I have a 32" Toshiba SD CRT that I was perfectly happy with, that is until Black Friday 2007. I was standing in line at Costco and was handed a coupon for a Vizio 50" plasma. Now I wish I had been standing in line at Trader Joe's, or something, instead. Long story short, I tried two of the Vizio's and even a Samsung plasma, but was not happy with the overall PQ. I was beginning to think maybe the flat panel technology was not quite ready for prime time when I tried a Panasonic PX77U, and fell in love. It looked gorgeous, even on SD DVD's, a staple of my viewing diet.

Thirteen months into ownership, the dreaded "purple snakes" appeared in force, and Panasonic cannot fix this problem, so their solution was to deliver a new PZ85U to the repair shop to replace the 77U without first even consulting me or giving me a choice. Good thing I bought it at Costco, because if I had not, it would have been one month out of manufacturers warranty and Panasonic would have basically said, "Thankyou for your $1800. We hope you enjoyed your Panasonic TV for the year it worked. And please, do shop with us again!" After this experience, I would not buy so much as a Panasonic toothpick as long as I live.

So now I had the PZ85U, and all the negative comments I subsequently read about it have turned out to be true, particularly the fact that is manifests a lot of noise on SD material compared to the PX77U that I bought and paid for. I figured I'll either have to get used to the noise (not easy to do when I sit 7 feet from the 50" TV) or sell it. Now, two months into ownership, during scenes of certain luminosity, certain colors take on a subtle to not-so-subtle green cast, and it cannot be adjusted out. The tech came out and replaced the analog and digital boards, even though she said to her eyes it looked par for the course compared to other flat panels she has seen. But I don't consider it normal to gradually turn green over two months. Of course, the new boards solved nothing, just as replacing them in the 77U did not solve the purple snakes issue. She acknowlwedged that I, having owned it all along, was in a better position to notice any gradual changes than she, and suggested I wait another couple months to see if it gets worse, then they can take it in the shop and maybe have something to work with. But I'm having other thoughts...

Such as, dump this flat panel crap altogether and try to find an older HD-ready CRT set. When I worked at Good Guys back in 1998 or so, the best pictures I ever saw were HD CRT's, and I don't recall them manifesting the things I see in LCD and plasma, such as noise, clay face, roiling motes, and all that. I know they won't do the full resolution that new sets will do, but I have learned the hard way that there is soooo much more which determines PQ than just a number. Not recalling specific models, can anyone please make some recommendations on which such HD-ready CRT sets are desireable to look for on the used market? I would prefer 32" or larger, but beggars can't be choosers, now. As I recall, some were made in a somewhat widescreen aspect ratio. Were those prone to picture distortion? I can live with a 4:3 set if I have to, since it is clear that black bars on the top/bottom and/or sides will be with us for a good long time to come, regardless of TV shape. I greatly appreciate any suggestions on which sets to consider, which to avoid, etc.

This is typical foolish behavior. People have one bad experience with a piece of electronic and they assume everything else is like that. My Panasonic LCD broke, so that means Panasonic sucks and LCDs suck. :rolleyes:

Anyways, since you want an HD CRT, here's one I found. I hope you don't mind paying $108 for shipping. :o
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-TXS2782H-Slim-Fit-HDTV/dp/B000F2R5MY/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1241381119&sr=8-3

You've had time to get used to a larger image. If 7' viewing distance is what you want to stick with, you probably won't go wrong with a Sony KV-40XBR800, provided you get a chance to check it out before purchase. Right now these seem to be running $300-475 in CA craigslistings.

Give the Samsung Slimfits a pass.

You've had time to get used to a larger image. If 7' viewing distance is what you want to stick with, you probably won't go wrong with a Sony KV-40XBR800, provided you get a chance to check it out before purchase. Right now these seem to be running $300-475 in CA craigslistings.

Give the Samsung Slimfits a pass.

I just read some reviews of that TV at Amazon. Here is what one customer has to say about it: "The ONLY drawback is this beauty's size/weight, find a good/strong friend to help you load/unload this beast!! Otherwise, you will get to experience EVERY single feature of this tv as you nurse your hernia!!!!!"
:p

I notice he said "ONLY" drawback, so it definitely sounds like a good TV. But make sure you get some help when carrying that into your house.

Give the Samsung Slimfits a pass.
Oh how I agree with you on that. I bought one of those about a year and a half ago and had nothing but issues. I replaced it with an LCD last November and was happy I did. Then I gave that POS TV away to my poor friend. But yeah, those Slimfits are headaches. The only reason I posted that was because it's the only HD CRT I found at Amazon.

Agreed on all points, this time.

Turbo: one more thing. You mentioned "roiling motes" as one criticism of flat-panels. I think we often refer to that here as "mosquito video noise".

Be advised that it can show up on large HD CRTs as well. It's often just a symptom of bad digital encoding or processing.

The problem is more endemic to flat-panels.

Sony 34XBR960 would be my first recommendation, or 34XBR910. Pretty tough to go wrong with either set.

Sony 34XBR960 would be my first recommendation, or 34XBR910. Pretty tough to go wrong with either set.
What's the difference between the XBR960 vs XBR910? Is it just the input connections?

TLK :cool:

http://static.flickr.com/115/***************************

Sorry to hear your plasma misfortunes. I bought a 50" Panny PX80u 1 yr ago and it blows away my sony 30xs955. Black levels,focus,size pretty much everything. Not saying I hate my sony but my Panny rocks. I now orderd a new 42" G10 to replace my sony in my bedroom. THey have reaaly good reviews and THX mode for movies.:)

I went through something like this a few years ago. I swore that CRT's were the way to go over all of the new technologies. CRT tech does have it's share of problems though: geometry issues, size limitations, phosphor trails (more annoying to me than ghosting on Sony Models), etc. I do think CRT's are great, but the problem is finding a solid unit as the quality on them went down as flat panels started to take over more of the market.
I ended up getting a set (LCD) that had the least amount of annoyances to me and gave me a few things that I couldn't get with consumer level CRT sets (such as really good PC integration). I hope you find a set that you like!

Difference is HDMI connections on the 960, and the 910 has the better anti glare coating on the screen.

Turbo, I really think you're the victim of very bad luck. Panasonic (generally) makes great quality flat panels, I've owned a 32" Panasonic LCD for almost 2 years now and love it. Give the new 1080p LCDs a look, I think you may find their PQ is much better than you remember.

Go see if there are any Pioneer Kuro 111's left. If you're really intent on getting a Tube and want the largest, then find a Sony KV-40XBR800...next size down would be the Sony 36"er. Another great CRT would be the Loewe 38"er. Loewe TV's are high-end (higher-end than XBR's) German-made displays that were sold here in the US for awhile, and used an RCA Tube. Loewe's bulid quality & picture quality were top-notch.

I cant see myself downgrading from a 50" to a smaller CRT, If I were you'd Id look around for a Kuro ..they're being sold at nearly half price these days and you'd definitely be happy with it regardless of the model.

try a new 09 samsung plasma. the new lineup is great. i have a 58b560 and love it. i just came from an HD CRT and will never go back.

You should consider the XBR-970 as well, especially if you can't find a 960. Almost as good of a picture (you won't notice the difference at your viewing distance) and I personally like it more then the 910 I own (despite the SFP tube). Geometry is mostly adjustable on these TVs via the service menu (both of my TVs have almost no issues with it, what issue there is I just hide with a little overscan). The phosphor trails are noticable especially in a dark room, but to my eyes they are NOTHING compared to what an LCD does to SD material, even in smaller screen sizes.