They sound like grumpy old alcoholics from New Jersey. No disrespect.

KP, I have seen a TV from HP and 1 other brand that have built-in streaming features, but the unit was much more expensive than just buying an HDTV + game console (or that Roku player), so I would find a TV you like first.

Some other points related to some comments above:
1080p- a few years ago this cost a lot more, but nowadays it's only marginally more expensive than a 720p, many blu-ray discs are encoded 1080p, so it's worth getting a 1080p screen today. (I have a 720p LCD TV that I bought 2 years ago, and it's fine, though I use it mostly for games).
^MycroftHomlz, p (progressive vertical lines) is not dpi (dots per inch) (a 46" 720 dpi display would cost over a million dollars and have 225 times the resolution of 1080p)

120Hz- this is the new fancy feature on higher-end hdtv's. it doesn't magically make your content any better. Even the best Bluray movies are still recorded and encoded at 30fps. It will make some DVD content look better, because 120 is an even multiple of 24, whereas to display 24fps content at 60Hz (standard refresh rate of LCD's) you have to drop or add frames (called inverse-telecine) so sometimes you see tearing. So movies, sports, games, with lots of motion or many small moving details will look better. I've asked several Best Buy "tv specialists" some specific questions about 120Hz that I already knew the answers to, and NONE of them got it right. and instead of just saying "I don't know" they talked out of their ass and tried to sell me some special hdmi cable that supports 120Hz... epic lolz. If your total budget is $1500, don't waste your money on this feature.

LCD vs Plasma vs DLP- The quality depends a lot on the manufacturer. It used to be that LCD screens simply could not be made as big as plasma, but they are getting larger and cheaper each year. Plasmas still have burn-in problems (more problem for games than movies), and a shorter life span (about 7 years vs 10+ years for LCD- both assuming you use the TV several hours per day). Plasmas are also more fragile, so be careful when moving them. That said, I think the picture does look slightly better on plasma, but would still get LCD. (samsung, sony, mitsubishi- all great choices. other brands, try to look at it in person before you decide). DLP is a rear-projection TV, and I've found these to not be as crisp as LCD/plasma (sometimes the pixels blur and/or you can see horizontal scan lines). They are usually 80+ lbs vs an LCD being 30 lbs (base detached). Some people can see a flickering of the color-wheel with DLP (personally I can't, depends on lighting conditions and how sensitive your eyes are).

streaming content- if you have a PC with windows XP media center or Vista premium/ultimate, and all your content is windows compatible, an xbox-360 will make a nice front-end that you stream videos from your PC. If you use other formats, the PS3 has a better chance of playing them (also recommended since it plays bluray). I have both consoles, and the PS3 is much better at playing H.264 videos from CD-R/DVD-R and wired network. I haven't seen Roku player in person, and I don't have netflix, but it looks like a nifty device. If you subscribe to cable or fios, many of their DVR's can stream content that was recorded in other rooms.

projectors- not sure if you will find a decent 1080p one under $1500, but you can get a very large screen. Keep in mind the cost of replacing the lamp/bulb can be several hundred $$ (lamps usually last 2000+ hours in eco-mode). I have a 480p (widescreen but not high def) projector in my bedroom with an 8' diagonal screensize. Upon advice from someone else, I bought a 4'x8' foam board, and painted it with brightest white but non-glossy paint, and hung it on a wall for my screen. $380 projector + $30 screen + $37 progressive DVD player + $15 component cable + $30 black curtains. Compgeeks has a electric roll-up screen for pretty cheap.
Choosing a projector also depends on your room size, visit www.projectorcentral.com and use their calculator for any given model you are considering.

cables- buy online. someone mentioned monoprice, they are good, just check their in-stock status to be sure. they always ship ground from CA, so can be slow depending on where you live. HDMI and DVI are electrically identical, so it's a passive adapter. HDMI includes extra pair for sending digital audio. Component and VGA are analog, HDMI/DVI is digital - means more accurate colors, less ghosting/interference effects. Although analog is capable of carrying a full 1080p signal, content creators (namely Sony blu-ray) will cripple devices stating that you need HDMI to do 1080p output. This is because HDMI support encryption in the form of HDCP, which they think will reduce piracy (obviously they have been proven wrong already). fiber (sometimes called TOSlink) vs digital audio over copper (RCA jack) doesn't make a difference in quality, digital is digital. Look for a stereo receiver with many inputs and outputs.

antennas- hdtv's can pick up all the local broadcast channels with perfect picture and digital surround sound, if you get the right antenna. check www.antennaweb.org to see where channels are broadcasting relative to your home and to pick the correct antenna. It's a 1-time fee, unlike month-to-month cable/satellite. www.titantv.com is a tv-guide style website, lets you sort by broadcast type.

internet speed- 1.5Mbps should be fine, as long as you have patience to download the video before watching it. Will stream standard def no problem, but high-def or netflix downloads would take longer-than-realtime. Most services let you download in advance, so I wouldn't upgrade your 'net connection until you try it out for a month or 2.

buying online- go to best buy or walmart, and look for a screen you like, so you can see it in person. a lot of times the specs "on paper" look good, but the display is mediocre at best. Then look for exact model online, try to get a pricematch. Get the extended warranty if it's not outrageous (a single repair could be $500+ without it). We bought a 46" LCD for work from www.lcdtvs.com, they are New Jersey based, and their salespeople might try to up-sell you some cables, but we got free shipping and a free hdmi cable from them, and 3rd-party warranty was cheap (service is actually provided by best buy locally). Took about a week to arrive (western PA). If you buy online, make sure you factor in shipping costs, it could be $150+ since it's considered freight.

wireless vs wired- Roku, Wii, PS3 have wifi built in. xbox-360 is $99 for the wifi adapter (all except wii have wired ethernet built in). It's not too hard to run cat-5 cable if you are a DIY'er, but would be really expensive to get an electrician to do it. Ethernet hubs/switches are cheap, put a 4-port hub at your TV, run single cable between hub and DSL/cable/fios router, and all devices are online.

hope that helps. sorry for the long post. I'll answer specific questions if you have any.

"Andrew P. Napolitano (b. June 6, 1950, in Newark, New Jersey) is a life-tenured, Superior Court Judge, in New Jersey, and now an analyst for FOX News Channel."

Note to self -- Never get arrested in New Jersey. I understand that he's a strict Constitutionalist, but there's a point at which accepting any document as absolute dogma is lunacy, and this guy is a hop, skip, and a jump beyond that. On top of that, he goes on to list all sorts of abuses of power, and then he turns the majority of his invective at Congress? He's angry at Congress rather than the President, where there isn't even a remotely acceptable Constitutional explanation for Bush's abuses of executive power, whereas the commerce clause has proven to be a broad brush which paints today's Congress with all sorts of power and responsibility. It's no wonder he's on FOX.

Geeze people, don't you know how expensive it is to live in Manhattan? What would you do? Force all the traders to move to New Jersey? That would be barbaric!

can't blame this one on Obama though.. (yet, right QM?)

Thanks for singling me out the way Obama does Rush Limbaugh.

While the whole Middle East mess is centuries old, we can still thank socialist moron Jimmy Carter for enabling the rise of Islamic fundamentalcases in Iran.

The reality is, the Arabs want the Jews wiped out. Israel could be the size of Rhode Island (instead of New Jersey) and have only 3.5 million Jews instead of 7 million. That wouldn't matter to the Arabs.

Compare the size of the Arab world to Israel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_World

Could you seriously believe the Arab world still blames Israel for all their problems?

Some Arab countries have reached peace agreements with Israel and things have improved, but the other Arab countries won't ever accept peace.

The next best thing would be for Israel to permanently destroy its enemies. It really depends on whether or not one believes Israel has the right to exist.

I can't upvote this because I support the teachers deceision to tell students to not wear the shirt.

Here in New Jersey it's not gonna cause a problem. But with some states out west where Obama is not being received well I think the BOE is making the right deceision here to protect the child and keep the school calm.

It's funny how a small insignificant middle eastern state dictates the actions of one of the most powerful nations on earth.

It's even funnier how a country barely larger than New Jersey can be somehow blamed for holding back the progress of the entire Arab World.


Comparison of the size of Israel vs. the Arab World

http://www.iris.org.il/sizemaps/arabwrld.htm

Transcribed for your reading pleasure (or torture):

The The Impotence of Proofreading

Has this ever happened to you? You work very, very hoard on a paper for English clash and still get a very glow grade on it like a D or even a D= and all because you are the liverwurst spoiler in the whale wide word. Yes, proofreading your peppers is a matter of the the utmost impotence.

Now, this is a problem that affects manly, manly students all over the word. I, myself, was such a bed spiller once upon a term that my English torturer in my sophomoric year, Mrs. Myth, she said that I was never gonna get into a good colleague. And that's all I wanted. That's all any kid wants at that age, just to get into a good colleague. And not just anal community colleague either because I am not the kind of guy who would be happy at just anal community colleague. I knead to be challenged, challenged menstrually. I knead a place that can offer me intellectual simulation.

So, I no this probably makes me sound like a stereo, but I really felt that I could get into an ivory legal colleague. So, if I did knot improvement than gone wood bee my dream of going to Harvard, jail, prison-- you know, in prison, New Jersey. So, I got myself a spell checker and I figured I was awn sleazy street, butt there are several missed aches that a spell checker can't can't catch catch.

For instant, if you accidentally leave out word, you're spell checker won't put it in you. And god for billing purposes only you should have serial problems with Tori Spelling, your spell check off may end up using a word that you had absolutely no detention of using because, I mean, what do you want it to douche? Ya' know-- No... It only does what you tell it two douche. You're the one sitting in front of the computer scream with your hand on the mouth going, "Clit. Clit. Clit."

Just goes to show you how embargo one little clit of the mouth can bee, witch reminds me of this won thyme during my Junior Mint. The teacher took the paper that eye had written on a Sale of Two Titties-- No, I'm serial! I'm serial-- She read it out loud in front of all of my ass mates. It was quite possibly one of the most humidifying experiences I have ever had being laughed at like that pubicly.

So, do yourself a flavor and follow these two Pisces of advice: 1) There is know prostitute four careful editing of your own work, no prostitute whatsoever; and 2hree) When it comes to proofreading, the red penis your friend. Spank you.

Not shown: video of the things driving giant tripods and heading for Grover's Mill, New Jersey.

two words. Civil Unions. That's still legal in CA. According to wikipedia:
"In California where domestic partnership has been available to same-sex couples since 2000, a wholesale revision of the law in 2005 has made it, like the New Jersey civil union law, equivalent to marriage in every respect at the state level, though neither is recognized by the federal government."

So maybe I'm missing something, what's the complaint about?

And no, there was no owning...Savage just wouldn't shut up...I can't stand it when people talk over eachother. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's not allowed in debate teams, and it's just not nice...I don't care which side is doing it.

It's totally bogus that Halloween is about giving corn syrup wrapped in plastic. Meh. Home cookin' is always better.

By the way--
Who Spoiled Halloween?

In the 1960s and 1970s, the tradition of Halloween trick-or-treating came under attack. Rumors circulated about Halloween sadists who put razor blades in apples and booby-trapped pieces of candy. The rumors affected the Halloween tradition nationwide. Parents carefully examined their children's candy bags. Schools opened their doors at night so that kids could trick-or-treat in a safe environment. Hospitals volunteered to X-ray candy bags.

In 1985, an ABC News poll showed that 60 percent of parents worried that their children might be victimized. To this day, many parents warn their children not to eat any snacks that aren't prepackaged. This is a sad story: a family holiday sullied by bad people who, inexplicably, wish to harm children. But in 1985 the story took a strange twist. Researchers discovered something shocking about the candy-tampering epidemic: It was a myth.

The researchers, sociologists Joel Best and Gerald Horiuchi, studied every reported Halloween incident since 1958. They found no instances where strangers caused children life-threatening harm on Halloween by tampering with their candy.

Two children did die on Halloween, but their deaths weren't caused by strangers. A five-year-old boy found his uncle's heroin stash and overdosed. His relatives initially tried to cover their tracks by sprinkling heroin on his candy. In another case, a father, hoping to collect on an insurance settlement, caused the death of his own son by contaminating his candy with cyanide.

In other words, the best social science evidence reveals that taking candy from strangers is perfectly okay. It's your family you should worry about.

The candy-tampering story has changed the behavior of millions of parents over the past thirty years. Sadly, it has made neighbors suspicious of neighbors. It has even changed the laws of this country: Both California and New Jersey passed laws that carry special penalties for candy-tamperers. Why was this idea so successful?

http://www.madetostick.com/excerpts/

Everyone I meet says "don't go to California" because it is worse than it used to be. It's pretty much becoming the New "Jersey". This pretty well exemplifies it, since it shouldn't even be an issue. Funny how our founding fathers didn't feel the need for flamers to have special "rights." It is only through the last 50 years of sexual perversion that we are faced with this disgusting and unnatural dilemma. If you "free-thinkers" had grown up before the 60's, you wouldn't have had the "free thought" to develop these ideas yourself. You're all just following the leader...so sad. And oh please, let's hear about I'm homophobic, while you spew hateful and cursing vitriol.

I ran across one by accident one day in Louisiana. I didn't know what to do when the guy came over to help. lol. It was an old station along a back road. The attendant was in his 60's and was likely the owner. I guess he's a bit of a traditionalist.

It's my understanding that it is illegal to pump your own gas in New Jersey as well as Oregon.

No one liked the bit about Delaware being the turd of New Jersey? *beg

Awww making me homesick (and I'm not even from New Jersey).

Strong OY-land!!! LOL!