Sony 40" XBR Flat HDTV Monitor ,should I buy one?

[johntoto11]

I'm in the market for A new HD tv set. I'm leaning toward A SONY 40" HDTV Monitor. You know the one that weighs as much as A pickup truck. Well any way , I was wondering if any of you folks had any thoughts on the subject? Circuit City has them priced about $2500.00. Since I never get what I actually want for Christmas, I thought I'd guarantee A nice gift and buy it for myself. I looked at RPTV's and thought that the picture on those sets just are not very sharp. Besides my living room is on the small side, and in the daytime it's pretty bright. I'd probably only be sitting 7-8 ft. away from the set. I intend on getting A series 2 DIRECTIVO when Circuit City has them. I have had it with my Dish 501. There are no OTA HD signals to be had where I live, anyway A PVR is A must! Does anybody out there have A similar setup. I might get A progressive scan DVD player, but I found going out and renting movies and returning them A BIG hassle. Any thoughts? Dennis in Fla.

[Jacob S]

I have seen these things come down in price big time over the past year or two. I would hold out and wait another couple of years, especially when tv's will be required to be digital, for more price drops. The product will also get better. That does not seem like too bad of a price but you may also want to shop around on the same brand to see if you can get the best deal.

[npitlor]

I have had a 40" Sony for about a month now. I'm not sure where you are seeing a price for $2500... Sony is giving a free stand (value $500) when you buy a TV, so I guess the price could be considered $2500, but you do still end up paying the $3000 price. Make sure you are getting the most recent model (ends with 800).

There are some minor design issues, but overall I think it's a great set. It is definitely better than most RPTVs I've seen, and the size is as big as I would want in my room (I, too sit about 7-8' away).

I have Dishnetwork, too, and be forwarned that the picture quality is much worse when you get a big screen... You might consider getting an Dishnetwork HDTV tuner, and switching in to HD when watching poor quality SD signals. This shrinks the effective picture size and makes it bearable.

Have you checked out Netflicks? They will mail you DVDs to keep as long as you want, and when you send one back (the pay postage both ways) the send you a replacement... You end up always having an unseen DVD around the house to see, and don't have to drag yourself to the store to return them.

I have a Dish 6000 I'm not so happy with, and am considering switching to DirecTV so I can get a better receiver... But I hear DTV's programming isn't as good, so I'm not sure what I will do. I do know that next year JVC and Dish will each introduce their own HDTV PVR's... I might wait.

[Jacob S]

Isn't there any flat screens that have some kind of adjustments in them where they clear out the poorer picture quality?

[johntoto11]

The above poster is right, the current price for the SONY 40" is $3000.00 with A free stand, at Circuit City. It seems like A month or two ago they wanted $2500.00, with A Free $100.00 gift certificate. I guess if you snooze, you lose. Ya'll think the best deals for this monster will be before ,or after Christmas?

[HTguy]

I think it's a good set for a moderate sized room. But why get it now if your not ready to get an HD STB? There's more HD content on DISH than DirecTV and more to come soon.

One nice thing about this set is that you can hook up your 501 via the S-input (your 6000, too, for that matter, if you get one) and watch SD content full screen w/o window-boxing, stretching or zooming. Since most of what you do watch is likely to be SD for awhile I think this kind of set is the way to go.

[johntoto11]

I hear Netflix customers have A problem actually getting the newer titles they request. Anything to that?

[npitlor]

To Jacob S: You can adjust the picture slightly... Turn off the ClearEdge feature and reduce the sharpness -- That helps a bit (the problem is that the pixellation (sp?) is so severe when the signal is compressed, that you see it pretty well sometimes, and the sharp picture accentuates the problem).

To Johntoto: You didn't miss anything. Circuit City was dumping the older models... The 800 never went for less than $3K. You shouldn't do much better that what you are seeing now for prices.

I haven't had Netflix in a while (no time to see movies). You could be right, especially since they have become so big. As long as you have a movie listed in your que, then you should eventually get it. My guess is that you get some priority after a while.

[ibglowin]

Having owned a 36" Sony for a couple of years (sold it now) I would have to say skip the 40" 300lb boat anchor. If your going to buy an HDTV you have to think 16X9 whatever you decide on. All true HD is delivered in widescreen so 4X3 format HDTV's are a waste IMHO. If you really have to have a CRT, go with the 34" widescreen Sony. I would go with an LCD based RPT like the 40" Panasonic. The picture is awesome, weight is around 97lbs, plenty of inputs. Only thing its possibly missing is DVI or Firewire input and the jury is still out as to whether that will ever be of much use to anybody. You can pick them up these days for around $2500 if you are a smart shopper.

[npitlor]

Here's the thing (and why I decided to buy a 4x3)... The 40" Sony in letterbox mode has a picture roughly the size of a 37" 16X9... For less $$$. I agree that long term the 16X9 would be the way to go, but if you buy that NOW, and watch a lot of 4X3 programming on it, you either deal with distorted pictures (I can't watch that) or you burn in your screen. If you buy a 4x3 and watch a lot of letterbox, you also could burn in your screen, but in the long run, it won't matter (because everything will be 16x9). Given the costs, I'm not sure why anyone would really want to buy the 34" Sony, except to say they have a wide screen TV.

[ibglowin]

The beauty of the LCD based RPT type televisions are that you DONT have to worry about burnin! Not ever, never. So that said, If you don't want to stretch and or zoom it to fill the screen, no need, watch it in4X3 without any worry. You also don't have to worry about convergence with theses types of TV's. The only possible drawback is the current cost of the high powered bulb that needs replacing after 5000 to 7000 hours. Looks like currently they can run several hundred $$ but you can install them yourself. Or if you buy an extended warranty, you should be able to get most of your $$ back with just that one service call. If you have access to HD via OTA locals and or Dish/Direct TV you will have plenty to watch in widescreen with even more coming later next year. I have replaced both my living room and bedroom TV's this year with widescreen LCD-RPT's and I would never go back to 4x3.

[cnsf]

Originally posted by ibglowin
The beauty of the LCD based RPT type televisions are that you DONT have to worry about burnin! Not ever, never. So that said, If you don't want to stretch and or zoom it to fill the screen, no need, watch it in4X3 without any worry. You also don't have to worry about convergence with theses types of TV's. The only possible drawback is the current cost of the high powered bulb that needs replacing after 5000 to 7000 hours. Looks like currently they can run several hundred $$ but you can install them yourself. Or if you buy an extended warranty, you should be able to get most of your $$ back with just that one service call. If you have access to HD via OTA locals and or Dish/Direct TV you will have plenty to watch in widescreen with even more coming later next year. I have replaced both my living room and bedroom TV's this year with widescreen LCD-RPT's and I would never go back to 4x3.

They all have their repair issues. Plasma screens need to be refilled eventually too. 6 or 1/2 dozen.....

[DarrellP]

Plasma screens need to be refilled eventually too.
WTF? Who told you this, a Circuit City saleman? This is NOT true. Plasma has a 1/2 brightness life of about 25,000 hours. That is 13+ years at 5 hours/day, much longer than today's tube TV's.

AS far as the 6000 goes, it is a decent receiver. Most people rant because it does not have pretty guides and the guide is slow. BFD!

It is a good tuner and has lots of Stretch/Zoom modes in both SD and HD regardless of the format or resolution.