Consumers have a lot of perceptions and preferences when it comes to purchasing an LCD and/or plasma display—at least that’s what a new TFC Info study says.

Although many of those surveyed consider LCD to be the best bargain, price is not the driving factor that most would expect. It seems that the true driving factors are, well… outdated.

The top driving force, according to TFC’s “Flat Panel End User Survey: LCD vs. Plasma 2008,” is product longevity. That’s fine and dandy, but as Twice points out, most consumers don’t know a whole lot about a product’s lifespan—at least not as much as the manufacturer thinks.

More than half of those surveyed thought that flat panels would give them a good five years of entertainment. However, both plasma and LCD typically last longer.

“Since so many respondents placed high importance on product lifetime, it would be advantageous for manufacturers of flat screen displays to address this misconception and confusion regarding lifetime of these displays in different terms,” TFC said in its report.

Of course, many want their purchases to last, but it’s sort of surprising that price didn’t even rank in the top three slots. Instead, consumers cited picture quality, reliability, longer product life, and screen size ahead of price concerns.

What are your top five concerns when making a major electronics purchase?

Rachel Cericola - Contributing Writer

Over the past 15 years, Rachel Cericola has covered entertainment, web and technology trends. Check her out at www.rachelcericola.com.