from what i've read and friends have confirmed, nothing is broadcast in 1080p, and wont be for the foreseeable future. hdnet is 1080i. the p stands for progessive scan and minimizes the blur in fast moving pictures. so if you want to minimize the blur, you need a p
considering i am going to get the most benefit out of watching sports (fast motion) i wanted to minimize the blur and got 720p. if 1080p was going to be broadcastable soon, i would have considered it.
my friend was telling me to get the 1080p because i might want to play video games in the future and get an hddvd player. i'm probably not going to play video games. didnt even buy the new madden this year for xbox (do they still make xbox games). i'll probably get as much satisfaction out of watching a regular dvd as i would an hddvd, so i dont care too much about that (also would have to buy an hddvd player).
seeing as 99% of the benefit i would potentially receive would come from broadcast tv, i limited myself to 720p.
also according to my friend, 42 inch is right around the cusp where you may or may not be able to see a difference between 720 and 1080. my eyes arent that great. good, but i could benefit from glasses, so 1080 might actally be better than my eyes will notice, if 720 isnt already