Panasonic CT-32HL15 32" Flat-Screen HD-Ready CRT TV
Fine Product
If you want a TV that will do the job without burning a hole in your pockets, it is a fine product. If you are sitting on fence for plasma versus LCD BP TV, this may be the way to go.    Good for playing video games, and  both SD and HD receptions through STB are excellent.  TV has built-in pixel doubler (?) for SD channels and interpolates extra pixels for improving picture quality and making them look solid. In pre-set modes, Panasonic color saturation is a bit high for my tastes so it takes sometime to get used to very bright and highly color saturated pictures. You can adjust color tones to your taste after spending some time to get the colors that you want. But going through layers of Menu to get what you want is a bit frustrating, but definitely worth it.    HD TV is great specially for video games (xbox+HD cable).  You can see facial expressions of players in NFL games on HD channels, and picture clarity is very very good far better than I have seen on any plasma or LCD TV. But, you would need HD settop box. TV has number of useful inputs including one HDMI. Make sure you connect using HDMI or component video input to get the best quality. DVDs play excellent provided you use component video (instead of composite video cable that you may have been using before).    Sound reproduction is excellent, and movies play like playing on a home theator by using virtual dolby digital like sound effects. I haven't see better sounds from a TV set. The best feature is using aspect ratio button on the remote, and watching normal TV in 16:9 ratio, for which it uses some sort of extra-polation. It increases clarity of picture though shapes may get a little out of proportion.    Negatives are : it is quite heavy as any flat screen 32 inch set will be (and that is making them out of fashion, and loose sales). It is not easy to move from one place to another without having two strong men, and taking to higher floors may be an issue without an elevator. Secondly, looks wise it is a below average set at least for me. For some reasons, Pansonic went with angular look and curving speaker panels which to me makes it look as boxy as you can get. While I won't call it ugly, it sure won't win any award in looks. Equivalent Sony TV looks far better in comparison and is very modern looking, but is also priced a few hundred dollars more.    Since 32 inch picture tubes are getting out of fashion, if you don't play video games for hours after hours on your TV, you may as well try to get a 42 inch plasma for a few hundred dollars more. Who said life is so simple?