just a couple of what not to do's here:
the vizios from circuit city, walmart, stc, are terrible lcd's. dont be suckered by the prices, which are great. see it in person. no depth, washed out color, tiling, etc. good for bars, bad for hd home setups.
at micro center, they have the akai plasma. i think the picture looks pretty good, and the price is awesome. but i have heard, and done just a little bit of research, that the electronics are inferior. the lowest quality build coming from the far east.
we got a phillips, tube based 36" hdtv. the screen is flat, with a 16:9 ratio, is not as "sexy" as a flat panel, but does 1080i really well, and it was 600 on closeout at circuit city. i love that tv, but it weighs a ton. with no additional hd tuner to buy.
as with alot of things, you get what you pay for. ymmv
my totally unedumacted .02
hth