Plaza Lama has some occasional deals for flat screens. About 4 months ago I bought 42" Panasonic Viera LCD it was at 34.000 Pesos with taxes and 1 year (Dominican) "warranty". I have seen this set advertised for about 31.500 pesos these days. But the promos come and go.
I decided for LCD because every Plasma I stared at in Plaza Lama and Iberia was giving me mirror reflection. In other words, I was seeing the movie and myself "inside" it. After some online research I decided for this Panasonic LCD.
You can check Plaza Lama specials here
ESPECIALES | Plaza Lama
At that time, I was also considering importing from USA, but after all calculations in place, I decided against it. There is a whopping 60% import tax (56% to be exact) which is 20% duty, 20% luxury tax and 16% ITBIS (VAT/sales tax). Plus shipping charges. The end result was that I would be actually saving about 1.000 pesos (US$27) by "importing" as opposed to buying local.
Plus basically no warranty, not even a Dominican one, so anything I would have to pay from my own pocket, plus risk of damaged out-of-the-box item or damaged during transport. Really not worth it at all.
Cheap USA deals are attractive, but importing to the DR is absolute financial hassle, plus you are running enormous risk and forfeiting your warranty (would you ship back those 50 pounds back and forth to USA and then back to DR to claim the warranty??). Unless you are bringing in your own container when moving in and taking advantage of reduced import taxes for new residents, it's absolutely not worth it buying it abroad and importing it.