I am planning to buy a 36'' or 42'' plasma TV within the next six months or so. I have always had regular TVs in the past, so I am a newbie.

My question is, when you buy the TV, how many cables, attachments, etc. do you need to buy with it. Does it come with speakers?

Also, I know that within a few years, the broadcast TV standards will change, and when the HD-DVD/Blu-ray war settles out, HD dvd players will become more common.

I would like to get a TV that is already set up for the future changes that we know are coming. What should I look for when I am buying the TV - what kind of plug-ins or recievers should be built into it?

Also, is the Panasonic TH-42PX60U a good choice? I plan to mostly watch my current DVD collection, with a standard panasonic DVD player.

that model is one of the best of all 42" plasmas. they were $999 this morning at Best Buy (and are 1300 at circuit city through the weekend). Anyway, do you have cable or satellite? Either way, your cable/sat box should have hdmi out. You can get a hdmi to hdmi cable from monoprice for under 20 bucks.

If you plan to get a home theater speaker/receiver set up, then you'll need to get an optical cable for the audio (unless you get a high end receiver that can accept HDMI video cables too). Otherwise, if it's just the TV, then you'll need an HDMI cable. Like Dick Grayson said, www.monoprice.com is the way to go. Don't buy expensive and overpriced cables from Best Buy, Circuit City etc.

My mom has the 50U model - beautiful picture.

I can't believe how much they have come down in price since she got it in July 2005.

My CC has them marked $1199 and a 4 pm yesterday my BB was ordering them for people at $999!