I'm not talking about physical appearance, so the furst argument you made means nothing since I'm not arguing anything that has to do with the presentation of the TV itself.
Now, what you said about stores making the LED's look better...I have seen MANY nice LCD tv's, in person, not in a big box store that can alter picture levels. My dad bought the top of the line Samsung 1080p 120hz lcd a year and a half ago...it looked amazing, still does. I have a few friends with new LCD's that costs a pretty penny, so I know what a nice LCD looks like(not to mention I go to Fry's every once in a while to window shop, and I did this before LED's were even out). I have never, EVER seen a LCD look like the LED tv's I was checking out the other day. The detail, insane colors, sharpness, etc made it look crazy(in a good way).