I'm looking for advice on which 35/36" 4:3 Sony HDTV offers the same Super Fine Pitch tube and HDMI as the king of the hill 955/966 16:9 sets.

I'm currently using a 27" Philips HDTV monitor and the family still watches enough 4:3 material to stay with a square monitor. I would love to get a 955/960 but the $400-$500 prices are a little rich for these nervous times and those 35"/36" sets are going for $150-$250 in my vicinity.

Thanks for the advice,

I'm looking for advice on which 35/36" 4:3 Sony HDTV offers the same Super Fine Pitch tube and HDMI as the king of the hill 955/966 16:9 sets.

I'm currently using a 27" Philips HDTV monitor and the family still watches enough 4:3 material to stay with a square monitor. I would love to get a 955/960 but the $400-$500 prices are a little rich for these nervous times and those 35"/36" sets are going for $150-$250 in my vicinity.

Thanks for the advice,I'm not sure I understand your distinction between "955/960" and "35"/36"". I believe the only 4:3 sfp set is the 36XS955, someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

I'm not aware of any 35" sets. Among others, 4:3 sets include, 36" and 40" XBR800s, 36" HS500s and HS510s that have the non-sfp tube. I believe these all have DVI.

IMHO:
There is really no reason to rule out 16:9 tubes just because your family watches 4:3 material, the wide zoom screen mode is more than adequate for viewing this programming. In addition, the non-sfp tubes (I have a 34HS510), while not the holy grail, are VERY good HD tubes. Find yourself a cheap 16:9 non-sfp set and you will be happy.

BTW, you haven't indicated what programming your family watches; cable, sat, ota, dvd, game consoles, etc., which can have an impact on hd set decisions.