Hey man I was in your shoes about a month ago. I decided on a 42 in plasma and was stuck between HD and ED. I looked at 3 different stores and on only one of the three did the HD look better on the HD TV. The guy at Circuit City even said that they keep the ED and HD versions apart because there is little difference and they were using an OTA to get the HD signal.
After beating myself up and wanting an HD set I went with the ED version. When I got my cable hooked up the prior weekend before the Super Bowl I had friends over and an artist friend said "wow that TV looks like 3D". Trust me you see a difference between SD and HD on an EDTV, well at least the Panny (they do a great job with TVs, I wouldn't trust anyone else for ED).
Yes I know that I am missing out on the extra 'umph' from a HD, but I have a PSII (420p and 1080i on ONE game) and will not get a HD DVD or PSIII for a few years so for me I think I made the right choice. I simply do not watch that much TV but I love my DVDs, games (yes they look good on plasma) and limited TV viewing (mostly sports) on my EDTV.
Consider what you will really use the TV for before buying and the life you expect it to have. I will probably move this into the bedroom in 3-4 years.
Good luck I know it is a tough choice, but you can't go wrong either way, either you'll get a really good TV that might be all you need and have extra $$ or you'll have a HD set ready for the future (yes the *).
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