lol veedub
I bought a tv, not sure if it was my first one, or my first "big" tv. I was 18, it was a Sanyo. I bought it at Service Merchandise...loved going there. They are defunct now? Anyone old enough remember them? And assuming they were widespread enough

. So it's about 16 years old now.
I think it was a display model or a return, but that thing still works...works good. Remote busted though.
Then I bought a 27" hdtv lcd. I keep that in my living room for now and the old sanyo 27 in the bedroom.
For size in the bedroom, I'd say go with 32, since the prices are much more reasonable now. And don't un-future-proof yourself. You never know if they'll start fully embracing 1080p for plain broadcasting. If you luck out with a brand that lasts forever, chances are 10 years into it, when your set has 10 years left, they might do 1080p with UltraHD being developed.
Ultra High Definition Video - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia