I heard that at CES one of the biggest things was wide screen TV's.

Can someone explain to me where this is all going and if I want a screen in the next 12 months, what I should get? 

It depends what HD content you want to watch and how big a screen you want. HDTV if you're lucky, dunno about OZ, has limited content and tops out @ 720p. If you're thinking Bluray/PS3 games @1080p then you'll likely want a tv (and there's maybe two of them) with HDMI 1.3 which allows a richer pallette if the TV support "deep colour" or whatever they're calling it.

IMHO The LCD sweet spot price seems to be moving up past 40" closer to 50". They don't display as vividly as Plasma but their durability seems longer.

I say hold out until HDMI1.3 is more available then get what whets your whistle.

Okay - i spoke with the Gadget Whore and there is some more information that is needed, before "I" can answer properly:

need a budget, what they want to use it for, what type of room will it be used in (dark room, well lit, used day and/or night), what are they watching (normal tv, hdtv, dvd, bluray dvd, hd dvd).

Goodness me....

When did buying a tv become so bloody complicated? 

buy the cheapest 42" plasma you can find. $1000 USD is a good range. You'll love it.

Dekrazee did you notice that I did mention the Gadget Whore  - this is one area he is very picky......we have a Runco for our home and love them.  I have no idea if it is better or worse than other brands, but he thinks that they are very nice.

hehehe yes I did Amy.... gave me a good chuckle!

Never heard of Runco 

I think amy is right - it depends on what you are mainly using it for - my mate who owns a DSE outlet and is uptodate on SE Asia side - indicated that we can look to HD 1900 plus pixel rating to satisfy most including BR discs.  The cost at pres is around $3500 to $5500 for a reasonable price screen and another mate who is in with Harvey Norman says you cannot go past LG units as they have inbuilt hard drives and Set top boxes.  Sorry my comment is a bit late but just getting used to this forum take care

We recently bought a 42" plasma for $US1K and we DO love it.  There's not a lot of content on the idiot box, but what there is looks great, and DVDs look good even with our cheap DVD player.  We bought the TV at Costco, btw.

I don't see the point in paying more than that (a thousand dollars is a lot of money!) until all the standards are ironed out and most of the content is in real HD.  I'll be perfectly happy if I get two years out of this unit, if I can replace it with something standards-compliant.

The only reason we bought it at all was that our old CRT TV died. 

Love it... for $1K thats amazing value.

What if I only wanted to spend $500 Australian. Doesn't have to be massive.

What should I get.  

you wont get a lot unless you buy on ebay - but sony  push the plasma because they have apparently built a multi million $ plant and want to get value out of it.  The LCD

is the way to go and the parameters appear to be the rating of pixels - so check this

in your place you probably only need a 32 inch anyway