[Squawks]

hotsand, you will not notice much of a difference between 720p and 1080p with today's typical SD, HD, and DVD (480p) media. Today's broadcast HD only exist in 720p or 1080i, both of which look good on both 720p and 1080i sets and may look a little better on 1080p sets - not because these sets are 1080p native resolution but they usually feature better technology such as better brightness, contrast ratios, black levels, smaller pixel gaps, and more accurate color ratings.

You will notice an astronomical difference when watching Blu-Ray movies at home and the funny thing is that I use my HDTV for 75% movies rented from BlockBuster. With the advent of Blu-Ray already on its way (along with Blu-Ray players such as the PS3) and the availability of Blu-Ray movies, it's already something you can enjoy at home. Even HD-DVD is becoming available as well.

Note that 720P native resolution gives roughly a resolution of 921,600 pixels at 16:9.

With 1080P native resolution, you have a whopping 2,073,600 pixels displayed.

So don't let the numbers fool you - going from 720p to 1080p more than doubles what you see on your TV.

Like you said already, it would suck to get a set and not be able to take full advantage of Blu-Ray or HD-DVD movies (you still can enjoy them wonderfully at 720p or 1080i, nevertheless).

Newer TV sets also have firewire ports and PC connections - in fact, I have my HDTV running my desktop and people are always amazed when they see me surfing the 'net on my 55" screen at home.