First, what country are you from. If you are in the USA, it shouldn't be $10-15k extra for 3D TVs.
What types of programming will you be watching on it? Do you want any of the extra Internet features? Do they interest you at all (the ability to surf the Internet on your TV, stream media, etc).
I'm not sure what you mean when you say "backlit" LED TVs. All LCD displays have backlights.
You might be confusing traditional LCD TVs with LED-LCDs. Your typical LCD TV has more even backlights, but the light is always on, so not only do they tend to use more energy (than LED-LCDs), but the darkest blacks are almost always a shade of grey.
LED-LCDs usually have LEDs around the edges and can actually completely shut off to darken an area of the screen better. However, these usually have an uneven backlight and will look brighter in the corners.
Please note that some of the newer LED-LCDs that are rolling out have a full array of LEDs. I cannot give too much information on these units since I have yet to see one.
There is also supposedly some OLED displays to be rolling out at the end of the year. These should have the best of both worlds. From the little I have read, they use LEDs on each pixel (the little dots that make up the entire picture--think of a mosaic). This would be a thin display with the brightness of an LED-LCD, but the contrast of a plasma, without using anywhere near as much energy or generating as much heat as a plasma does.
Originally though, OLED displays weren't rated to last very long. Supposedly, if what I have read is correct, said issues have been corrected and OLEDs should last quite a while.
EDIT: Oh! There is neither any harm, nor any drawback in purchasing a 3D TV, but only watching 2D. Basically, if you want to watch 3D, you will need a 3D TV, capable wiring (high speed HDMI), and a 3D source (like a Blu-ray player playing a 3D Blu-ray disc). You can't upgrade a 2D TV into a 3D TV later. So if you are interested in 3D, it's worth it.
I'd also like to ask why you are limiting yourself to Samsung? There are other brands that are good as well. Don't get me wrong, I own two Samsungs myself. But don't necessarily limit yourself. If I was to purchase a TV today, it would probably be a Sharp. But give us some more information about what you'll be watching and what features you want and we should be able to give you some different options.
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