I read that article. I sensed a bias toward plasma by that writer. Also the date is april of 07 yet the comments go back to 05??
Based upon what I wanted from a HiDef set I went with a sony bravia ,back in early spring as it was one of a few that had full 1080I. The sources of 1080i
are growing rapidly..including discovery channel on directv and hidef camcorders.Even 7 months later i am still astounded at the picture of 1080i which i recommend as a minimum requirement.(as opposed to 720p up to 1080p
I believe if you approach it as "what will x amount of dollars buy me?" I think you will still find that dollars spent on plazma will get you size advantage.....dollars spent on lcd will get you picture quality and longevity of that quality. (lcd backlights are replaceable....plazma pixels are not)
A very important thing to realise when you start examining tvs in person:the videos displayed at your typical large store are pretty lousy for evaluation.They are intended to capture your interest. They are ususally not still enough to allow you to compare sharpness and color. The tvs are often not optimised with their settings either.Once you get it down to a couple tvs of interest,try setting the various adjustments.
A couple months after getting my lcd ,i went to best buy to check out the overpriced hidef dvds. As i was standing there thinking what a wasted trip, I noticed a guy checking out the model which i had purchased. I said to him..wanna see something? he said yep. I changed the default factory brightness and color settings . He was very impressed. I suggested he do that with both sets..then buy it from a reputable online dealer and save about 500 dollars. (they really zinged me on the price)
If size is your priority for a large viewing area like a bar..go with plasma.
If whiter whites are your priorty as in a typical sized living room , i preferred the look of an LCD with full HD. Also remember that it will probably be obsolete in a two-three years but hopefully still working as good as the day you bought it. To see many models and compare checkout
LCD Televisions @ Abe's