DLP is definately the way to go. I spent two years selling TV's/Stereo equipment at Circuit City which by the way is an awesome part-time job - sweet discount to blow a wad of money right before commissioning with. It's pretty ridiculous, basically all I own is a bed and a $7500 enternainment system (I only spent $3700 - told you the discount was sweet), but hey that's all the furniture I need for flight school right? :icon_mi_1
Anyways, you can get some 42" plasmas cheaper than a 50" DLP, but it's not the plasmas you want most likely. It's going to be smaller and generally an Enhanced Definition (420P) versus (720P/1080i) quality and plasmas DO burn out generally within 8-12 years and are virtually impossible to work on. DLP has an awesome picture that most would not be able to tell the difference between and is rated to last 20+ years (you're just replacing the bulb every 4-6 years depending on how much you watch tv).
Another fact that is usually neglected is having to move all the time,which you will most likely do in the military. Everyone talks about how great it is that you can mount the TV on the wall bla bla bla, but do you realize the hassle and cost of mounting it on the wall so it actually looks nice and clean (concealing all your cables, cords and such)? You're looking at around 400-600 usually to have it done if you don't do it yourself. I've seen alot people buy a plasma to put it on the wall and it actually ends up on a stand or in an armoire. My DLP is slim (around 15") and light (75 lbs, compared to 130 for a 50"Plasma) and it looks awesome on a stand.
LCD Projections are pretty comparable to DLP, but they loose more picture quality over time (I saw this happen to display models on the floor, they just weren't as bright as they were new).
Sorry for the rant, but I spent more time staring at and selling tv's my last two years of college than I did in class/studying.
