Sony HD TV

[GB]

Does anyone have this TV by any chance? I know the chances are slim, but I though I would ask anyway.

It is the KDL-40XBR2. If you do have it, tell me about it. Is it as sexy as it looks in the store? Anything I should know about it that would make me not want to get it?

 

[shpj4]

I don't have one but I find the best way to buy any television is by research and then going into the different stores and compare prices.

I bought a 20 Inch Panasonic with VCR and DVD all build in and I got it online through Circuit City. There was no shipping charge just tax and recycle fee and it was sent through FedEx and I received it in 2 days. It cost $299.99 without tax and recycle fee.

 

[buckytom]

geebs, what resolution does it display? 720p, 1080i, or 1080p.
is it lcd or plasma? i'd go with 1080p, lcd if you've got the $$$.
cbs has had a long affiliation with sony (we even get employee deals), so there's a lot of sony stuff around work. i'll keep my eye out for one.

i've been looking in to buying a 40 inch (up to 44" to fit my tv stand) flat panel, 1080p hd tv, and while i'm at it, buying the sony hdr-ux1 hd video camera. not sure if i'm gonna go with the hard disk version of the camera, or the mini-dvd one. gotta check out the drive specs first.

want to have the camera by christmas for obvious reasons, and i'm gonna add the tv just after the stupid bowl, when tv prices usually drop dramatically. i just need to find out if the camera outputs sd video, either composite ntsc, component, or s-vhs for use with older, standard def tv's.

 

[XeniA]

I'd only like to add that the reputation Sony always had for quality is somewhat tarnished. We used to be loyal Sony customers and now we usually go elsewhere, this thanks to experience with a DVD player going sour and, more importantly, what we learned about Sony and their policies thereafter. We started getting an unexplainable "no disc" error code after only about a year of use and since we were unable to clear it in any way, I ended up researching the error code and found the motherlode of complaints about exactly this code appearing on Sony DVD players -- hundreds and hundreds of posts by frustrated owners like myself. They even had legal action being taken against them because Sony had a significant enough problem to instigate a recall. No such thing -- they evidently just didn't care, either at the local level or much higher up.

I'm sure they lost any number of customers for the replacement DVD players that were purchased, and, like us, they lost plenty for other Sony products as well.

Samsung has superb screens. Have you considered them? Also, have you considered a computer screen connected to a "TV box" rather than a dedicated TV? With the right screen the resolution is vastly superior and the whole set-up smaller and more flexible.

Them's my two-cents' worth GB!

 

[GB]

This is a 40 inch lcd 1080p with 3 HDMI ports. My computer can also hook into it so I can use it as a monitor. It has a couple of cool features that I had not seen on other TV's such as a sound feature where it automatically levels out the sound when there is a big change, for instance when a TV show goes to commercial and the commercial is so much louder, this set will level out the commercial volume so it does not blast you away. I consider that a gimmick and I am not sure how well it will work in practice, but if it does work then that will be great. My wife almost married me again over that one . Another gimmicky, but cool feature is that it measures the amount of ambient light in the room and adjusts the contrast accordingly. These are not reasons that I would buy this set specifically, but they will be cool to have it they work.

When I went TV shopping I looked at a bunch of different brands. Most of them looked great with not a whole lot of difference between them. Until I got to this Sony. It seemed like it was on a whole different level. The blacks were so much deeper and the colors were so much more vibrant. Not to mention that the box itself was gorgeous with a floating glass frame.

I have been a loyal Sony customer for all of my electronics buying life, but I have heard a lot of horror stories like the one you describe Ayrton so that is exactly why I posted this thread in the first place. I was hoping someone had or knew someone who had this set so I could get some first hand experience. I have read a ton of reviews on it and I would say 98% of the reviews gave it a 9 or 10 out of 10. The other 2% gave it a 1 or 2 out of 10. There was no middle ground.

 

[Gretchen]

i've been looking in to buying a 40 inch (up to 44" to fit my tv stand) flat panel, 1080p hd tv,

We just purchased the Visio plasma HD 42" at Costco for $1100. LCD version was a couple of hundred more. Beautiful.

 

[Alix]

I'm in the No Longer Loyal to Sony club too. The only product we HAVEN'T had an issue with is the Sony Discman. Otherwise every Sony product we have purchased has been crap.

I hope that this TV is a different story for you GB.

 

[Dina]

GB,
We're in search of a good TV as well. Saw some HD-flat screen tv's (Sony, Phillips, Mitsubishi, Hitachi, and Toshiba) but are still shopping around. Does anyone have a suggestion for a good one?

 

[Andy M.]

Just about all my stuff is SONY, including my digital camera. S.O. bought me a 28" flat screen for Christmas 4-5 years ago and I hed to return it for a bad tuner. Other than that I have never had a problem.

Today in BJs I saw a 44" 1080 LCD SONY for $3300 and change. Of the 5 or 6 TVs running at the time, the SONY had the best picture by far.

 

[Nicholas Mosher]

Awesome, glad to see we have some people with taste in A/V!

Right now sharp is pretty much paving the way with LCD screens. They have a great deal on their LC-42D62U 1920x1080p 42" LCD at $2100. 1920x1080p is going to be the industry standard for a long while. With a 6ms pixel response it doesn't have any smearing issues either. It has a pair of HDMI inputs that accept full 1080p as well (many cheaper panels don't).

The problem with most LCDs is their black levels and resultant contrast ratios. I still prefer them however for the rich colors and crisp image.

BUT - I'm waiting until the next generation of panels are released, as I expect there will be some fixes for minor vertical banding issues and even better black levels. Hopefully by next summer.

I just sold my 720p LCD projector and 84" screen a couple months ago to make room and do some upgrades. Actually, I sold off my entire home theater and purchased a higher end two-channel setup to which I plan to add a 1080p LCD in the 50" range. Nothing hits home 100% yet, but if I were to purchase now it would be the 52" Sharp LC-52D62U LCD.

For best performance/dollar and future-lasting display though, I would go with the above mentioned 42" Sharp LC-42D62U.

 

[Nicholas Mosher]

The current 52" Aquos...
(In the $3300-$3999 range depending on where you purchase and whether you want a factory warranty...)

By the way, here are a couple of forums I frequent on A/V...

http://www.htguide.com/forum (fairly close-knit like DC here)
http://www.avsforum.com (massive forum)

 

[GB]

Nicholas Mosher thanks for those forums. I am going to go check them out right now.

I ended up getting the Sony. Let me just say...WOW. This is the most amazing picture I have ever seen and I don't even have the HD hooked up yet. That comes tomorrow. It is a gorgeous computer, even when it is turned off.

 

[romanticf16]

Just beware of stripped down models of popular products sold at Costco, Sams Club, etc. You can check out the specs on most manufacturer's sites and see which is a stripped down model. Once you buy the high end set, either have it professionally calibrated or buy the software and puck from Colorvision($500) to do it with your computer for optimum viewing quality.

 

[mudbug]

Our good old regular TVs are still going strong, so we will not be buying one of these lovelies anytime soon, but I hope to learn more about everyone's HD/plasma/LCD experiences before we have to take the plunge.

Which I can't wait to do. The HD sets look sooo good, but we sooo don't have to money right now.

 

[GB]

There were a couple of reasons we decided to get one now.

One was that the prices have dropped a lot and it looks like the big price drops are now leveling out.

Another reason was that we wanted to buy a wall unit and figured we should know what size TV we would be upgrading to in order to get the right size wall unit. It sort of made sense to get them both at the same time once we started looking into it.

The last reason was that come Feb 17, 2009 if you still have your old TV you are going to need some sort of converter box to make it work because all analog broadcasts will be shut down on that day. That is still a few years away, but it is not too far off.

 

[mudbug]

I hear you, geebs. I am vaguely aware of the change (kinda like the old switch between beta and VHS, cassette vs. DVD - geez, what I dinosaur I am), so I know it's in our future or else we will be paying extra for some stupid little box on top of the console.

Believe me, the spirit is willing, but the checkbook is weak!

 

[GB]

Yes I know what you mean Mudbug. My checkbook was not happy with me this week, but I just put duct tape on its mouth and told it to shut up. Probably not my smartest of moves though.

 

[mudbug]

LOL, geebs. But I bet you didn't have to buy a new stove and get a Jeep overhauled over the last couple of weeks like we did, either.

Plus the expense we had trying to meet buckytom..................

 

[Nicholas Mosher]

Sony definetly makes nice displays and cameras. Glad you like your new set!