That's a good question. And a tough one. The answer, if I asked myself that same question, would be to ask another: "How long do you think it might be before you want to buy your next one, after this one?"
You could probably wait five years before getting an HDTV, because it is going to take that long for all the broadcasters to deliver enough programming in HiDef, and for your cable or satellite company to deliver it. So it's a two-pronged fork, so to speak. Yes, there is some stuff on now, and some of it is remarkable, but even in my area where I have digital cable and a HiDef set-top box, I can't get any of the network shows in HDTV... even though they originate that way from the network. Because my cable company isn't throughputting any of those channels in HDTV. And it will be awhile.... they are in the process of replacing all the standard cable with optical, but even in the neighbourhoods with optical, the rollout for HD all through the bands is a long way away.
Right now, standard cable feeds on HDTVs can look pretty crappy, or pretty good, depending on the set and brand, and it's all subjective. So, try to at least preview the sets you're thinking of by checking out them out on a regular feed, not by looking at DVDs.
If you can afford an HD-ready TV (still pretty expensive) your DVDs will be fabulous.
If you can simply afford a 36" set without HD circuitry, as long as it has an S-video input, your DVDs will still look pretty darn good, especially compared to standard TV.
Look for triple 3D comb filters, or triple comb-filters without the 3D moniker..... but try not to go any lower than 2D. There is a big difference in picture quality, for every kind of input signal, between the levels of comb-filter. In fact, that's an easy way to check: the better the com filter, the higher the price of the set, guaranteed.
