Mitsubishi WS48511 48 in. TV

After lot's of consideration of plasma, vs. LCD vs. Rear Projection, without spending over $5K I don't think you can do better than a Mitsubishi Rear Projection. The integrated HD tuner is a must if you don't already have an HD tuner of some sort...it provides a phenominal picture from all viewing angles (within reason). The HD tuner also provides a digital coax output for 5.1 listening of shows like CSI, Alias, or the Grammys. I just wish it also provided an optical out, since I'm out of digital-coax inputs on my receiver.

The usual screen formats are available (full, stretched, standard, 4:3, zoom) all work quite well, and it will depend on the viewer, and the content which one you use. The good news is you can almost always watch any program from any source fill the entire screen. This may sound simple, but it's not always true. One of the biggest complaints I hear from people who go to the widescreen format is the gray or black bars accross the top, or sides of the screen.

One thing I really like is the on screen menus. Easy enough for almost anyone to navigate. I also really like that all your video and audio settings from the previous session are remembered for each input. This is very convenient if you switch between Satellite, DVD, VCR, and HD antenna often, and have tweaked the sound and video for each source.

The toughest part was setting it up right. Mitsubishi brags about their Net-Command, which is supposedly going to make all your equipment communicate via fire-wire, and make the cabling nightmare go away. Well, if you've got enough money to go buy all new components that are all Mitsubishi and provide firewire...great...but for most people, you'll still be spending a fortune on monster cable, and the net-command will probably just add confusion.
The Net-Command also really wants to control every piece of home theater equipment in your set-up, with the TV's remote. A nice idea except when setting things up, you have to choose from lists of brands and models. If you don't have one of the models already programmed into the remote, it can be very difficult to make things operate properly. (Mits should make this a learning remote) I already have a pretty good sony ES receiver, and along with the learning remote it does a decent job of being the brains of my home theater.
My advice is you have to commit to letting the TV be the center of everything, or decide from the start that you are going to just let this TV be the display. I tried both set-ups and after many hours of rewiring, I have chosen to let my receiver still be the central point of all components. I consider the TV a monitor, not a home theater CPU. Your choice most likely will depend on your existing equipment.
If this TV is one of the first purchases of your hometheater set-up, it probably will be a lot smoother a setup than what I went through, and you'll probably like the Net-command.

Initial video set-up works quite well. Mitsubishi allows lot's of adjustment of convergence (basically for every square inch of the set)

My second, and biggest complaint w/ this TV is that Mistubishi seems to think that their line doubling algorithms are so good, that no one would want to turn them off. This takes your standard 480 interlaced signal and fakes it into 960i or 480p (I can't tell). While this works really well for most digital signals that you'd get from digital cable, or satellite, it sometimes gives a bit of a blurry picture. Most notable when watching sports in a stretched format. I often revert back to the 4:3 letterbox aspect ratio for sports, which is pretty dissappointing. With other manufacturers, this line-doubling is usually an option.

I have to mention that I'm being extremely picky with this complaint, because after you've experienced and enjoyed the HD signal on this TV, anything slightly less than perfect is noticeable.
DVD's, and primetime hit shows look great.

The manual is pretty poor. Set-up is far from easy if you're interested in perfection and have a lot of components to hook up. Understanding what the Net-Command wants from you is difficult, and understanding all the video settings, like sharpness vs. vsm sharpness, vs. NR is difficult. Mits could really use a revamp of their directions.

Having said all that...I definitely recommend this TV. compared w/ Panasonic, Toshiba, or Sony in the same price range, it blows away the competition. Invest in monster cables, and keep your component video away from your VCR's noisy coax cable. Keep all your power cables separated too, and you'll be enjoying an absolutely incredible picture. Even my cat tries to chase the butterflies on the HD demonstration shows on KQED. You'll think you're looking out a window. Can't wait until everything is in HD!

Besides the built in HD tuner, you'll need pretty good quality sources to fully appreciate this TV. Certainly you can get by w/ cable TV, and a VCR, but to really appreciate this television, you will want to own a DVD player (Progressive scan) and at the very least, digital cable.
I use the Dish Network with a built in hardrive recorder, which produces a really good digital image and digital sound.
I have yet to get a Dish HD receiver, so I'm still getting my HD signal off the old UHF antenna on the roof. An eyesore at best, but the rabbit ears with amplifiers are a waste of your time.

I rarely use the set's speakers, but they're pretty small. I was actually pleased to not be paying extra $$ for fancy speakers or soundfields. Odds are if someone is looking at this set, they already have, or are planning to get surround sound speakers much better than what is provided by most television manufacturers.