[dude1394]

Talking to the folks who do the DLP technology they are stressing the longevity of DLP over plasma and price/performance. They can't compete with color of a new TV in a showroom.

Main one is a potential for burning the screen and for the gasses in the plasma to degrade. One thing I read was something like the gasses having a life of 60,000 hours and subsequently a half-life of 30,000 hours (at half-life half the brightness would be available). With a dlp bulb quoted at 80,000 hours or something this sounds a little like market-speak.

However they are correct that the DLP bulb can be replaced (usually) for ~ 200 bucks. When I buy one, I'll check out if the bulb can be replaced easily. I don't think a user can do it, but it needs to be done in the house. Possibly some sort of deal where they guarantee 24hour service or something might be interesting.

I have a bud with the huge Samsung one (60"???) and he had a super-bowl party planned and ooops....Bulb went out. He couldn't get a replacement and had to move the party. I'm not sure if he purchased another one or not, but hopefully with more dlps, there will be a lot more bulbs available.