Syntax Olevia LT30HV 30-Inch HD-Ready Flat-Panel LCD TV
Best 27' HDTV-ready  LCD monitor in it's price range..........
That's because it's the ONLY  LCD-TV in this range that's available. I bought sight unseen online from Amazon. Delivery was when they said it would be, set was undamaged. <br />You get what you pay for. No frills, and you need a set top HD converter or HD cable box to get the few HD channels now available on cable, or you have a roof antenna and you'll get the broadcast networks' HD signals only. <br /> <br />Just like back in the 80's when \\"cable ready\\" confused a lot of people, HDTV-ready, at least for cable and satellite viewers, means additional hardware. Time Warner Cable of NYC exchanged my old box for an HD box at no extra charge. The few channels available now may frustrate new owners of these sets, and Time Warner has the nerve to charge extra for a handful of extra HD channels, like ESPN-HD but just remember, back in the 50's, color television meant buying an expensive set to watch color on one channel-NBC- the first all-color network, until the late 60's, when all networks went color. Same deal with HDTV- be patient, in a few years, all channels will be hi-def. <br />Now, onto the Olevia. I like this set and don't regret the purchase, so far. Set-up is a bit of a chore and time consuming. If you are not electronic-savy, you could have some major problems. This is a component TV, meaning the video and audio signals are connected seperately, so when you throw in a home theater audio system and a cable/satellite box, it can and did take hours to get up and going. Connecting from my Panasonic home-theater-in-a-box DVD player's component output gave the best picture although I did not try DVI connection, and my test DVD, The Matrix, looked and sounded quite impressive. <br />The component cables I  bought from Radio Shack are just fine- hi priced MonsterCable is a rip-off, especially for a set in this price range. <br />One big disappointment is that most widescreen movies on DVD are in fact just letterboxed in 4:3 mode. Meaning you still get black bars aboveand below the movie image. There is a mode where you can make it full screen, using up more picture area of the screen but losing some of the picture image that was originally filmed. So It's a compromise that one day will be hopefully eliminated once all tv transmission is in HD and all widescreen movies on DVD use the full amount of the 16:9 screen area so you can watch a movie shot in widescreen and see the full image the director shot without any black bars. <br />But don't let that stop you from getting an HD set if you really want one now. Otherwise, wait a year or so, or when HD replaces analog in a few years. This set will probably be under $500 by then. <br />I admit the remote's a bit clunky and hard to use and if you are intimdated by remotes or electronics in general, it's a pain in the a##. Ask somebody you know who is tech-savy to help you set it up or get universal remote. Picture quality on HD channels is outstanding. Discovery Channel HD in particular makes you feel glad you bought the set. Analog channels look granier and not as sharp as on your old picture-tube TV.  <br />I recommend this set for an apartment or bedroom, not as the main home theater set unless you have a small living room. If you are replacing a picture-tube set or want to get started with HD without spending thousands of dollars, this is the 27' set to beat.