Pardon my ignorance... I've been looking and reading and researching online for weeks. I think my needs are slightly different than many participants on this forum. Here goes...

We are replacing an older CRT TV with a flat panel to mount on the wall. One of the main reasons is space and to get the TV away from the hands of my 2 and 5 year olds. Our main uses for the TV will be watching DVDs, kids programing and a lot of sports. I'm a coach so I spend a ton of time watching basketball (from DVD) on TV. Our cable companies HDTV offerrings are minimal and not worth the increased cost (in my opinion) so we will be watching a lot of programs in SD (aside from those I can get via OTA intenna)

After reading and looking at our budget (750-1000) we've heard a lot of good about the 37 and 42 inch Visio LCD tvs. They are carried at our local Walmart, Coscto and Circuit City.

I am by no means a videophile and don't have a discerning eye (I probably can't tell the difference between mediocre HDTV quality versus good HDTV quality for example.)

We are not set on these Visio LCD tv's by any stretch and can postpone our purchase if need be. We have the money set aside but if a better deal was to be coming in a few weeks we can wait and use our old tv. I could also get the 42 inch Visio plasma at Sears for the same amount 999. Does anyone have a suggestion? Thanks very much.

Unless the room has a lot of ambient or direct light, I'd suggest plasma over LCD, mainly because you say you will be watching lots of sports, and almost everyone still notices the "motion blur" on fast movements with LCD. The only other reason to go with LCD would be if you did a lot of gaming, but you didn't really mention that.

37" is pretty small, unless you're less than 6 feet away, so I'd definitely go with at least 42" if you've got the room.

Plasmas have an all-around, more "natural", CRT-like picture, and they also display SD better, as a rule. Between all those stores you mention, plus Best Buy, about the best models you can get within that price range would be the Vizios and Hewlett-Packards. Definitely stay away from the Sylvanias for sure, and the Maxents don't have tuners. I probably wouldn't trust Sanyo, either, as far as their plasmas.

Vizio's are supposed to handle SD pretty well, too, and their built-in tuners are supposed to be pretty good.

I agree with all the above except the part about the sanyo plasma.
My experience with them is pretty limited ill admit, but from what ive seen, its a pretty decent plasma for the money. With what the guy said about probably not being able to tell much of a difference, i think it would do fine.

I'll admit that the 50' Sanyo plasma at my local Walmart does look pretty good, but I was just basing what I said on the fact that I bought one of their 32" CRT's a few years back as a replacement for a 27" model I had bought a few years before, and the drop in quality was VERY steep. When I got the old set, I got it because Consumer Reports had their CRT's 2nd on their list as needing the fewest repairs (and the price was right), but the newer one wasn't even close in build or picture quality. I imagine they're probably farming the production out somewhere cheaper now.

I do know that they're doing that with Toshiba plasmas now, for the past couple of years - Funai manufactures them now (they also make Sylvania's).

Plus, I thought I remembered some posts on the Sanyo plasma threads here that mentioned some problems. I really have no idea how well they handle SD, though.

As far as the Sylvanias, I've heard of all kinds of problems with those here. Mainly with judder.

CR rates the HP's and Vizio's well for all-around picture quality, so I just mentioned those as decent "budget brands".

But, you're gonna get what you pay for basically, no matter what you get. You're sacrificing one thing or another for the cheaper price.

I'll admit that the 50' Sanyo plasma at my local Walmart does look pretty good, but I was just basing what I said on the fact that I bought one of their 32" CRT's a few years back as a replacement for a 27" model I had bought a few years before, and the drop in quality was VERY steep. When I got the old set, I got it because Consumer Reports had their CRT's 2nd on their list as needing the fewest repairs (and the price was right), but the newer one wasn't even close in build or picture quality. I imagine they're probably farming the production out somewhere cheaper now.

I do know that they're doing that with Toshiba plasmas now, for the past couple of years - Funai manufactures them now (they also make Sylvania's).

Plus, I thought I remembered some posts on the Sanyo plasma threads here that mentioned some problems. I really have no idea how well they handle SD, though.

As far as the Sylvanias, I've heard of all kinds of problems with those here. Mainly with judder.

CR rates the HP's and Vizio's well for all-around picture quality, so I just mentioned those as decent "budget brands".

But, you're gonna get what you pay for basically, no matter what you get. You're sacrificing one thing or another for the cheaper price.

I got ya. I havent really looked at the sanyo CRT's but what ive heard is in line with what you are saying. But yeah the Plasmas look pretty good from the ones ive seen.