Pete,
VERY disappointing - where is your sense of debt and upgradeitis??? This will mean demerits on your Man Card! I'll bet you even stop and ask for directions!!!!
On to the serious stuff. There is a local Stereo Shop in town and "I've got a guy" there. We have evolved over the years to having a beer together occaisionally. He knows his stuff and serves it in easy to understand chunks.
His input on CRT TVs is that they provide the best pictures - period. Start with Sony, next is Toshiba and then comes Sony, Sony and Sony. Best bang for PQ and reliability. If you are taking HDTV off the table and looking at 30" - 32", you should be able to find an excellent TV at a good price. I'd urge you to stay local if possible (and get a 16:9), just to save shipping and because it's easy to tweak a local guy's nose if required.
BTW - DVDs will look great on the CRT.
