Hi,

I'm thinking of upgrading from a 32" LCD to a 40-42" LCD or Plasma.
I currently have a Samsung LN-S3292, purchased a year ago. I recently moved and I find it a bit small for my new living room (My viewing distance is about 8-9 ft).

The TV will be used for watching broadcast channels (both SD and HD), gaming (PS3), and occasional DVDs. I would prefer to spend around $1200-1300, and no more than $1500.

If possible, I would really want to go for 1080p to be future-proof, but I keep reading that it doesn't matter. Anyway, regardless of 720 or 1080, my most important criterion will be picture quality.

Can someone recommend a set? Should I go with LCD or Plasma? I don't know too much about plasmas since I was looking only at LCDs last time. What are the pros and cons of each?

Within my budget, I've read that the Samsung LN-Ts and Sharp D62/64s are good LCDs, and the Panasonic 700U is a good plasma. Any other models that I should look at?

Thanks in advance for all your help!

Check out this current thread. Same question as yours :)

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=952199

Given your criteria, my vote goes for the Panasonic 42PZ700U. You get a great picture for a great price.

Given your criteria, my vote goes for the Panasonic 42PZ700U. You get a great picture for a great price.

x2

Given your criteria, my vote goes for the Panasonic 42PZ700U. You get a great picture for a great price.

Agree, even though i have the 42pz77u, the 700u is better...I dont regret buying the 77u though....its still an amazing tv and the price was too sweet to pass up on

Thanks for the suggestion!! I read some great reviews about the 700U. I will go check it out tomorrow at BestBuy.

I'm also considering the Sony S3000 LCD since I heard it has great SD and HD picture quality for an LCD (I haven't completely ruled out LCDs yet :o). How would that compare to the Panny?

Thanks!

Thanks for the suggestion!! I read some great reviews about the 700U. I will go check it out tomorrow at BestBuy.

I'm also considering the Sony S3000 LCD since I heard it has great SD and HD picture quality for an LCD (I haven't completely ruled out LCDs yet :o). How would that compare to the Panny?

Thanks!

I'm looking forward for an answer as well.

Thanks for the suggestion!! I read some great reviews about the 700U. I will go check it out tomorrow at BestBuy.

I'm also considering the Sony S3000 LCD since I heard it has great SD and HD picture quality for an LCD (I haven't completely ruled out LCDs yet :o). How would that compare to the Panny?Several months ago i spent a lot of time playing with my friend's new 46" Sony XBR and then a neighbor's new 40" Bravia (S2000 i believe) and neither of these came close to matching the smooth natural window-like picture quality of my 42PZ700U. HD can come somewhat close on some HD programming, but SD is way worse. And the Bravia guy has the same excellent cable signal as i do (we're connected to the same fiber optic node behind our houses). I simply could not get either of these otherwise excellent LCDs to perform as well as my PZ700U. The plasma is just more CRT-like. That right there helped me realize that i made the right choice by not switching to a 1080p LCD as i had planned earlier this year.