[astroglide]

get a sony KDF-50WE655 50" lcd. it will be under 3k at best buy. you're not going to get a good quality plasma for that price, and it's preferrable to avoid dlp because even if you don't see rainbows your roommates/guests might. the 'one word: projector' is a bad idea for general viewing, those should really only be used in a windowless basement or theater room. based on what i've seen in similar threads i'm reasonably certain i know more about buying tvs than anybody on 2+2 (or at least anybody who posts about it).

the cheapest big hdtvs you're going to find will be rear projection crts. they're huge, are vulnerable to burn-in, often have reflection issues, geometry issues, convergence issues, and most people strongly prefer natively higher brightness/contrast sets like lcds/dlps/plasmas even if they give up a bit in black levels and color purity.