A few more bits of advice -
Plasma vs. LCD - Plasma will have a better overall picture, but for gaming the movement is too fast. An LCD with a high contrast ratio (30,000:1 or better) will have a picture quality comparable to plasma. Also, the energy costs on Plasma is MUCH higher than LCD and if you watch a lot of TV you will notice it on your energy bill. The Plasma's also generate a lot of heat, which always makes me nervous on how long it will last.
Another thing I didn't see mentioned is if you are planning a wall mount, make sure to look behind the set to see how the cables plug in. If they plug in straight to the back you will have to mount the tv with an addition 2" or so of space from the wall. The better tv's these days allow the connections to go into the sides and bottom of the TV. You will want to think about where your cables will be going to and where the inputs are on the TV you buy.
Oh yeah, HDMI Cable are awesome and buy them wherever they are cheapest.
Great advice on the cable placement, but the first paragraph of this post is so full of fail I don't even know where to start. First off, this issue of motion blur. If you want to watch a lot of sports or do some gaming, plasma is the way to go. Motion blur is only an issue on an LCD. If you just go take a quick comparison of an LCD and a Plasma on the Best Buy website, you will see the newer high end LCDs have a refresh rate of 120Hz. A basic plasma for half the price will offer 600Hz refresh.
An LCD will also have inferrior color quality. Once again, I just took a quick look at a $1600 Sony LCD versus a $700 Samsung plasma. The LCD has a contrast ratio of 50,000:1 where the plasma checked in at 2,000,000:1. This means your black levels will be far superior on the plasma, even at the much lower price point.
I would probably agree that the plasma will put off more heat and be less energy efficient. As far as how long the set will last, the lifetime of plasmas used to be a real problem when the technology first appeared, but those issues have now been resolved.
For me, the proper format depends on your viewing conditions. A plasma usually has a glossy screen and will have more problems with glare than an LCD. If you are in a room with a lot of light, you may need LCD, if not, go plasma. The LED TVs are a good middle ground. The refresh and the black levels fall in between the LCD and the plasma, but they don't have the glare issues of the plasma. They are a little on the pricey side right now though.
