My dual pence...
It absolutely comes down to Samsung and Panasonic, IMO. There are other manufacturers that make some great televisions, but in my experience, these two brands are
consistently excellent right now. If you can find a slightly older model with all the inputs\outputs you need (HDMI=recommended, but it depends on your receiver and budget) at your price range, you will pretty much be guaranteed a great TV. Maybe target a couple of models and wait for a sale. Going in person to actually see the TVs can help, but the factory settings and peripheral hardware showcased at many stores are quite pedestrian, not utilizing the pieces' full capabilities.
Oh, and one other thing...
do not buy Monster cables in-store. The mark up on those things is criminal. In fact,
don't buy any cables in-store. Instead, buy your cables online from monoprice.com. {MonoPrice is likely the best option; there are other good ones as well, though... stablecables.com, bluejeanscable.com, tartancable.com. Look around.}
[ Cue slight rant ]
It boils down to this: Even with tax, shipping and customs, monoprice's most expensive HDMI cables are cheaper than Monster's cheapest*. And they work just as well. It is well worth the wait to have 'em shipped. [If you would like some "light" reading on the subject, or are still a little skeptical, check out
this link.]
*
HDMI 1.3a Category 2 Certified Silver-Plated Copper CL2 Rated (For In-Wall Installation) Cable (22AWG) - 25ft (Gold Plated Connectors) --- I cannot think of an application where this kind of quality of cable would be useful, let alone necessary. Its only $70 CDN, shipped. How much would you spend on 25ft of Monster HDMI cable in-store? Double that? Triple??.......
*
HDMI 1.3a Category 2 Certified CL2 Rated (In-Wall Installation) Cable (22AWG) - 20ft (Gold Plated Connectors) --- This 20-footer would be ample for many cases, and is less than $40 CDN, shipped.
[ / slight rant ]