Stan,
I hate to see your question unanswered so I will give you my opinion. A lot of the electrical components are made by the same companies whether they be RCA, Magnavox, Motorola, or whomever and then assembled under the specific brand names (usually in China or Mexico these days). The best way to shop for things like TV's is what kind of support services you can expect later and available repair locations. I've bought a lot of stuff from Walmart as well have millions of other folks and, for the most part, I have no complaints. They don't make them, they just broker them for you. You'd have the same issues, if you even have issues, no matter where you bought the unit. When it comes to repairs, if they even need to be done, well good luck! You'll have to deal with the company the brand is named under usually after 30 days from purchase. We live in a throw away world and it seems not too long after warranty periods, it's not much longer until you need a new one, whatever it is. With that, let me just say that RCA is as competitive as anyone else when it comes to customer service, from the company...they all suck. I never thought I'd say this but I have to admit, when I look for electronics, I look to see if Samsung makes it and if so, they are my choice. All that said, for a good deal, if I wanted a 42" LCD TV and the RCA was the lowest cost one, I'd go for it.

I'm not even going to get into MHZ and DPI when considering a flat panel TV. I'm hoping you just want something better than the old CRT that takes up less space. I will say the higher levels aren't as good as you would expect them to be.

Thank you very much for taking the time to respond. I still have what my daughter calls an very "ancient" machine which is a 25 year old 27" Sear TV which has never had one problem. They just don't make them like that anymore. When we were shopping and first saw this RCA model we were going to buy it but my two daughters were with us that day and they almost had a heart attack! I just so happens that both of them have Samsung models and they are convinced that only the "3S's" Samsung, Sony and Sanyo can be purchased. I remember the old RCA with its dog and old phonograph but I know those days are gone. I did some checking on Consumersreports.org and the general advice there was to stay away from RCA. Thanks again for taking the time. Stan

There was a day when RCA was the King of the Hill as far as TV's were concerned. But those days are long gone. I have to agree with your daughters.
The top rated LCD TV in Consumers Report is the Samsung LN40A630. Number 2 is the Sony Bravia KDL-40XBR7 (expensive) and the 3rd rated one was a Samsung LN40A550. Both Samsungs ran around $1300 to $1400, but you should be able to find them cheaper than that.