The model number is 32LG80FR. To arrive at this the study had begun more than a year ago. It intensified in the recent times - thanks to Hifivision.com and Team BHP's LCD thread. My perception towards plasma TVs too changed. In fact I was set on 42PQ70 model costing close to 42k. It was a plasma model but of 42 inches. That would be grand and not to mention the other specs were awesome like Divx over USB, amazing response time of .01ms and high contrast ratio too. It looks gorgeous in full glass.

The things against it were

• Plasma being old technology (not really but you understand right)
• It consumes more electricity (350W)
• Plamsa display has lesser life
  

Well the above reasons are not actually true and with the recent technology, they are not issues anymore

The real reason why I dropped the idea was

• My viewing distance in some cases was just 6 feet
• The TV cabinet hinders the size. I have to remove the top panel of the cabinet to accomodate a 42 incher
• I will use it as a laptop monitor.
• It is mainly for the Wii games

The last two are solid reasons as even with the latest techology improvements in plasma, though we don't have burn ins we are sure to have image retention problems especially with games having marios lives and stars collected information always on display.

So with half heart I started for LCD TVs where there are no such issues. But once I narrowed in on 32LG80FR I was happy.

Why, because

• It offers the best picture quality on a normal cable channel. Important atleast for a few years
• DVD and HD contents are amazing
• It has DivX through USB (apart from music and photos). So my daughter and I watch 'The Little Mermaid' without much fuss. Download, copy to USB and watch in 32" awesomeness
• It has 2 HDMI In (good) and 2 Component In (great) apart from 2 Composite In (wonderful). So all my components get a place without any need for swap
• It has IPS panel and apart from the jargon it does do something. If you knock the TV, there is no distortion in image that you have seen with regular LCDs. It helps to have the feel that your LCD is sturdy.
• It is a full HD model - 1080p is possible though how helpful it is going to be on a 32" is to be seen
• The sound is very good for an LCD. Now I know that LCDs are supposed to be good in picture and sound is to be taken care of by a good amplifier but for normal TV, switching on the amplifier is a big no-no for me. So this TV helps

My Setup

- The LG Full HD LCD TV  [32LG80FR]

- Philips Divx Player with USB Port [DVD3266]

- Philips 5.1 Amplifier and Speaker System

- Nintendo Gaming console [Wii]

- Hathway Cable Settop box

The Connections

1. Hathway settop box Video/Audio  --> AV1 In of TV

2. DVD Component Out (Video)   -->  Component In 1 of TV

3. DVD Coaxial Out  --> Coaxial In of Amplifier

4. Wii Component Out (Video+Audio)   --> Component In 2 of TV

5. AV Out of TV   -->  TV In of Amplifier (for those special times)

6. Laptop HDMI Out  --> HDMI In of TV

7. USB extension cable on USB In of TV (for ease of using USB drives)

Future Plan

1. Upgrade Settop box to PVR box if and when HD transmission comes to India

2. WD TV with external USB Hard disk for all media needs

3. Blu Ray player when it comes around 5-7k or a Sony PS3

Then the cycle continues with a 50 inches TV for the starters... :-)

P.S: If my wife reads my future plans , she is likely to kill me.