WHAT TV SHOULD I GET RIGHT NOW?

Since you don't get direct light plasma is possibly a good option, especially if you have off-angle seating positions as mentioned above. The other thing I've noticed in watching some friends' LCD-based sets is that motion seems less fluid than with plasma sets -- like it has a hard time catching up with motion. For instance, watching a pass play in football looks much smoother and more seamless with plasma than with LCD. I realize LCD is getting better in this regard, but I still see it as a comparative advantage with plasma especially if you watch sports. LCD can obviously go brighter, but with a properly set up TV in a non-bright room you don't need that much brightness anyway. And blacks are generally a strength of plasma as well which is good for movies, but LCDs seem to also be catching up there although at a price premium for now. Oh, and I'd bet the plasma would come in quite a bit cheaper. LCD would be thinner and lighter, but that doesn't seem to be much of a concern of yours.

By the way, I've had a 50" Panasonic plasma in very heavy use for about six years and am thrilled. No problems and great picture. Samsung also supposed to be good for both plasma and LCD. If you live in an area where you have power outages or brown outs you might consider a good power conditioner (such as APC, etc.) to protect your investment. One last piece of advice: buy the biggest TV you possibly can -- over time everyone I know (including me) wishes they got a bigger TV and nobody ever says they wish they went smaller. Best of luck.

Thank everyone for some great responses. i DO need to watch from an angle at times, so plasma seems to be the best choice. as for a nice piece of furniture,
should i just get a salamander cabinet or try to be more "creative"? the cabinet could cost as much as the TV. which is OK, But i don't want to find ANYTHING
where the manufacturer cut corners. Salamander does offer casters as an option which is a necessity- i already have 4 things that have to get hooked up, and counting.
Of course i now just look at the Toshiba set with all of its built-in conveniences and the great cabinet it comes in and feel a little blue...

On the theory that size matters:

http://www.nextag.com/Sharp-AQUOS-LC-80LE632U-942569798/prices-html

this would be my recommendation, if +/- $4K is manageable for you.

Marty

The Samsung UN46ES6500 LED HDTV gets my heartiest recommendation. Easily competes with the best out there.

I have 55" Samsung UN55D8000 edge lit LED TV. It is absolutely great with very deep black levels and huge brightness/contrast. It has only 0.25" frame and is about 1" thick. You need to decide if you like Plasma or LCD/LED. They look very different. Go to large store and look - all plasmas are slightly yellowish and darker. I prefer LCD but some people swear by plasma. Plasma is faster but I don't even set mine to max 240Hz because it gets "soap opera effect" when movies look like home videos. LCD is better for bright rooms and mine has compensation for daylight, that you can set and adjust. It looks at bright light exactly same as in dark room. Samsung comes with strange settings, too much contrast and oversaturated colors. I copied settings somebody published on internet (a lot of settings) and it is absolutely perfect. Unfortunately it has to be set independently for each mode and each input (cannot be copied) resulting in a lot of work. Contact me if you decide to go with this model. LEDs come with back or edge lighting. Back lighting makes TV thicker and more expensive but is more even. Edge lighting shows slight irregularities only with uniform gray background - very difficult to see. With regular programs it is non issue. Plasma takes a lot of power - something to consider if you're TV addict like me. Panasonics don't have 2 channel digital audio out since they automatically output Dolby with digital broadcast and 2 channel only with NTSC (that is gone). My Samsung has menu choice for that. Most come with active 3D glasses but LG brand has different scheme with passive glasses - might be not as good. You need to check.

One more thing. Long time ago I replaced 27" TV with 50". It looked so large that I returned it and got 42" instead. Now I have 55" (wishing for more) in the same place and the same watching distance. It's a matter of getting used to while better picture quality/resolution makes it worthwhile. Sizes up to 55" seems to be standard while 65" is less common and cost much more.