Need help selecting a new 50"-52" TV...

[Raymond23]

Didn't think I would be in the market yet for a TV, but both my wife and I feel that the 42" TV in our rec room/home theater is too small. It's in a built in cabinet and we are not tearing that out, so 42" was the largest it could handle. Looking at it today, I can get the pocket doors and the pull out shelf out of there and I can get a 50"-52".

Everything I own is 720p, so 1080p is a no brainer for this set up. I have a PS3, Wii, HD satelyte system. Have a receiver that could handle 7.1 but I would need to add 2 more speakers into the ceiling (and I think that there is a lot of ducts and plumbing where I would need one speaker to go).

I am leaning towards a plasma (watch movies mostly in a dark room, and some seating is not at the best angle), but I am open to either. I see that all plasma's in this range are 50" and all LCD's are 52". I would love the extra 2" but not all 52" would fit in my space (I think Samsung LCD's are a little too big).

Cost is a factor. Would like to stay around $1250 or so, but $2000 would be the ceiling ($1500 would be fine). Need at least 2 HDMI inputs (but the more the better).

Thoughts?