I have little idea about this technology except that plasma is for me based on a brother-in-law's advice. I am considering a 42 or 50 inch set. I have very basic cable and do not want to upgrade if possible but I still want to receive HD (otherwise I am wasting a bunch of functionality and money). I do not even have a cable box.

1) Any 42 to 50 in bang for the buck suggestions? I am looking seriously at the Panasonic 50" model: TH-50PX60U spacer. I looked at it at Tweeter and Best Buy. The HD picture seemed much better at Tweeter over the same tv. Was I just seeing things or is there a blackish outline for rapidly moving pictures on the Panasonic model? Perhaps Best Buy did not have the HD properly set up.

2) I am told that with QAM technology I can get HD through basic cable. The guy at Tweeter said that was not quite right in that I'd need to upgrade the cable to some HD broadcasting package (which he thought added like $9). Who is right?

3) I was also told by the guy at Tweeter that the cable cards for the TVs routinely breakdown and that the best bet is to go with a cable box. Is he right? Do I need to get the cable box? I do not care about the on demand or channel guide stuff at this point and would really rather put the increased cable bill money into the tv.

Any help would be great. Thanks in advance.

I have little idea about this technology except that plasma is for me based on a brother-in-law's advice. I am considering a 42 or 50 inch set. I have very basic cable and do not want to upgrade if possible but I still want to receive HD (otherwise I am wasting a bunch of functionality and money). I do not even have a cable box.

1) Any 42 to 50 in bang for the buck suggestions? I am looking seriously at the Panasonic 50" model: TH-50PX60U spacer. I looked at it at Tweeter and Best Buy. The HD picture seemed much better at Tweeter over the same tv. Was I just seeing things or is there a blackish outline for rapidly moving pictures on the Panasonic model? Perhaps Best Buy did not have the HD properly set up.

2) I am told that with QAM technology I can get HD through basic cable. The guy at Tweeter said that was not quite right in that I'd need to upgrade the cable to some HD broadcasting package (which he thought added like $9). Who is right?

3) I was also told by the guy at Tweeter that the cable cards for the TVs routinely breakdown and that the best bet is to go with a cable box. Is he right? Do I need to get the cable box? I do not care about the on demand or channel guide stuff at this point and would really rather put the increased cable bill money into the tv.

Any help would be great. Thanks in advance.
That's a nice bang for buck set. If you want a big bang for buck, I suggest you also check out the forum sponsors at the top and bottom of the panel. Before buying online, spend a bit of time researching them to see if they are a good place to buy from.

It will depend on your cable company, most scramble thier HD channels, so you'll either need to upgrade to their HD service or pick up local broadcast (antenna) channels.

I'm not aware of breakdowns with cable cards. They sound like your best bet.