I bought my 42" LCD last year the day before Black Friday at Wal-Mart for $468. The next day it was $498.
Go to Facebook and "Like" this page. This is how I knew about the sale. https://www.facebook.com/BFAds
Go to Facebook and "Like" this page. This is how I knew about the sale. https://www.facebook.com/BFAds
http://www.hhgregg.com/content2/black_friday_ad this is the place to go
I'd start at cnet.com and check out which tvs are rated highly, then go look at those models in a store. Ask for the remote and play with them a bit, remembering that the showrooms lighting is probably going to take some of the fun out of it (they'll look very bright, and stunning, but will probably lack depth and shadow detail). Then, buy one 
i have two of the lower cost toshiba lcd's, they work great but they are far from amazing, but good enough for me no less. i paid 700 for 1080 40 inch for living room and i think around 400 for 32 inch in bedroom, bought em both 3 yrs ago...fwiw, every samsung i see looks much better, but i have no idea the difference in em and im not interested in learning since mine work fine for now
