Okay this is probably going to be the tv of choice for me:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1169857637051
It's a 42" LCD with can display 1080p, has a 10,000:1 contrast ratio, and the demo unit looked very sharp. I've seen a lot of good reviews for it too. The 47" is $600 more, which I don't think is really worth it, but I'm going to measure distances at my new apartment before I decide for sure.
I think there are too many disadvantages with plasmas. The screens typically have reflection problems, they don't last as long, there's a risk of burn-in, and they are more fragile. Only real issue I see with LCD's is the potential for motion blur, but I don't think that's going to be much of an issue with this unit.