In this range, you'll find mostly 32- and 37-inch LCD TVs with 720p resolution, perfectly adequate for this screen size. These midsized sets are best for smaller rooms, such as a bedroom or office. They're a bit small for a main TV in a typical living room or family room. For the best overall value, buy a top-performing 32-inch LCD midsized HDTV from a major brand with a good repair history. Good candidates from our plasma Quick Picks (available to subscribers) include under-$1,000 sets from Panasonic, Samsung, and Toshiba, all with excellent picture quality.

If you'd prefer to spend less and don't demand top picture quality, consider an LCD set from a lesser-known brand. Our LCD Quick Picks (available to subscribers) include 32-inch midsized HDTV sets from Olevia and RCA for less than $700 and 37-inch sets from Olevia or Vizio for about $800, all with very good scores. For the first time, we have a plasma under $1,000 in our Ratings of plasma TVs (available to subscribers), a 42-inch Maxent. It offers maximum screen for the price, but you'll trade off some performance. Keep in mind that we don't have enough data to comment on the reliability of such brands.

Holiday forecast. Look for a growing number of under-$1,000, 37-inch LCDs from major brands and some 42-inch 720p sets from secondary brands.You might see more 720p plasmas with 42-inch screens selling for less than $1,000. That's partly because 1080p resolution is becoming more common and 50-inch plasma sets are growing more dominant.