Viewing angles on plasma's is alot better than lcd and is about as good as it gets. The stand that the tv comes with is also a swivel stand that rotates a good bit.

I see the Samsung PN50B530 is available in a Black Friday Ad (forgot to mention I'm in central Texas) that would let me get it for $100 under budget locally. Is there difference between the two models I am likely to notice?

Have you ever had your plasma displaying a computer screen?

One other thing I should have mentioned, probably half of the content watched on it is likely to be 4:3 content, and neither of us like watching that stretched.

This paragraph from the manual makes me a bit nervous though. Watching the Plasma TV in 4:3 format for a long period of time may leave traces of borders displayed on
the left, right and center of the screen caused by the difference of light emission on the screen.
Playing a DVD or a game console may cause similar effects to the screen.
Damages caused by the above effect are not covered by the Warranty. Is this something we should be concerned with. My wife really likes Home Improvement (odd?) and often plays a few episodes on the TV while cleaning, or using her laptop. And if this causes burn in that affects watching widescreen content...

I see the Samsung PN50B530 is available in a Black Friday Ad (forgot to mention I'm in central Texas) that would let me get it for $100 under budget locally. Is there difference between the two models I am likely to notice?

Have you ever had your plasma displaying a computer screen?

I'm not sure what the difference is of the two sets other than the 550 is a higher end model. I'm sure the 530 is a great set though. And to answer your second question I haven't connected my tv to a pc but i'm sure it looks good.

One other thing I should have mentioned, probably half of the content watched on it is likely to be 4:3 content, and neither of us like watching that stretched.

This paragraph from the manual makes me a bit nervous though. Is this something we should be concerned with. My wife really likes Home Improvement (odd?) and often plays a few episodes on the TV while cleaning, or using her laptop. And if this causes burn in that affects watching widescreen content...

I just checked it out, i switched it to 4:3 content and it displayed grey sidebars beside the picture which i believe eliminates any chance of burn it. I always watch content in 16:9 which is standard i believe and it takes up the whole screen, there's also a Zoom 1, Zoom 2 and of course the 4:3. when you put in a dvd or blu ray there's also a wide fit and screen fit option to go along with the others. The tv has alot of options and picture adjustments also and received an excellant review at plasma buying guide (just google that phrase)Also in that link is callibration settings which I use and they provide an excellant and accurate picture.

The uneven phosphor wear caused by excessive viewing of 4:3 material on a 16:9 screen remains a concern for plasma sets only, although improvements have been made. LCDs use a different means of light emission involving polarizing films and liquid crystals. LCDs do not have phosphors and don't suffer phosphor burn ever. (There are cases where defective pixel driver circuits damage the liquid crystals, but these are so rare as to be virtually unknown.)

My local newspaper has 52" 60Hz LCD displays selling for $1199 this week, in "major name brands". Sony and Samsung LCDs are slightly higher, but these are the best regarded brands here at AVS. The extra money for LCD is the cost of total freedom from uneven phosphor wear. In truth in normal usage, you will go for years past the plasma warranty period before the uneven wear becomes noticeable - and then you have no available remedy except a new set purchase. But DO NOT swallow the line that uneven plasma phosphor wear is no longer an issue - nobody has enough usage years on modern plasma displays to actually tell whether it is or not - and in 60+ years of CRT technology, this problem was never solved on those displays.

The viewing angle concern for LCDs is addressed by using a wall mount for the display that both extends and swivels.

Since you are a PC user, you might consider whether you want a display that will support 3D, which is less than a year away, using LCD shutter glasses. Presently such displays are primarily available as variable refresh computer monitors, because the only available 3D source material is PC and console games. But there is a 3D Blu-Ray extension in the works and Panasonic has already announced Plasma display support for 3D in some 2010 models. But the argument could be made that that probably matters more for an HDTV that you buy 5+ years from now - 3D may be a long time coming and never make it to mainstream acceptance, and would always require a cable tether or wireless connection to the PC or disk player.