I think the day after Thanksgiving you'll definitely be able to score a great TV, that's when I've always found mine! Check out blackfriday.info early for ads. I'm also a HUGE fan of Cnet.com

I'm a big fan of the Vizio stuff. They have a no dead pixel guarantee, and they're hard to be on price/features.

It is possible, it's just a matter of looking around and doing your research. Within the last year, I bought a 42 inch LCD HDTV for under $1000 (it was a westinghouse, and a pretty good one!).But i didn't just walk in and find it. It took about two months of research and price monitoring. I suggest you scan the major electronics sites regularly (bestbuy, amazon, circuitcity, etc.), check out cnet.com for reviews (pay attention to user comments) and when you see a price you like for a brand and size you want, pounce on it. You might do well to wait until the holiday season (or just after) because retailers may be doing crazy sales to get people to buy in this awful economy.