I don't have loads of experience in this area, but from what I've seen, the plasmas blow away the CRT based sets. I looked at both recently showing a high definition feed of the Olympics and it wasn't even close.
Plasma vs. CRT based HDTV
Can anyone comment on the picture quality of a comparable based plasma set vs. a hdtv tube set? I have heard some people say that plasma is not yet as good as a tube and vice versa, and unfortunately I have not been able to compare the two sets side-by-side (sony KZ42TS1 plasma vs. Toshiba 34HF81 tube). Thanks for the help