Costco has a Sharp Aquos 32" HDTV for $799. When I saw it in the store, I couldn’t really tell if the picture was any good - it looked kind of grainy, but I doubt they had it set up correctly, and the reviews I’ve read online of the Aquos televisions have been favorable in general.
Also, I’d like to get an upscaling DVD player, and they have this Samsung 1080i with HDMI. But would it be worth it to pay more for a better upscaling player?
Absolutely get an upscaling HDMI player. They are stinky cheap now and it will bring DVD’s up to about 85-90% of HD. While BluRay and HD DVD finish their knife fight you can enjoy some movies. I have an Aquos-about 2 years old-and it’s quite all right, especially with the upconverting player. Plasma’s suppose to have a nicer image, but they use more energy and start at 42in.
I have a HD cable box, so TV looks really sweet. Be warned though, if you use the ‘stretch’ setting to fill the screen, it can look grainy. There is much argument amongst A/V fans as to the appropriateness of stretching the image-I don’t, but whatever turns your crank.
I just bought a 32" HD LCD to replace the dying CRT in the bedroom. Of course one minute after I hooked it up to my old DVD (and I saw the image that looked like ass) I was on my way back to the store to pick up an upscale DVD player.
I bought that very Samsung DVD. Attached with HDMI the image is very crisp.
I plan on buying another to hook to my 42" Plasma. The Phillips DVD deck I’m using on that tv plays PAL and NTSC and is fully region free. The downside is it doesn’t upscale so the picture isn’t as nice as it could be.
I can’t vouch for the tv you’ve picked out,. but I support your pick on the player 100%
As for the picture in the store… the LCD I bought was on the cheaper end and looked crappy in the store. All the other LCDs in the row had a much better picture… … that is until I changed the input from coax to component. Then it looked just as nice as all the others. 
I’ve got your TV’s bigger -52"- brother (or is it sister? I can’t tell). There’s not a hint of graininess in the picture, as long as it’s gatting a decent signal Regular TV can look a bit grainy, but that’s because regular TV is grainy. Some folks who have one claim that there is a slight problem with the black having a slight banding issue, but if mine has this, can’t see it.
I bought the very same Samsung DVD player and I’m disappointed with it. The image quality is okay but the unit is defective – when I hit the menu button or try a “time search,” the player resets to the beginning of the main title. I got frustrated and went out and bought a Sony Blu-Ray player that also upsamples DVDs, and the (upsampled DVD) image looks better than the Samsung unit. This is the first time I’ve ever had a problem with a Samsung product; they’re generally problem-free. YMMV.
Thank you all for your thoughts. I’ll probably pick them up on Sunday, along with some decent cables, since I’m getting new tires at Costco anyway. Worst comes to worst I can always return them.