Buying a New TV

I am looking to buy a new TV. I have digital cable in another room, but will probably just have regular cable hooked up to this TV. I am lloking for something around 30" or so. It will mainly be used for regular TV, DVDs, and the Nintendo Wii. Is it worth getting an HDTV? I want to get a flat panel TV, because they are easier to deal with, moving wise. I may be making this up, but I thought I read somewhere that sometime soon all TVs will need to be HDTVs, or HDTV compatible, or something like that. Is that true? Can you reccommend a good, flat panel, HDTV if its worth it, fairly inexpensive set? I don't really have a budget, but I am not spending thousands of dollars on a TV. Thanks.

In 2009, if the currently-enacted US laws hold, analog TV transmissions in the US will cease. If you are using cable TV and a set-top box, you may not even notice.

The requirement for over-the-air reception won't be that you need an HDTV compatible set, but rather that you need a DTV (digital TV) compatible set.

All sets sold in the US over a certain size (26"? Anyone?) are mandated by law to have DTV tuners in them, for over-the-air reception of DTV signals. Smaller sets will face the same requirement this summer.

Reference: Scientific American, most-recent edition.

Please note that laws are subject to change. Congress has already changed them once or twice.