To start off with,the Pioneers are out of your price range but they are a very good plasma.If you shop around you maybe able to get one for around £2100.
Which leads to Panasonic.Panasonic have just brought out a model called the PX60 in 42" and 37" varieties.As of yet,the magazines and the like haven't reviewed it yet although it's probably been available for around 5 weeks now.The previous Panasonic model was a belter and only bettered by the Pioneer in this price range,so there's no doubt really that this is a very good set.
It comes in 3 varieties.
Just the TV,ideal for wall mounting or mounting on a stand with the facility to bolt it on to a post at the rear. (TH42PX60WALL)
The TV on a pedestal stand which you can then sit it atop of a table,unit etc. (TH42PX60PED)
And with a built in cabinet that matches the lines. (TH42PX60CAB)
This is the model,unless I see some serious issues with it,that I will be buying in the next couple of months.There has been some people who have bought this who have noticed a green edging effect when playing certain games on the Xbox but only occasionally,but as I have no intention of using a console,then it's not a concern for me.If you want to read about peoples personal experience with this set,then here's a thread dedicated to the TV.Beware as it's over 50 pages long,but you do need to put the research in.
http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=312486Panasonic will also be bringing out another plasma,based on the PX60 range with a few more bells and whistles on it,but the screen and therefore the picture quality will be the same although the design is slightly different.That model is PX600 if I remember correctly.
As for price,at the moment,H Preston seem to have the best prices online
hereBut,and it's a big but,John Lewis offer a free 5 year guarantee that's worth at least £500+ on a plasma and their customer service,from reports,is nothing but excellenct.Now John lewis prices are a tad higher than H Preston,but John Lewis have a "Pricematch" scheme where they say they will not be undersold by any bricks and mortar shop nationally as long as that shop has stock and a shelf price on said item.
http://www.johnlewis.com/Audio+and+TV/Televisions/+Televisions+/Plasma/Brand/Panasonic/List.aspxAnd here is their "Never undersold policy"
http://www.johnlewis.com/Help/Help.aspx?HelpId=18#paymentThere is also a dedicated thread on AVforums for that as well,as to peoples experience in getting John Lewis to price match,most successful,but others not depending on branch and who they are trying to pricematch with.The thread is here.
http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=264343There is also Hitachi,which is probably the third option and again,you will find enough information in this forum for that or any other plasmas to be honest.
http://www.avforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=82&order=descAs I've advised everyone who has aked though,you cannot do enough reading on the subject and the above forum is a mindfield of information and people wishing to help.If been looking at it for well over 12 months now trying to get as much info as I can as it will be an expensive mistake if I buy a crap plasma.
Also,you have to be aware,and it's covered on the above forum,that you must lower the settings (brightness,contrast,colour etc) of all plasma TV/screens when you buy one as they are set purposefully high to give the wow factor in the showrooms and this will deter such things as screen burn and image retention.They tend to leave the settings low for a running in period of approx 250 hours or so,and then you can ease the settings up.
This is the difficult part though in choosing a plasma,is,your eyes are the best judge of what you like in a picture and the only way to get a true reflection of what a screen is like is to demo one.I would suggest not doing it at the likes of Curry's etc unless they can guarantee they are using the best connections and very good sources.A dedicated AV showroom will be your best bet as they will set them up correctly and let you choose,bring your own DVD's and player etc to test out on any given screen.Saying that,Comet,Curry's may let you do that as well.
I had a quick gander in Curry's the other day to while some time and had a look at the PX60 and was more interested in how the actually TV looked on it's stand than the picture at that point,but I did notice they were running it off an unbranded DVD player through scart.Now why the fuck they do this when they stock HDMI compliant DVD players is anyones guess as Scart is probably the third best connection after HDMI/DVI and component.I struggle to fathom how at times these shops manage to sell anything.
Also,when you do finally purchase a plasma and it's all nice and run in,you then have the option of getting it ISF calibrated.This will fine tume the picture to display the image as exactly as it was intended by the director of the film,or as close as any given set is capable.This is done by experts and they calibrate it to your specific equipment ie DVD player,Sky etc.This costs around the £250 mark and again,from the people who I've read who have had it done it is well worth it and it enhances there screen more and brings the picture to life.Anyway,you don't need to worry about that yet,you need to spend your time reading and reading and reading before you make your purchase.