I'm thinking about trading in my 37" lcd for a 50"+ once I get my taxes back.

the cheapest 52" lcd would run me around $2000 shipped.

the cheapest 50" plasma would run me around $1000 shipped.

Is it worth paying twice as much for a plasma?

Why do i want LCD over plasma? I could buy 2 plasmas for the price of an LCD.

I dont even have a cable subscription and would be using it to watch movies only. No gaming, just movies and the 12 local hd stations.

http://hometheater.about.com/od/lcdtvfaqs/f/lcdfaq2.htm

Performance at High Altitude High altitudes can affect the performance of plasma displays because the gas held inside each pixel is stressed, and has to work harder to perform. Some manufacturers make plasmas that are specifically designed for high-altitudes, but they may be priced higher than standard models.

LCD FTW

The plasma TVs are twice as heavy as LCD, they use about twice as much electricity to run them and they have been known to just up an quit at a moments notice.

If you are mounting it on a wall, the weight might be a large factor.

I work with a guy who is on his third plasma TV in 2 years. He'* glad he bought the extended warrantee.

I have a 50" Panasonic Plasma, and I absolutely love it. Everybody has an opinion, and there are pros/cons to both. The picture is absolutely beautiful, and I haven't had a lick of trouble with it. Works fine at this altitude (~5000ft). After the first 100 hours or so, there'* little worry about burn-in. The picture after, like, 60,000 hours, is estimated to be about 1/2 as bright as when new. By that time this will be ancient technology and I'll be looking for something new anyway.

Best thing to do is go look at different TVs. Beware, however, that most TVs on display have the brightness turned up waaaaaaay too high. On a plasma this will make skin tones look "waxy". Look on the web for reviews of particular brands, some are better than others. I chose Panasonic because of its very high ratings. They're a little more expensive than the bargain basement plasmas, but not as high priced as others.

I have no regrets with my plasma. So there'* a least one experienced vote for plasma, mate.

Whether you choose plasma or LCD, with an electronic purchase of this magnitude, an extended warranty is worth a look IMO.

Personally I love the look of the newer 120HZ Samsung LCD tv'*. They have one sitting side by side with a Toshiba lcd at my local Circuit city and the difference is amazing.

Yes, there are visible differences between brands! To be fair, however, the picture needs to be adjusted properly. Out of the box most of them suck (well, they can be much better anyway).

One more thing about my Panasonic, Hans, is that it has a built-in NTSC tuner so I can pull HDTV out of the air. I know you're primarily going to watch movies, but the 10 o clock news is right fine in HD! LOL

you mean ATSC for digital broadcasts over the air I assume.

my 1 year old $500 philips 37" lcd TV pulls 12 HD channels out of the air here...yes in the middle of nowhere idaho with an antenna.

I'm pretty sure any HDTV in the past 3 years has this feature.....

I'm really leaning toward a samsung 46" it should be big enough.

I'm not about to debate which is better since there are advantages to both, it really depends on what you want out of it and the surounding that it is being viewed in.

I'm presently repairing my 60" projection that I absolutley love and speaking with several techi'* I've been told by all of them to purchase name brand and pay a little extra for quality. They tell me that they have so many plasma'*, DLP'*, LCD'* that are just not cost effective to repair. He mentioned that around 95% of the TV'* that are brought in are the lower end models and are basically thrown out since the repair cost is more then 50% of the value of the unit.

The decision is yours.