Unless I was buying a "throw away" TV (say $500 or less) that I only planned to keep for a year or so, I would absolutely get a 16:9 ratio.

Sure HDTV has been slow to arrive, but the ball is quickly picking up speed. With the NCTA committing to have DTV via cable in the top 100 markets by 1/1/03, widescreen programmin will become much more abundant.

The time to buy an HDTV is now, and by definition HDTV is 16:9