"Tlg":
I am also with several of the other posters on this thread.
If money is not a problem, I would go with one of the Pioneer KURO's also. If you STILL want a plasma and money is SOMEWHAT a problem, then I would steer toward Panasonic (just gotten myself a 77U (a 42" model) for Christmas, and so far, I have been MORE than satified), and not look back.
I've read at some places that the 77U is a 720p set, and then at other places, they say that the 77U is a 1080p set. I don't know who to believe. Maybe I need to contact Panasonic and get the correct story sometime later this week. But whatever the case is, I got my 77U for about $1,500.00 + $300.00 for an extended warranty. Comparably speaking, the 700U was seen for as low as $1,900.00 on sale. But the 700U is a TRUE 1080p set, so there are no doubts as to what the resolution capability of this set. Now, if Panasonic tells me that my 77U is also a 1080p set, then I probably would be very happy as I would have then gotten a 1080p set at a bargain price. Otherwise, if they tell me it is in fact a 720p set, then I'll still be happy, as this was what I was setting out to get in the first place
Between LCD and Plasma, I feel the way to go would be to go plasma. My reason being is that they tend to produce a sharper, clearer picture with a much deeper black than even the best LCD set that I can find. Of course, this will come at the expense of some brightness and some on screen glare during daytime hours (even though, the anti-glare coating on the screen does help somewhat).
If you MUST go with an LCD, then I would look at Sharp and then Toshiba in exactly that order.
Good Luck and Happy Shopping.......
--Charles--