I'm not too bright when it comes to electronics. However, we looked at plasma tv's, and they guy at the store said to just buy a flat panel instead. He said the plasma technology is cool, but if it breaks you cannot get it fixed.
Make sure you get one that is HD ready!!!Costco has good prices, FYI.
=)
Maybe this will be frustrating for you, but I recommend LCD over plasma. Plasma is subject to burn-in and I understand brightness or sharpness can fade over time.
Just a thought.
Get a TV with DLP technology. Try to stay away from Plasma. They do not have a long life.
Instead of plasma, consider a Sony 42" LCD projection TV. It's slim and it comes with built in speakers, surround system, tuner, the works. I love it.
For most plasmas you'd have to buy a separate tuner, speakers, etc. Plus, a neighbour of mine has one and the individual pixels are starting to burn out. On the LCD projection TV you just change the LCD bulb every 6,000 hours or so.
The LCD panels, especially the Samsung and Sharp, are better but are also thousands more.
Don't buy a Plasma. There are at least three better cheaper choices.
We were just talking about these at work this morning. The large complex where I work has big plasma screens (I'd say around 42") mounted on the walls in the kitchen areas, four per building. At least half of them I see, all under three years old, look like crap with faded colors, distortion, burned-out pixels, or washed-out areas at the top of the screen. Several are completely dead and, according to notes underneath them, will not be repaired. Now maybe this is a side effect of all the liberalism from them being on CNN 24/7. :)
A guy I work with just bought a 52" HD and the salesman warned him off of plasma rather emphatically for the same reasons--they don't last as long as tubes or LCDs, and they're hell to get repaired.
}:-)4
LCD is much better than Plasma. Last longer, more repairable, less expensive.
Plasma TV Screen Disadvantages:
Image retention: Plasma screens can suffer image retention ( burn in) if a still image is left on the display for a extended period of time. For example, you would not want to use a plasma screen for a computer display constantly. If you were to use a Plasma tv for Video Display and occasional use it for computer, burn in would not be a factor. Also if you were to leave the plasma tv screen on a station such as CNBC, which has constant ticker tape across the bottom, for 24 hours a day, there would be noticeable burn in when you switched to a different channel. If by error you were to burn your screen, proper name brand plasma screens do have a "white flash" utility which eliminates the burn, however it will shorten the life of the plasma. If your primary use of the plasma screen is for TV viewing and dvd, image retention will not be a factor.
http://64.233.179.104/search?q=cache:nJLT6uI0pgEJ:www.plasma.com/classroom/LCD_tv%2520_versus_plasma_tv.htm+++burn+in+plasma+television&hl=en
