well some times its cheaper to keep her. as long as it still has a good pic. its always a roll of the dice. it might run for years. then it might not make it to the end of the month. as far as which brand. they're all pretty much made by just 1 or 2 manufactures'. i worked for sony so that what i own. and im lucky there still running. ive had them for years. you can get some good deals on LCD displays. plasmas' are still to expensive. just make sure you spend the extra $$$$ and make sure its HDTV ready. NEVER BUY FIRST GENERATION ANYTHING. wait till about 3 years then they have all the software bugs fixed. and LCD and plasmas' have been around long enough. don't buy tube. like you have now. tubes are on the brink of extinction. id buy LCD. they look great. luck Gary