50" can dip to 1100 or so a lot for plasma.. Sams, etc on brands like Vizio, Philips, etc..

Panasonic plasmas are good too. The 42" 720 available at most places was my second choice.

However, if he'* that old, just for TV and an occasional movie, i'd find an LCD. It'll be better for reflections, and brighter, easier to see.

ended up getting the 37" toshiba . lcd 720 for $799 plus tax. real nice picture on it even though he doesnt have hd channels thru his cable. he has to pay extra for hd channels and he is not willing to pay the extra . :?

I wouldn't give much thought to projected life. 60,000 hours is nearly 7 years of continuous use, always on. By the time you hit anywhere near 60,000 hours of actual use, the TV will be grossly outdated anyway.

We have a 46" Samsung LCD, it'* the best looking LCD on the market that I have seen, and I looked at a lot of them. You won't like the price of them though, they are quite expensive, but sometimes older models sell for cheaper. I seen 42" Sharp LCDs selling for $1300 USD, which are pretty good LCD panels.

Do some research and get him an antenna. I've heard there are a few good indoor ones where he should be able to pick up any local HD stations over the air pretty easy.

I just won a 32" Vizio through a raffle and love it. Has a built in HD tuner and pics up a ton of channels in my area.