I'm a Panasonic guy - we have 3 in the house, the main one a 50" plasma i've had for 3 years that i'm still happy with. Panasonic Blu-ray player too. I still believe that plasma offers the best picture.
FWIW, i had a look at what consumer reports says, and that Sharp is near the bottom of the pack.
Here's what they have for 60" sets:
LCD's:
Samsung LN60C630 - Overall Score 75
Samsung UN60C6300 - Overall Score 74
Sony Bravia KDL-60EX700 - Overall Score 67
Sharp Aquos LC60LE810UN - Overall Score 61
Plasma:
LG Infinia 60PK950 - Overall Score 81
Samsung PN63C550 - Overall Score 81 (63")
Samsung PN58C550 - Overall Score 80 (58")
LG 60PK550 - Overall Score 78
Panasonic Viera TC-P58S2 - Overall Score 77 (58")
I stay away from LG because I haven't had any luck with their products, so if it we're my $$ i'd be looking at Samsung.
I helped my father in law buy a new set after Christmas - he wouldn't buy anything unless I did some research and told him which I thought was the best set - I told him to get a Samsung. He of course buys a Sony because he says Sony is the best, which is what he thought 20 years ago, so its still the absolute truth
. This is an old italian man i'm dealing with here, so nothing ever changes...
Anyway, he has a shiny new TV in his basement that he can fall asleep in front of, and he's happy so thats all that matters.