Hello:

Recently divorced, and I'm temporarily back to using a 20 year old 19 inch RCA TV that I used in college. It's so old , it doesn't even have a coax input! BUT, it still works. The ex got the newer one.

I'm new to HD flat panel technology, and I'm pretty overwhelmed by it all. So, I'm going to provide my basic needs, and hopefully you folks can help me to find the right setup.

I'm open minded to LCD, plasma, and CRT.
I can go 36" wide maximum.
I primarily watch sports and DVDs.
I'd like to have decent sound built into the set if possible.
Right now, I have analog cable, but might upgrade to digital if the new TV would perform markedly better.
As a result of the terms of the divorce, I'm on a bit of a budget: I could probably go as high as $1500, but I'd prefer to keep it below a grand.

I was interested in the Samsung Slimfit 30" HDTV, but posts on this site have pretty much scared me away from it. So, I'm not sure what to do.

Thanks in advance for your responses.

If you could make a 36.1" wide Plasma work then the recently discontinued Panasonic TH-37PX60U Plasma would probably be your best bet since you watch sport and movies. If you cannot make this work and have to rule it out, look at the better 37" LCDs and see if any of them are at or less than 36" wide (i kinda doubt it), and if you can't find any then you'll probably have to go down to a 32" LCD to fit your space. But stick with a good brand/model of LCD TV. $1500 should be enough to get a good set.

Sound quality in any set is this size range won't be all that great so don't count on much here no matter what you end up with.