Sony KV-27HS420 27-Inch FD Trinitron WEGA HD-Ready CRT TV
Excellent Sony HDTV at a bargain price
Contrary to popular opinion, you don't have to buy an expensive plasma or LCD (liquid crystal display) TV to get a great high-definition picure. In fact, many experts (including Consumer Reports) assert that high-definition TVs using traditional cathode-ray tube technology -- as this high-definition Sony does -- currently offer a sharper picture than plasma and LCD TVs plus are lower priced and more reliable. This Sony HDTV has an excellent picture with standard broadcasts and a superb picture with HD broadcasts.    Yes, this model -- despite being a high-definition TV -- has the traditional 4:3 aspect ratio rather than a widescreen 16:9 ratio. But my cable system currently broadcasts 175 channels in the traditional 4:3 aspect ratio and only 9 widescreen channels. How many widescreen channels are currently available to you? Not many I would guess. Widescreen 16:9 TVs have smaller pictures with gray bars on the side when displaying traditional 4:3 channels, which most channels still broadcast. Admittedly, when widescreen broadcasts and most DVDs are played on this set, there will be letter-boxing bars above and below the widescreen picture. If this bothers you significantly, I suggest that you consider purchasing a 30\\" or 34\\" widescreen Sony HDTV. But for people who want high-quality HDTV right now and want to spend only a few hundred dollars rather than a thousand dollars or more, this 27\\" Sony HDTV may well be the answer. If you eventually purchase a larger screen HDTV when prices on such sets drop -- as they eventually will -- this excellent 27\\" Sony would serve as an superb second HDTV at that time.