All of the world cup soccer games are in HD, so I am going to take the
plunge and get a new 42 inch HD tv.  Because of space limitations (or
rather depth limitations) it has to be a thin panel.  I am confused
about the "HDTV" ready terminology.  What I am looking for is
something that I just have to hook up to the cable and I get HD.  (I
understand I may have to pay the cable company something - but what
else is new.)  What I need is a recommendation - including whether to
go LCD or plasma i.e. most bang for the buck.  My pain tolerance is
around $2500.  I am on a cable system (Comcast).  What I do not need
is a list of articles to read.

For a 42" TV I think you have to go plasma (from memory I think LCDs
top out around 30 inches). There's no fundamental difference between
them, just go to Best Buy or Circuit City and see which one looks the
best to you (they do have differing picture quality, especially in the
colors): only you can decide what difference is worth how much money
to you. There are definitely reasonable options at or below $2500, I'd
recommend Pioneer or Panasonic products from what I have seen. I just
saw a 42" Pioneer at Costco the other day (don't know the exact model)
which to me looked very good and was selling at about $2000.

As for getting the HD signal, it's a matter of the cable company
providing it. The TV will show as high a quality picture as it's given
and is capable of. So the answer is, yes, you just hook up an HDTV and
any programming that is offered in HD will look great, the rest will
look about the same as they do on a non-HD tv.

"HDTV ready" means "the TV will show the HD picture in full detail
when the HD picture is given to it".

Hope that helps!