Quality vs. Budget:

Buying a TV online, you won't be able to compare picture quality (even in the store, walking from aisle to aisle can be confusing). See Style of TV for which TV performs best for which type of programming.

Here's a couple tips:

Contrast ratio is a good indication that you'll have white whites and black blacks and therefore get a good saturation of color detail. The higher the number the better.

Don't worry about "comb filters" of any sort if you are connecting your TV with an "s-video" cable or "component cables." These cables separate the chroma (color) from the luminance (brightness) and nulls the need for the comb filter.

If you are looking at LCDs, you want to be sure the TV has a fast response time (usually a #ms). This will ensure there won't be blurring and trails, "artifacts", during fast action and transition from dark to light and vice versa.

If you are buying for budget and the viewer will be sitting further than 10 or 12 feet from the TV, consider an "EDTV." While it isn't as high a resolution (not HDTV), it is hard to notice if the viewer has poor eyesight and is sitting further away. (You can get away with an EDTV for the grandparents and it comes at a better price.)

While you may want to consider a refurbished unit or an open box unit, I would highly recommend a store warranty to cover any unknown reason why the unit was returned the first time.

You don't want to skimp if it means not having the right connections for the future. You really don't want a TV that is not HDTV compatible (though they are getting harder to find anyway), and you really want to have at least a DVI or HDMI input. Buy the Home Electronics Survival Guide for more about inputs and connections.