This is one of the stupidest arguments ever, this is like the guys who say records are better than MP3's. There are points for this and that but I can't carry a million records with me so who cares. look the difference between 720p and 1080i is just this 720P has a resolution of 1280x720(wide-screen) the p stands for progressive which means that every line is refreshed top to bottom every cycle. Depending on your television this could be anywhere between 60times a second up to as much as 120times a second. (60hz=60times, 85hz=85times, etc.)

1080i is 1920x1080 (wide-screen) the i stands for interlaced which means every other line is refreshed each cycle. (Evens first cycle, odds the second.) I'm not sure if a television that refreshes 85 times a second is going to really see degradation on a picture doing every other line on a signal that is 30 frames a second at 60hz (television standard) I'm also not sure how much difference there will be between 1280x720 and 1920x1080 on televisions that by their very nature deinterlace and smooth pictures (as all television signals are interlaced and many televisions smooth to compensate for noise in antenna broadcasts.)(Though admittedly some no longer smooth with digital signals and the picture on a 1080i may be a little darker due to each line being skipped every cycle but this would still depend upon the cycle of your television it may not.) Please make up your own mind and end this stupid argument.

Sidenote: There are no 1080p atleast in the US, there are only 720p and 1080i, 1080i being the dominantly used.