[nature boy]

For the past six years I've stood by the following simple guidelines: For LCD, go Samsung. For plasma, go Panasonic. I've followed this myself and made these recommendations to others, and I have yet to have a single instance where someone wasn't happy with the purchase. Can other brands offer good value and reliability? Sure they can. But IMO, and after a LOT of research, these two brands are the best in their respective formats.

+1.  I personally opted for a Panny V10 a couple of years ago and couldn't be happier.  Had it professionally calibrated by Chad B. who travels around the east coast from time to time.  Really nice and knowledgable fellow.

NB

[SoCalWJS]

Count me as another satisfied Panasonic 50" Plasma TV owner!

Still prefer the overall performance of Plasma vs LCD. Smoother panning, better viewing angle, truer colors, and better greens (LCD always looks lime green to me - look at football fields or golf tournaments and the color of the grass is just wrong)

LCD is lighter and can be cheaper, plus more energy efficient.

Almost thinking of replacing my 3 year old 50" 720p this christmas with one of the new ones (but think the money is likely going elsewhere).

[WC]

I bought a 50" Panasonic Plasma last Christmas an S2 model. It was less expensive than the similarly sized LCD models. We have had good luck with our previous 42" Hitachi Plasma and really prefered the Plasma picture to the LCDs.

[Tubeburner]

Count me in for the 50" Panasonic Plasma. I have owned the Plasma for one month and it is an incredible value. The picture is awesome and you can change easily for brightness of the room.