Pmbuko,
Like Cap'n Pickard says, if you don't need HDTV, then it's bargains galore.
In CRT direct-view, Sony had the edge for many years, through the 70s and '80s, but eventually Toshiba and Panasonic equaled Sony picture quality, and for less money as often as not. There is also the oft-overlooked Hitachi, which have been excellent in the past and are certainly the equal of Sony in CRT non-HD.
Really crummy CRT sets to avoid include Sanyo, Sharp, RCA and Philips, the latter two being particularly unreliable in addition to having mediocre picture quality.
JVC and Samsung fall somewhere in the middle.
Regards,
