Officially the best mic in it's price range.

NT1A looks somehow familiar, it was probably designed after Neumann U87 - U89. It won the Electronic Musician 2004 Editor's Choice Award and RODE's site claims it is the world's quietest studio condenser microphone with only 5 dBA of self-noise. Pretty impressive for a $200 mic!

I've stumbled upon NT1A somewhere around '2000 at one good studio in Jerusalem. The engineer was putting this mic on percussion instead of AKG414's we were using for the most of acoustic stuff. At some point I was asking him what good cheap mic he would suggest for a home studio and he pointed at NT1A. By the way, that percussion track recorded with only one NT1A sounded very good.

Later on I've read a bunch of reviews on the microphone here and there and what I understood was like this: Despite most of the reviewers preferred Neumans (more complex sound etc.) NT1A is still a very good microphone, and considering it's downward amazing price, it's highly recommended. Of course, comparing microphone that costs $150 with microphone that might fetch $4000 is not fair, but the fact they did it says something.

One more thing I'm not able to measure myself is it's low noise - the tests say it has the lowest noise factor among condenser mics, especially compared to vintage Neumans and such. I wouldn't bother about this because I've never had any problem with noise from vintage Neumanns, but some of the budget condensers are a bit noisy.

After I was sure it worth purchasing I started looking on ebay and other boards for RODE NT1A and at some point someone was selling a pair of barely used NT1A's in my area. I've got a pair for something like $400 and used them ever since.

What you get
In my case the microphone came in a shoe-style cardboard box which contained the microphone in a fake leather pouch (with a small humidity absorber pillow thrown inside a plastic bag), a spider shockmount, microphone stand adapter (just in case your stand has a different diameter) and a short manual. I'm not sure if it's a standard package, but that's what I've got. The spiders are a bit cheap and clumsy, but they work so I won't complain too much. The pouch is the same style you meet with SHURE dynamic mics (57, 58 etc.) and, although it won't protect a microphone from a brick falling on it it will avoid scratches, dust and rust. It is clear RODE was cutting corners on everything, but the microphone itself looks good. Pretty simple in design, it has a golden dot on the front side - otherwise both sides are identical. It looks durable - but I wasn't preforming any durability tests on it. You can see the large 1" capsule with gold plated diaphragm through the mesh. The output pins are gold-plated which is definitely not a feature usually seen on entry-level microphones.

Sound
The main thing about any microphone is the sound. And I can assure you it sounds good. It has a slightly warm natural voicing, very pleasing and very musical. Some of the condensers tend to sound cold or harsh, but NT1A has very delicate highs. Only at this moment, when I'm writing this review, I realize I've never used EQ with NT1A. Just plug it in - and it delivers.

Uses
I think it can be used on everything a condenser mic is usually used for. It is a good ambient mic - despite it has only the cardioid pattern. Of course, the "dark side" will not work properly so you cannot put it in the middle of the room and expect it to pick up everything around. I've used them for overheads instead of the smaller-diaphragm mics and liked it more than, say, AKG C1000.
It works nice for vocals, just don't forget the windscreen - it's pretty sensitive to moving air. The proximity effect is there, but you don't get too Barry White.
I haven't close-miked guitar amps with it, but recently witnessed as it was put as an ambient mic on guitar amplifier and added a lot to the sound.

Limitations
Yes, it has no pattern and no -10dB switches. Sometimes it's a matter of taste - one guy likes a guitar with four pickups, ten knobs and midi, while the other gets a better sound from Fender Esquire. Personally - I don't need those switches and I don't like them.

Today you have dozens of entry-level condenser microphones. Some look better, some come with a fancy case, some are a little bit cheaper, but here we have something outstanding. It is way above everything else in it's price range, so just go and get it.