After all this: CRT HD Television it 'tis....

I came to the same conclusion as you did. Mostly from a price standpoint, though. I purchased a 34" Sony widescreen, the KV-34HS510. It's a big heavy beast and it is beautiful. I was very tempted by the 30" Samsung so I'd encourage you to look there if you want a widescreen.
Good luck!

You found the best picture quality already. CRT is still the best. Digital televisions have a long way to go.

I came to the same conclusion and bought a 34" Sony CRT last week. The ability to pop a memory stick directly into the set was a neat perk - negated by dragging ~200lb to the second floor.

Agreed - crt is the way to go

Bummer, Sony stopped producing their 40 inch CRT TV! My parents got theirs in 2002, and it has a truly magnificent picture. Forget about HDTV, the regular cable looks just super, with HDTV the proverbial icing on the cake! The 40" is a behemoth in size, and it was like wrestling a bear (2 people) to set it up on it's matching pedestal stand. This puppy wasn't going anywhere once it was set up. In 2003, Sony upped the ante to a 42" CRT TV. Now, it appears that 36" is Sony's largest CRT TV. You might try to hunt down a discontinued larger version, if you feel lucky.