Panasonic quality and support (extra remote is only $7.50); Picture quality; low-price; nice features for the money.

Sound from internal speakers could be better; no fixed or variable audio outputs

I was looking for a 20 inch analog set for my daughter who is in college. I'm used to using the older Sony XBR-series 20 inch TV's, and have a very critical eye. I was not interested in any of the "cheap" brands, i.e. Apex, Sylvania, Symphonic, Advent, etc. I only considered Sony, Panasonic, and Toshiba. Both the Sony's and Toshiba's I considered for this application were flat screen CRT's, and, of course, cost quite a bit more than this Panasonic. But, my daughter wanted a "basic" TV without the bells and whistles that the Sony KV-20FS120 and the Toshiba 20AF44 offered. I was really tempted on the Toshiba, as Sears online had a special on the 20AF44 at $189.00 - Best Buy sells it at $239! However, this CT-20L8 has an excellent picture, convergency is excellent and so is screen geometry - not always the case with some of the flat screen CRT's. Plus, the Panasonic has two video inputs, including one component video input. When you look at manufacturers today, only Sony, Panasonic, and Hitachi - and some Toshiba's - are actually manufactured by those companies. Other companies have their sets manufactured under contract, for example Magnavox and Sylvania are made by Funai Electric in China. A trusted USA name brand really no longer exists. If you want a basic television, this set does it job well and the remote is extremely well laid out and simple to use. For the money, it can't be beat. Color saturation is very good, and quite accurate. I noted that I had to turn the color down quite a bit to reduce the oversaturation of the reds, but this is normal in many sets today. It has what Panasonic calls AI, for Artifical Intelligence, in the audio section. This is a sort of AVC (automatic volume control) that equalizes the volume of commercials and stations when channel surfing. And, it actually works! I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this TV for someone wanting a bedroom TV, or for some other ancillary application.

Similar Products Used:

Sony KV-20XBR SOny KV-20FV300