i have a samsung plasma 32 inch in one of my bedrooms and i love it. has been great. couldnt tell you about how much of a diff there is b/w 1080, etc. but mine is 1080, picture is very clear and the TV has that nice shiny black edge around the border so it is actually a nice looking TV - decoration wise.
Pioneer is the best TV by far, but is priced as such.
Once you get into the next tier of TVs, Samsung and Philips are the way to go for the best combo of performance and price. I have owned both and Samsung is better, IMO.
I bought my samsung like 2 years ago and it was about $3500 or $4K at the time. It pisses me off to see it going for much cheaper these days.