My 2 cents:
I have had a Panasonic 42” 720p plasma for 2 years. I has been great. I bought it on Black Friday for $799. I think you can buy it today for $450-499 at Sears. The only drawback is that the plasma screens are glass and reflects sunlight coming into the room. Therefore, you sometimes need to lower the shades on your windows during the day.
Do not bother paying for 1080p. You will not be able to see the difference unless you go to a 50” or larger. Also, the only machine that gives you full 1080p is a Blueray player. I know 4 other people that have this exact TV and have had no problems with it. Some of them paid close to $2000 for them. Also, the sound out of this TV is much better than most others. Check out CNET or Consumer Reports. They both have rated the Panasonic as the best TV to buy.
Eventually we will all be watching LED tv’s. However, they are too expensive right now. give them another five years.
Thank you both for your input. We don’t have small children around anymore our youngest grandchild is now 8 so no problems there. I did go to CNET your right and I read all the reviews on Best Buy they confirm what you are saying about the 720. I was under the impression that Plasma was better then LED from that article on CNET. The LED prices have actually come down but I thought Plasma was better. The 42” is the one I was looking at and we don’t have Blueray so I think that settles it then the Panasonic is on special at a few places I’ll just have to figure out which one to get it at now.
Did you buy the extra warranty? This is the one I think we will buy...
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=14710589&findingMethod=rr
I say wrong. Most TV for sale these days seem to have 1080P. If you want to also use it as a computer monitor, you are giving up inexpensive resolution increase.
Maybe you should get some glasses (I have a couple of pairs) to be able to see the difference.
Note that broadcast digital TV seems to have higher resolution than that cable stuff.