In my bedroom, I have a 32'' Panny HD ready crt tube set. I have an HD feed from TW cable coming in to the set using component cables. The set does have an HDMI input.

I was told by a sales rep at BB that because the set is a CRT HD ready set, it cannot handle 1080 i or p and I would be wasting my money on an HDMI cable.

Is this true or just an uneducated sale rep.

If it's HD ready, it should support HD resolutions, with that being said, since it's a CRT, I doubt using HDMI over component with your cable box will make any PQ difference. You can get more assistance with your set by posting your question in the proper display forum for it's type, this section technically isn't for displays.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=64

An HD Ready set can accept 1080i and many can accept 720p also.
Since you have a CRT(analog technology) set using the HDMI (digital technology) interface can cause a degradation of color quality since the set has to convert the digital color back to analog color and will make no difference in resolution detail.