Sony receivers discontinued?

[ecrabb]

Has Sony quit making any receivers besides the HD model? If so, what's a good replacement? I really liked the Sony interface.

SC

[AntAltMike]

That's the word, and has been for several months. In fact, the last models of Sony receivers, designated A/B-65(A), were just Hughes GAEBO(A)s and GCEBO(A)s.

Even the next Sony HDTV receiver, which I think is going to be called HD-300, will be made by someone else.

A lot of people, including me, think that the Zenith 520's off-air tuner more reliably locks onto substandard signals than do other receivers. There is a new Zenith receiver in the works, model 530, I believe, that will be able to output HDTV and standard definition programming at the same time, which means that you can watch a show in HDTV while taping it in standard definition. For many HDTV aficionados, that feature is worth waiting for.

[wipeout]

I have heard the new Toshiba that is coming out will do the same, how does Toshiba compare to others?

[ecrabb]

That's the word, and has been for several months. In fact, the last models of Sony receivers, designated A/B-65(A), were just Hughes GAEBO(A)s and GCEBO(A)s.

So, is the interface the same between the Hughes and Sonys? If so, I guess I'll just get a hughes - they don't seem to carry quite the price premium that the Sony's do (used/no contract, I mean). On ebay, people are bidding the SAT-A65 (the receiver I really wanted) up close to $200! The Hughes boxes you mentioned seem to be close to half that.

Also, I just read on a google search that the Zenith 530 would be released as the LG LSS-3200A. It sounds good, although I'd rather record the HD than the analog signal. Now, if it has a 1394 port like is rumored, than I could record HD to hard disk or D-VHS, which would be very cool!

SC

[ecrabb]

Oh, and what's the word on the Samsungs? Are they pretty decent?

Thanks,
SC