I have to respectfully disagree with Digitalden. Digitalden is recommending purchasing resolutions that are even now out of date. The flat panel TVs are developing so fast that they become dated quickly, so the least you should do is try to get the latest tech available. Also, if akchicago does not currently have cable or satellite, he/she may wish to get it in the future, but going with the 480p resoloution closes the door completely on the HDTV option in the future. Better to have as much flexibility now with this purchase, than have to purchase a whole other TV in a year or two. I agree though that Sharp is not the best. The Sharp Acquos definitely used to be absolutely the best LCD on the market, but in the last year or so, it has been overtaken by Samsung, Sony and and surprising companies like Dell and LG. Those companies' LCD's have better black tones, and are simply more refined and cutting-edge than the Acquos, at least for now...

I hope I'm not to late to this thread, seems it may have died off, anyway, purchasing ANYTHING electronic these days is a gamble, no matter who makes it. With transistors, computer chips and so on, they could burn out in a day or in 10 years, it's up in the air. I purchased the 32" protron from shopnbc, as it is right now, it is outstanding. After reading so many bad reviews about it, I was terrified i had made a huge mistake. The picture is unbelievable, sound is very good, just a beautiful product(so far). What many people don't seem to realize is that a tv can only reproduce what it is given, if you have poor cable signal or an old dvd with a dirty lens, yes your new tv is gonna show that. With regular cable many of the stations were perfect, others looked awful, i did call and get digital and hdtv(free with digital cable)and the picture quality is outstanding. Hope you found what you were looking for, have a great day

It seems to depend on your signal quality. I have 9 cable drops in my house, and when I moved in last year I was terrified at how the picture would look, espesially on my LCD that I put in the bathroom. To my suprise I have a great signal, my LCD looks really good with analog channels, and my 50" SXRD looks amazing when watching analog too. Of course HD is flawless on the SXRD. My last house had a garbage signal with half the drops in the house, and that was only 9 houses away.

So for those of you who know the market better: It used to be you'd buy the fastest, biggest computer you could because upgrading was expensive and limited by the older technology and, so, you wanted to make sure the computer was usable as long as possible. I don't watch a lot of TV or movies, but, when I do, I want it to look right. I'm still watching my circa-1988 Trinitron and, for what it is, I'm still happy with it. But I know eventually this TV will die or I'll want to buy a (digital) HDTV. Because of where the TV has to fit, it won't be a big one. Does it make sense to spend $700-800 on a first-class 26" TV and use it for years and years? Or will I find whatever I buy technically-obsolete in just a few years and that I'll have spent money I didn't have to?