HDTV for you and me? Wal-Mart offers plasma TVs under $1000

Plasma HDTVs have always seemed to have had a curious target market. Back in 2000, when the industry was really just beginning to explore the possibilities, I was working with a company that sold used goods on eBay. We did a favor for our dotcom bank, helping the account managers liquidate some assets from a bankrupt fellow startup. The prize was a 60-some" plasma screen, which I very quickly sold to a man in Kentucky for a hefty sum. He drove down to pick it up and I learned he had paid his entire monthly paycheck for the giant toy -- but he still lived with his parents, so where else was he going to spend his web designer salary?

Now that 22-year-old web site designers are no longer making six-figure salaries, HDTV manufacturers have had to change their marketing strategy a bit. Instead of marketing to dotcom CEOs and their overpaid, pixel-hungry staffers, they're now marketing to the regular Joe. This is the one who has just enough room left on his credit card for these plasma HDTVs being offered, according to BFads.com, at $1000 and less. Here are just a few of the reported deals we found:

Wal-Mart
42" Widescreen Plasma HDTV -- $988

Target
37" LCD HDTV -- $1097

Best Buy
42" LCD HDTV -- $999

Circuit City
52" Rear-projection HDTV -- $999
40" LCD HDTV -- $999