I did technical support for Samsung a few years back, and I would definitely say LCD. Nowadays, the picture quality isn't that much different and you don't have to worry about image retention with an LCD, which is especially beneficial if you're gaming on the TV.

I'd take a DLP myself, especially since they have LED-based DLPs now which has much more color potential than plasmas or LCDs and absolutely no chance of image retention, but there is a light source that has to be replaced about every 50,000 - 60,000 hours, which could be more or less.
I know that the old DLP bulbs were about $100-$150 to replace, but then again 60,000 hours of viewing is about the same as having the TV on for 7 years straight, though I'm sure such consistent use would bring down its lifespan. But even 8 hours a day still puts on 20 years, which is still quite the life for a modern television.

From what I know, LED DLPs have a lot less problems than standard DLP. Luminus, the company that created the PhlatLite LED technology used in at least Samsung's LED DLPs, claims that the life of those LEDs is 120,000+, nearly double the projection of my other source, so I don't think that replacement would be an issue. It is in the original DLPs, because they relied on an arc lamp and a color wheel, both of which are eliminated by the LED source.

Burn in protection has been upgraded with options like pixel shifting and buffering options, but it could still happen... and if it does and it affects your TV-related experience, you're out the price of the TV because most manufacture's don't cover image retention under warranty. People are so upset when you tell them that, but it's in the warranty and manual, so... I honestly wouldn't want to take the chance dropping $1,000+ on a TV and, with my gaming and whatnot, run the risk of image retention both ruining my TV and my wallet.

If image retention does happen, it may or may not be apparent enough to bug you, as with Douche's claims. It would bug the shit out of me, even if it was barely noticeable just because of the way I distinguish patterns. I have a friend who has a CRT with Dr. Mario faintly in the background of every picture. I have to look sometimes to see it, but once I notice it, I can't stop thinking about it, but that's mainly my problem, I suppose. With Plasmas, as long as you give them rest time, it shouldn't become a problem, I just know that I'd have mine on all day.

Then again, this is all irrelevant to the prices of these technologies, which I assume is also a factor. But you definitely don't have to worry about replacement with LED DLP, just old DLP.

They really try to sell you with gold-plated tips. Yes, gold does conduct better on the ends than most other materials used for wiring, but if you don't have gold in the middle, then the overall strength/quality of that signal is going to be equal to the worst material the signal travels through.

Just like the old weakest link in the chain adage. Or for the younger audience, it's like saving a pre-loaded bitmap image as a .JPG. You can open that JPG up back up and save it again as a .BMP, but it's not going to restore any loss of the color.

Most warranties offered at POS take effect after the manufacturer's warranty has expired. Even if you haven't registered or anything, most devices will still have a warranty in effect. Depending on the time frames, some companies can just verify the expiration of your base warranty by the serial number, which will usually store the DOM. Some companies may make you provide POP as well, but most don't unless there are other, shadier circumstances.

Also, I'd generally try to take advantage of manufacturer's warranties as long as its enabled. When dealing with the POS in terms of any additional warranty, they just do the same thing you would do, except there's a middle man involved. If you don't want to deal with it, then going through the POS for warranty would be fine, but I feel when it comes to something like costly television that I'd rather make all the arrangements myself and not leave it to Super McShady Weedmeister that works in the back of Best Buy who spends most of his day trying to find his way out of a giant cardboard box he crawled into and in turned up on him.