There is no right way or wrong way to buy an HDTV.
For most general way to watch is with a 32” lcd screen.
They are not bulky at this size which make moving it around the house an easy task as they are very light and much,much cheaper than a 50” plasma.
There was a vivio brand 30” lcd at aldi this week for $250.
Certainly a bargain! as now the price is gradually dropping.
My current tv is a HDready Palsonic 32” crt which weighs in at around 70kg(It took two of us to lift it into place.)
My living room has a 42 in Sony ( 1080p ). Great there too.
As of now I still highly recommend Sony or Samsung for the bigger screens.
Haven't heard what shop repair rates are now but I think that if the $ 250 TV goes bad it may be cheaper just to replace it if it's out of warranty.
Watch for the “Black Friday” deals.
(Search “black Friday” on FR for some of the past threads.)
BTW: I always post a BF thread near the beginning of November. (The BF web sites start to post the Thanksgiving bargains around the end of October, beginning of November).