LCD TV Help

Thinking about upgrading my 32" samsung to a 40", and having been looking at the Samsungs again, as I have a couple and have been very happy. But I went to local Sears today, and after looking at the 42" Plasmas, and the 40" LCD's,it was very apparent that the Sony KDL-40w3000 picture was far far better than any other including the other 1080p sets. It was much brighter with more vivid colors, and images on the other sets looked blurry in comparison. I'm not talking nit picking maybe better, but far better. Did not care for the styling ,though.

So my question is: Is this set(and another Sony model with a comparable picture) really that much better than a Samsung 4061 and 4053 and other brands, or is the stores tv loop feed something that favors the Sony's? Or could those 2 Sony's menus have been tweaked? I asked the salesman,but he wasn't much help.

Any thoughts from anyone? I really don't care for the Sony brand ( alot of issues with Sony products in the past) but that picture quality was amazing.

Are Sony's reliable?