Price Paid:  $430.00 from Best Buy

Summary:
If you need a TV but cant afford to go HDTV or widescreen then you might wantng to go for an affordable flat-screen TV such as the Sharp 27R-FS1. With a price under $500 at most stores such as Best Buy this television boasts a great picture with nice color and clarity, and the you can really tell what a difference the flat-screen makes if you have your equipment anywhere near a window or direct lighting because the glare is reduced a great deal and in my opinon having a flat screen make the tv look larger, maybe because you really do have a larger viewing area without the curvature of traditional tv's. The set has component video, S-video and A/V inputs and audio outputs so you can attach external speakers on the back-side as well as handy S-video and component inputs hidden under a panel on the front of the TV where you also find the volume and tv controls. Theres some nice features here such as four sets of favorites on the remote allowing individual family members to have their own lists, closed-captioning turns on when you mute the TV, and the remote is a universal one with buttons for your DVD player.

Strengths:
A great looking set with a clean design sporting a metallic finish and rounded edges while the screen gives off an excellant picture with nice color. If you don't already own a universal remote the remote included can handle your DVD and VCR as well.

Weaknesses:
While the speakers give off good clear sound, the power behind them is a bit weak at ten watts.

Similar Products Used:
None.

Price Paid:  $499.00 from Bestbuy

Summary:
This television is worth every penny. I purchased this instead of a similar Samsung model because they were out of stock. I'm glad I did.

Strengths:
16x9 mode, picture quality, sound quality, certain features, price, flat screen, component jacks.

Weaknesses:
it's silver!, the menus are ugly to look at and belong on a generic/no-name television, when hooking up cable straight to the TV it switches channels extremely slow (just hook it through to the VCR instead), no remote button to instantly switch to 16x9 mode, can't hook up a DVD player to Svideo connection AND RCA jacks at the same time (meaning you can't switch between them without reconnecting). Just a word of warning, don't attempt to lift this with one person unless you are he-man, this thing weighs a TON! My old 32" was lighter!

Similar Products Used:
RCA Colortrak(?) 32"

Price Paid:  $430.00 from Best Buy

Summary:
This is a terrific TV for the price if you cannot afford to go HDTV. It easily rivals the NON PIP Sony Vega and has adequate i/o options.

the Sound is terrific, which is important for someone with a wife who doesn't like the hifi system on with the tv...