I don't really understand the benefits of Profile 2.0.
Also, thanks for the information on the Chinese panel and the link for the cabling. I still think the Phillips has the best features, but I'm going to some local stores to check and see with my own eyes what screen has the best look.
If I were to give you a budget, I would say from $2000 to $2500. I was also thinking of using my Logitech Z-5500's as speakers for the television. Not sure how well that would work though..
The best thing about profile 2.0 is the mandatory network port. Which make any potential bug fixes and upgrade easily accessible.
Looking at the TVs in store will not help. Most B&M retailer have really incompetent sale staffs and I have never seen a properly calibrated HDTV at any mass market retailer. Even the factory preset cannot be trusted as a lof of manufacturer will have high contrast and brightness setting at default to make their set look sharp and bright in the show room.
The only way you can really tell is if you can run some sort of calibration disc thru all the sets and adjust the settings. Then you will see the real difference in the panel quality. Short of that, do your research at places like AVSforum and read up on actual user experience.
The key to a good HDTV is not high brightness, high contrast, blackest black or fast response (which most sales person will try to sell you on). The key to a good HDTV is color saturation and details. you want the set with the best color saturation and details not when the scene is bright and full of color. You want the set that have the best color saturation and detail when the scenes are dark or in shadows
I personally have gone thru more than a few Taiwanese and Korean panel before finally settling on the non-120hz version of the Sharp 46" (120hz model was not out yet then). Basically, Most HDTV Guru will admit that Japanese panels > Korean Panels > Chinese panels
The Z5500 will work in the interim. However, it does not decode the latest HD audio codec so you won't be able to use the best audio track on some Blu ray disc.