I've been shopping around for a couple months for a new TV and I think I have it narrowed down to these two models and I could really use some opinions to help nail the proverbial coffin shut.

Usage: It'll be used in my living room which can be darken so glare isn't a big worry of mine. The sitting distance ranges from 4ft-14ft, hence wanting at least 50in, but I'm not too worried about needing larger than that. I'm going to be using it mostly for gaming (PS3/Wii) as well as SD Cable (don't plan to get HD channels). It might also be used as a computer monitor via s-video most likely, but this would be rarely.

Panny: Main reason that this one is chosen is the fact that its a plasma, my wife especially likes the idea of a thin tv. I, however, don't care too much about it, my desires for it stem from the raving reviews for its PQ, this is by far the most important thing to me and what I'm looking for. Also, the QAM tuner might be helpful to getting my local channels in HD from Charter, but I'm unsure of this.

Samsung: The pro's for this unit is that it is a couple hundred cheaper, larger screen, and has 1080p (would be nice for the PS3). Also, the idea of it up-converting all signals to it's native resolution sounds nice, but I'm skeptical of its conversion, if anyone has input on this?

My Worries: This will be my first HDTV purchase and I'm concerned both about the reliability, as I've never had a TV break, and most of them were used for 10+ yrs, as well as SD cable picture quality, I realize that in general HDTVs do not give as good PQ for SD channels as my old CRT TV might, but I don't want to lose too much quality as my family does watch it frequently.

Sorry for the long post, but any comments are greatly appreciated, thanks a ton. :)

If reliability is a major concern then definitely go with the plasma. According to Consumer Reports the 1 - 2 year repair rate for plasma and lcd televisions is 3% while the rate for microdisplay rear projection televisions is 10%. Also keep in mind that if you go with the rear projection you are going to have to be changing that bulb every couple of years at about $200 a pop.

I've had the 42PX60U for almost a year now and I love it. Right now you can get the 50" Panny at Amazon for $1670 with free shipping.

Bulb costs are offset at least in part by the higher power usage of the plasma. Just go with what looks best to you (as I understand it a major problem with the panny's is clayface), and of course you should consider some of the other factors as well (bulbs, burn-in, power usage, viewing angles, etc)

Good data Buckeye on the repair rates, I didn't realize there was such a difference, I do agree though with that aside, that as far as operating cost, any bulb replacement will be offset by the initial cost difference in the two and in power consumption throughout its life, so I'm counting these as somewhat equal in that respect. Thanks for the comments so far, I hope to hear more as I'm still undecided, thanks everyone!

You are asking between such different technologies that we cannot possibly answer for you. I prefer DLP over plasma since I see bad SDE with plasma; others see RBE with DLP. IMO, DLP is also a much better value in terms of screen size and resolution. But at the end of the day, only you can decide which works best for you. By the way, both are fixed pixel displays, and bot will therefore automatically scale to their native resolution.

You are asking between such different technologies that we cannot possibly answer for you. I prefer DLP over plasma since I see bad SDE with plasma; others see RBE with DLP. IMO, DLP is also a much better value in terms of screen size and resolution. But at the end of the day, only you can decide which works best for you. By the way, both are fixed pixel displays, and bot will therefore automatically scale to their native resolution.

Thanks for the info, I didn't realize the Panny would scale all inputs as well. I guess what I'm really asking is if the Panny's excellent PQ is worth giving up 6in screen size and 1080p resolution. I haven't had a problem with SDE or RBE, so I'm assuming that won't be an issue, thanks! :)