How will non-HD digital...

It depends on source, Sateleite can look different from cable. One advantage is at that size it will be much less of an issue than larger sizes as the bigger it gets the flaws are greatly magnified.

I have direct TV. My wife bought a 32" LCD HD Sony last year, I found the picture not as good as my 34" wega sony hi def CRT. However, in June I went to a 50" Panasonic plasma and the picture is better than the Sony CRT was. Unless there are constraints of space or money don't buy a 32". Isn't everything going to be HD in Jan? The non HD picture on a 32" wide screen is quite small which is why I bought the 34" 4x3 instead. You can crop it or stretch it at the cost of distorting the picture. Again , will there be any non-HD transmissions after Jan? I had thought that was the purpose of going to digital since all digital TVs receive HD. Am I completely misinformed?

In Feb. 2009, all television terrestrial broadcasts will be digital and not necessarily in HD. Many programs will be fed in SD which is 480p. You will need an antenna and a digital ready tv that has a built in digital tuner to receive these free broadcasts of local tv station off-air broadcasts. A DTV converter (about $50) will allow you to view DTV on analog sets.