From what I can tell plasmas are better as far as lags on games are concerned, that being said, static images from games can cause burn-ins on plasmas after hours of game playing. In any case there's the following Sammy 37" 1080p lcd for $709 at amazon that should fit your budget....
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...X0DER&v=glance
Btw welcome to the boards!