First off very well said ......

It seems with every increase in technology in our lives we see a
reduction in the things that are important, the quality of our lives and
the freedoms we all enjoy.
If I had to choose between having the latest movie to watch on my home
set or having my constitutional freedoms and not having the government
invading my life I believe I'd have to give up the movie. Most of the
technology I do enjoy I got from using common sense and frugality not
just running out and buying it just because everyone said so.
My computer tower I bought second hand at a greatly reduced price. All
else was scrounged. Monitor, mouse and keyboard. My vcr's are repair
jobs gotten out of dustbins or the cheapest hifi models on sale at my
local Wal-Mart.
I've been a staunch supporter of the philosophy behind the Mother Jones
publications all my life.
people should realize that you can have a good quality of life and not
be a slave to this consumeristic society we live in.

As you can see people here are cussing at people over electronic
equipment .. go figure ?

On to the topic matter .
I also repair and mostly newer stuff for a salvage buyer . I have had
the chance to sit down in my home with both plasma and LCD tv sets of
about 37 inch screens . They look nice but you cant get as ``real`` of
picture from them as you can from a CRT . The plasma is better at
viewing from an angle .
The LCD set ( Sharp Aquos ) had a stunning picture on new brodcasts but
totaly horrible picture on old video or black & white shows very blury &
pixely . The LCD also was bad at off center viewing angles . The picture
in this was so bright it was impossible to watch it in a low light room
, turning down the contrast e.t.c. was no good .. could not get the
bright whites down without getting the whole picture to dark . The
plasma was much better at finding a mellow picture for a darker room .

In my ears a CD has better sound . I do have some older equipment to
compare such as an old tube amp which sounds real good . A Carver or
Marantz amp from the mid 70`s has about the same sound all good & all
just mid quality .. nothing high end .

VCRs were really good and used for years . I just bought a DVD recorder
and it out runs the VCR sound and picture both by about 100% . The dvd
recorder is made much like a vcr . It has cable jacks and a tuner &
timer to record stuff just like the vcr worked . The disks are
inexpensive and can be erased , the freshly recorded disks can be taken
out of the recorder & played in any other dvd player without any messing
around ..... recorder , push record & when done open the tray .. go put
the recording in any player & its working .
As for lasting ... good luck . Every day use will eat up these dvd
machines if not the lazer its the motor it seems .
I dont use any of it very often so it should last me for years .

Pricing .. I see everyone wants to pay little or nothing for electronics
This is what has led all of it to be made so cheaply . The consumer
electronic companys are just following what the consumer wants and they
`can not` produce lasting quality if you do not want to pay for it .
Example .. remember the very first VCRs ? big heavy bulky 1000$ units
... i bet you could get one of those and repair it today & it will work
and what its 25 years old ? try that with a 2003 APEX DVD player when
its 25 years old :-) .
You asked for it .. you got it ..