LCD Flat Panel TV - $1000 budget (give or take)?

Wow, you must be a great wife to spend your tax refund on your husband like that...kudos to you!

Plasma TV's are generally the best option because they have the best picture qualities...period! However, if the room you plan to put the tv in has a lot of natural light(like you said), then LCD may be the best choice here because Plasma's do still have a small issue with screen glare. Unless you can control the amount of light coming in because Plasma screens do have coatings on them to keep glare down, but doesn't eliminate it!

Here are my recommendations for your situation:

#1-Panasonic LCD: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9239...

#2-Samsung LCD: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9230...

#3-Sony LCD: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9222...

Here are some Plasma's that i HIGHLY recommend should you choose to go this route:

Panasonic Plasma: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9219...

Samsung Plasma: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9235...

Big screen, go with a Panasonic plasma TV, 46" 1080P at Costco for $989, or a 50" 720P for under $1,000. Beside that no tv program is in 1080P (all are in 720P). You can't tell the difference 720 vs 1080 in 50" or smaller and the only 1080P is in Blue Ray Disc movies for now. Watching sport a plasma tv is much cleaner unless you get an LCD in 120HZ and starting to see 240HZ coming out, which plasma new model from panasonic is at 600HZ. It'll cost you $45 for a one year membership, besides that you get an extra year of warranty on your tv and 90 days return policy. Best buy they'll sell you a warranty (more than $45 for one year) and 7 days return policy.

What brands were you looking at? We have had our Samsung for over 3 years, with the warranty. We never had to use the warranty at all. We love the Samsungs because it has the ability to pick up on all shades of black, which is great for video games. It has different modes to adjust the coloring, such as movie mode, game mode, and custom. It is easy to use and also has the ability to connect a computer/laptop to it, which is great.

I prefer an LCD or LED TV over a plasma because plasmas heat up faster and I believe they can burn out faster. I might be wrong, but I think I read that somewhere.

Also, I would browse other stores and not just Best Buy. Best Buy seems to have the highest prices around.

When looking at the TV's, do compare them to the ones that are turned on right next to them. It seems that the cheaper brands don't have the rich picture quality that the more expensive ones do have. However, don't let this deter you from buying a lesser known brand. Get what is appealing to you and you'll be happy.

i'd recommend going with a recognition variety, yet there are nonetheless value-effective call-variety TVs obtainable. In my experience, Vizio TVs look incredibly common and noticeably less costly for what you get, besides the indisputable fact that I paid slightly extra and were given a Samsung that i love.

I recommend a Samsung LN40A550 40-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001418W2C?ie=UTF...

at that price point you will be looking mostly at the 42 inch sets unless you go with a 720 then you might go up to 46 some of the off brand visio insigna are OK you just have to shop for what looks go to your eyes Good luck and thanks for stimulating the economy

For around $1000 I would recommend new 2009 model from Samsung,

LN40B550 40-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV with Red Touch of Color.Good quality,Excellent picture.

70,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 6ms response time,

It is $935 at amazon.com

http://astore.amazon.com/samsungdlphdtv07-20/detai...

He comprado televisores de dimensión, más bien pequeñitas, en los sitios web y he sido muy contenta con ellas así que he comprado también un televisor de plasma grande para el salón, no me arrepiento en ningún momento porque he hecho la mejor compra, por un buen precio tengo un televisor increíble, con imagen y sonido de alta calidad y una fácil montaje en la pared, una compra muy buena.