I use a 40" Sony Bravia XBR2 (Non-LED LCD) in my room at home and a 37" Sony Bravia XBR6 (Non-LED LCD) in my dorm. Both support full 1080p. I use them dual purpose as my TV and computer monitor which is really convenient and saves a lot of space. Moreover, since I only had to invest in a single monitor/TV, it enabled me to spend quite a bit more.
Since you're looking at plasmas, you probably like the ultra-fluid lifelike look/feel as opposed to LCD's "crispness". Sadly, when I bought the 40", Sony (nor any brand) offered the 120Hz refresh rate yet and when I bought the 37", Sony didn't offer 120Hz in anything smaller than a 40" so both of them are just a 60Hz refresh rate. What this amounts to is that for signals of 40Hz on a screen with a 60Hz refresh rate, every other frame will be displayed twice instead of once which causes things to appear less smooth -- if your eyes are capable of detecting it. However, every XBR now comes with either 120 or 240Hz so they should look just as fluid as any plasma available.
However, you're going to pay substantially more for Sony's (or any brand's) high-end XBR series than their lesser models or some other budget brands. For instance, I got the 40" on sale for $1800 in 2006 and the 37" for $1400 in late 2008 (both at BestBuy) but for the same price I could have probably got a 60"+ but I strongly feel you're better off getting a high quality display as opposed to a gigantic base model or off-brand. My roommate last year had a Vizio LCD and my sister has a 32" Sony base model LCD and the difference in picture quality is night and day compared to my XBR's. The XBR series is actually now being phased out in favor of their new LED back-lit NX800 series which is causing some amazing deals (46" Sony Bravia XBR9 - 240Hz - $1659.00)
If you haven't guessed by now, my suggestion is to go with Sony's XBR lineup -- you won't regret it! :mullet:
