First, I like Samsung at this particular time. To fill you in on some technology differences I'll give you a brief writeup. You will notice that LCDs have been getting larger and larger over time, and the large ones are more expensive than Plasma. The reason? In an LCD the reaction of the liquid is slower than that of the reaction of a Plasma. sure it was not a problem to make an LCD larger, but what happened is it would look like a blur when things started to move quickly like watching a football game. The good brands have overcome this up to the 43 inch range, but if you want a 50 inch or larger with good quality you are going to spend 2 times that of a Plasma. So why does everyone want an LCD then? Well, it is a question of longevity. Most good Plasmas have a 30,000-35,000 hour life time until it is almost black and no light. This being said, somewhere around the half life of an Plasma, (13,000 hours of use) you'll have to turn the brightness and contrast all the way up to make it look like it did when you first purchased it. At that time it would be need a full replacement. LCD has a lifeline of somewhere around 60,000-75,000 hours and when it is new and half life is in respect of this number, but it does not show as much brightness loss at that time as a Plasma. Also when an LCD goes black, you can replace the bulbs, although they are expensive at this time.
A major point to be taken here: Do NOT ever buy a demo version of these TVs to save money. These TVs have alot of hours on them from being on all day, every day in the store and will cost you more than you save a few short years down the road.
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