If you can get an LED backlight display for near the same price as normal, go for it. If not, it's no big deal. Also, don't buy into the 120hz/240hz gimmicks. They're not relevant to gaming (and make everything else look unnatural). They'll add to the input/display lag (it works by interpolating two frames to produce a non-existent middle frame which supposedly smooths out the video). When you put a set into "game mode", it should automatically disable all of that garbage. The less processing that is going on, the lower the input lag is going to be. (note that input lag is a separate thing from RESPONSE TIME, which is usually listed on sets).
Which brings me to another point. Check around to find out what the response times on your set are. They'll be measured in milliseconds or frames. Lower the better. Samsungs may have gotten better, but for awhile they were known to be one of the slowest out there. You can check this information out often from the set specs themselves and if you can't find that, go look around for info on your prospective set at avsforum.com -- in fact, you should give it a look there to see if someone has recently asked the same question as you (almost assuredly). If not, post your own. You'll get some decent advice as to some sets to look for that perform well and are within your budget. Keep in mind that every set has one downfall or another - so don't get hung up trying to aim for perfection. If this will be primarily used for, say, gaming and Netflix - then just get something of nice size with decent display and low input lag. On the other hand, if you were primarily looking for something for an uber theater where every detail and color has to be perfect for your nit-picky eyes. . . . well, then that's a different priority all together. :)
The sets i have now are a 60" Sony SXRD from several years ago (rear DLP, instead of the current slim flat-panels). Even though it's the biggest, I never even use it. It just sits in the family room, doing nothing. My more recent sets are LGs. I've found that LG is a really solid choice for affordable consumer-level sets. They usually have low input lag (maybe not the absolute lowest, but low enough), very nice image quality, and don't really seem to run into a lot of problems. I would suggest looking for an LG LCD that is 60hz or 120hz (it's getting harder to find plain 60hz-only sets now, so probably 120hz) and doesn't have all the fancy internet connection garbage. LED backlight will be spendy. Actual LED *display* even more so. Probably just look for standard LCD flat panel model.
As for the actual buying: I would advise not buying directly at a store, unless you're certain of the deal. Best Buy and similar stores are going to be way over priced. Even specialty home theater shops will probably be overpriced (however, you can usually work a deal with them - the last set I bought that wasn't via Amazon was $4,000 and I offered the sales guy $3,000 cash on the spot - walked out the door with a new set). Amazon has a lot of good deals, good shipping (usually free), and while I don't advise getting extended warranties for most products, it might be looking into one of them on Amazon if that's where you get the set (I've been using the third party warranty service, squaretrade.com and they seem decent, so far -- and really affordable).
IF YOU READ NOTHING ELSE IN MY COMMENT, READ THE FOLLOWING:
*What is input lag?
* Check for any input lag issues on your set, utilizing avsforum.com as needed. Those people are freaks about A/V stuff.
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