plasma is better. some LCDs still look bad for fast motion or huge screen sizes, though they're MUCH better than they were 5 years ago. DLP is also good, but make sure you go in and look at the thing before you buy it (old DLPs were WAY too dark).
plasmas do end up dimming after 10 years (less if you watch them a ton), but they have no real drawbacks besides that. philips is a good electronics company and when i visit costco they seem to be fine. for 1500$ you can get a decent 42" too.
summary: I vote plasma
