Yes, if my wallet was big and we had space I would get the very best. FWIW we just had our Hitachi 24inch (semi flat screen) repaired for £64 - it had a power supply fault, it dropping into standby.
Technology is changing quite rapidly at the moment and providing this old set lasts another 2 years then I will jump for the newer ones but hopefully by then the prices will be more mainstream.
In resepect of my view of image quality, I am very picky and always have been. many moons ago when I was very young (oh dear a fairy tale ) our neighbours were the first to get a colour telly and the whites were very green tinted and I got told off by my mother for saying something about how bad it looked but they were delighted with it. About a year later my father bought one (must have picked up my normally early adoptor habits from him) and ours had pure whites and was IMHO a delight to watch but the neighbours were still watching their green tint, though I am sure it could have been adjusted
PS I would get a new one now but my SO would give me hell, bless her