Due to a constraint in room space, I need a TV more shallow than 20 inches. For this reason, I've been considering RPTV and plasma, both in the 42-43" size area.
I started off considering the Panny 42" ED, but then the allure of RPTVs set in. I investigated the Sony GWII, but I didn't like the picture.
The Samsung 43" DLP (HLN-series) was pretty good, but compared to other sets, it had pretty bad color banding. I noticed no rainbows (though I looked for them), but the banding and color blotching was intolerable. I attempted to tweak the settings, but to no avail. I looked on other sets displaying the same signal - other RPTVs exhibited the banding more or less than the unit I was examining, but the plasmas -- not at all.
But the Panny 42" doesn't have an HDCP-compliant DVI port, which bothers me. However... the salesman suggested that I look into the Fugitsu 42" ED, which does have such a DVI input. I did a side-by-side comparo against the Panny and... wow. It held up really well. I checked the settings a bit, adjusted, and... well, I'll be damned if the Fugitsu didn't really impress me. It costs more than the Panny, but the picture quality is *close* in many respects, on par in others, and maybe a little better with respect to brightness and vividness of color.
So I think I'm back in plasma land - and I think I want to buy locally. Too many possible problems with this new-fangled technology.

Having said that, the price difference between the Panny 42" ED and the Fugitsu is about $500... plus the cost of the feet (nothing fancy). Which is about 15% of the total. Which means I think I'm leaning toward the Fujitsu, all things considered.
Or I could just buy a $500 CRT, put it somewhere, and live with a 27" TV for a year until things settle down...
Nah.
Update: Various B&M stores in the area are selling the Fujistu feet for $299. So the Fujitsu is about $600-700 more than the equivalent Panasonic. The more I think about it, the more I think that HDCP, the style of the picture, and the greater flexibility with inputs puts the P42VHA20US ahead of the Panny, in my case. And given that Panasonic has (to the best of my knowledge) no intent of incorporating HDCP into its next-gen sets this summer... there's really no reason to wait, if HDCP is important to me.
(Except if overall cost was a factor. Which... at $5300 for the set + feet... not cheap.)