You should rent! It would be crazy to buy now IMHO. Rentacenter has much better deals. The TV bubble has just started to burst. I am going to buy in 2012.
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Why would anyone pay for TV signal when it comes free via rabbit ears.

Haven’t you heard that some people buy for reasons other than financial reasons. Perhaps their husband is pressuring them and they plan to keep it forever. In the long run it usually works out. I bought a 9-inch B&W TV from KMart in 1979 and it still works really great. It’s probably even worth more than the $39 I paid for it. It even has some plaint splatters on it, so now it has some color. Maybe other people want to convert their B&W to color by painting it. You can’t paint a rental.

P.S. – My opinions: LCD and DirecTV over Plasma and Cable. Also, MaryAnn over Ginger.