In my opinion, LCD's are my choice because they have wider viewing angles and are better for gaming, as the constant graphics on the HUD of some games can do detriment to some Plasmas. I know they have reduced burn-in, but it still happens.
In terms of LCD's, I say go Samsung because we own 3 and they are top-notch graphics, the Sony TV's I've dealt with in the past have run into problems with their graphical interface and GPU's. And all of this is from personal experience.