Do you have PC Richards down where you are? I suspect not. BTW, I found Best Buys up here to be very non-competitive.

Regarding 1080P..yeah it bothered me that the Pioneer wasn't at that resolution but I figure by the time "P" was mainstream I'd be a few years into the set and the technology and prices would be a whole other ball game.

In any case go for the biggest and best Plasma or LCD you can swing.

Were the Sonys you looked at the Bravias? Simply beautiful picture.

Personally I think the Plasmas are the best bang for the buck.

So one poster (JCC911) suggested that the more natural light in the room, "lean towards plasma". Other posts seem to suggest that LCD's are the best for room with lots of light. What's the real story on natural light?

JA

Plasma still has the best contrast and black rendering but suffer from a reflective glass panel. If there is a "clean" wash of natural light then plasma is fine..but...if you introduce any artifacts into the environment then it will be reflected by the glass panel.

Not sure how the new anti-reflective coatings perform on the plasmas but the LCDs have traditionally done much better with their matte finish.

1080p has been here for a while with both HD-DVD & BluRay. It was worthwhile for me.

I'm waiting for the Beta / VHS fight to be over. When it makes it to mainstream broadcasting I'll be looking for another set anyway.

By then you know there will be another format to lust after.

I learned my lesson with a considerable investment in Laserdisk.

BTW, not knocking your decision, just my logic after pulling the technology trigger too fast or too soon too many times. :D

Next question. What's with the huge price differences between the various wall mounts for the flat screens? I've seen them for $200 in Circuit City and plenty of them on eBay are $40 delivered or even thrown in with the tv. Do these things ever fail? Or are they all fine, as long as properly installed?

When I was shopping for my LCD, the mounts varied in price due to the size in which they could hold as one would not fit all sizes of TVs. If I remember correctly there where 3 sizes. The next price difference was in their capabilities. Some are flat mount, others tilt, and the third is on an arm and can swing out from the wall and be turned to any part of the room.

As long as they are intalled correctly they are safe. I know others charge quite a bit for the installation, but it may be worth it, if something was to happen. Also one thinng you my want to have a professional look at is if you are planning on mounting above a fire place. I do not remeber the reasons, but there were some exceptions in doing so. For this I would reccomend a seccond opinion before mounting there.
Hope this helps, cheers

Additionally, some off-brand or proprietary brands are not VESA Compatible. This means that you will have to utilize a generic mount. These are typically very lackluster as far as quality goes.

I spent the good part of a weekend fabricating an adapter for a friend with such a set. He purchased a non VESA set and wanted to use a high end swivel mount.

Check out Peerless mounts. I used one and it is very well made. Bought it online somewhere for less than 1/2 of retail.

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=PDP5016H-R&cat=TVS

50" AKAI Refurb Plasma , $799 (And about $200-300 in shipping)

I just bought one of these and I'll let you know how it is.