As far as televisions go, I've always had good luck with Hitachi's and Toshiba's. Not the price of a Sony (generally) and the quality is usually top-notch. And I know I'll take a few hits for this but I would stay away from American brands. They just don't hold up (with the possible exceptions of Phillips. They've been coming on strong in the past ten years.)
Good luck.
[FONT=Tahoma]"All I can do is be me ... whoever that is". Bob Dylan [/FONT]