sony

[dilruk]

sony is the best isnt it?

 

[teachsac]

Not necessarily. If you don't mind paying for their name.

S~

 

[Hemi 6.1]

They are very good, But I guess it depends on what your buying. TV's sure but there are TV's for less money that look just as good IMO. I have a Brand new 3 months old 52 KDL XBR5, and its reall nice and PQ is fantastic It was also $4000, I bought an Ambilight 42 inch Philips , And the PQ on that is great, not as great but real close to the Sony, and that TV was $1800. is the Sony worth more then Double.? Right now Not really. In 5 years maybe.

 

[KAB]

My father, an old Sony Soldier bought a 42" LCD (don't remember model). No better than my Samsung Plasma at half the price.

 

[toto]

My father, an old Sony Soldier bought a 42" LCD (don't remember model). No better than my Samsung Plasma at half the price.

Where do I find a name brand 42" 1080p plasma at under $800?

 

[Hemi 6.1]

Used in the classifieds

 

[mike123abc]

Panasonic TH42PZ80U - TH42PZ80U - Panasonic - Panasonic VIERA TH42PZ80U 42 inch HDTV 1080p Plasma TV

Panasonics are around $1000 now (including shipping and no tax). Plasmas are not letting LCDs run away with the low end. Off brand plasmas are close to the 800 mark.

 

[toto]

sony is the best isnt it?

Sony has, for the past 40 years, had a reputation of making an excellent TV. Sony has the highest customer loyalty of any electronics firm, due mainly to the customer loyalty of their TVs. Their XBR line is their attempt to make the best TV regardless of price. The XBR line (due out in late September-early October) will have great but very expensive sets. As Mike has mentioned Panasonic makes a great economical plasma set. If you are looking for a new TV consider Sony, Samsung and Sharp in LCD and Pioneer and Panasonic in Plasma.

 

[mike123abc]

The rumored $7k price on the 55" XBR8 will knock some people's socks off. It will be interesting to see what Sony can do with RGB LED backlit LCD with local dimming (that is a mouthful). Essentially they will have an array of red/green/blue LEDs behind the LCD display and will be able to vary the brightness (or even turn off) each of the colors as needed in the area of the screen. Samsung had one last year that used white LEDs and did local dimming.

RGB local dimming should do wonders for LCD. If they get the price down they can finally get real black by turning down the backlight in dark areas of the screen. The Samsung did really well in some areas, but suffered from a limited range of dimming values and not enough dimming areas.

 

[toto]

Shouldn't RGB backlighting also increase color gamut?

 

[navychop]

sony is the best isnt it?

You like root kits?

And I've had a Sony camcorder that needed constant repair with little use.

And a great Sony VCR- when it worked. When it needed it's 4th power supply, and there were no parts, it was time to say goodbye.

Then there's the 27" Sony TV- the one where no replacement parts were available 5 years after I bought it. Power and volume switch died. Thankfully, there's the remote. Oh wait- the remote that came with the TV no longer works. Actually, the remote works, but there's a relay and IR system in the TV that doesn't. Yet an older remote, using different, older, codes still works. Left over from that VCR. Known problem. No parts anymore, so no fix.

And a couple of Sony DVD players. Slow to load, jerky FF search, not very fast on the search anyway.

Yes, I own a PS3. But I always try to buy another brand over Sony.

Today, if you're looking for an LCD, I suggest looking at Samsung & Toshiba. Maybe Sharp. For plasma, Pioneer & Panasonic.

 

[bhelms]

Two Sony LCD XBRs in my household, like them both. Overpaid for both as well, but I'm an early adopter. The XBR8 concept sounds fantastic and will take care of the one complaint I have with the sets I have (contrast ratio). But I'll wait awhile on that one. I'm also waiting until something in direct view LCD >60" becomes affordable. I might pay $5K for something like that. Until then I'll be satisfied with 52". I also have a Sony 5300 as my main receiver. Love that unit, even with its less-than-optimal remote. It drove one dead-shorted channel for about 2-weeks until I discovered it without any apparent damage to the receiver. When I finally pony-up for a BD player it will probably be a Sony. Overall I am a Sony fan, but the experience has not been trouble-free. I also have a 27" XBR Trinitron that sounds like navychop's. Something was wrong with their wave soldering system the day they ran my main board through as I had to open the thing several times to fix poor soldering on the PCB. One problem was with the relay in the degaussing circuit, resoldered then never gave me a problem again. I still have that unit and intend to resurrect it someday for use in my rec. room/shop/library but it's currently awaiting yet another day with the touch-up iron. (The challenge is where I get my mojo!). But the TV gave me about 12 years of otherwise good service and had a great picture the whole time. Also had some issues with my 8mm camcorder...

 

[BobMurdoch]

You like root kits?

And I've had a Sony camcorder that needed constant repair with little use.

And a great Sony VCR- when it worked. When it needed it's 4th power supply, and there were no parts, it was time to say goodbye.

Then there's the 27" Sony TV- the one where no replacement parts were available 5 years after I bought it. Power and volume switch died. Thankfully, there's the remote. Oh wait- the remote that came with the TV no longer works. Actually, the remote works, but there's a relay and IR system in the TV that doesn't. Yet an older remote, using different, older, codes still works. Left over from that VCR. Known problem. No parts anymore, so no fix.

And a couple of Sony DVD players. Slow to load, jerky FF search, not very fast on the search anyway.

Yes, I own a PS3. But I always try to buy another brand over Sony.

Today, if you're looking for an LCD, I suggest looking at Samsung & Toshiba. Maybe Sharp. For plasma, Pioneer & Panasonic.

OK, as far as TVs go, I'm a fan..... DVD players, media players, game systems,, etc.... not so much. First, their sledgehammer tactics with standards get me ticked. Their arrogance with rootkits and slamming through the BluRay standard with mafia tactics, combined with a pathological need to mke media formats obsolete 6 months after they lock you into them (I've got a media card reader in my 4 year old TV that can't play newer formats, a newer camera that can't read sticks that worked on the older TV (at least make them backwards compatible), etc.....

I've got the Black Pearl projector which has a great picture, especially given the price, and I've got it blown up to 92" on a Stewart screen...

But my father has a DVD changer of theirs that he got around 2000 that doesn't play CD-Rs or DVD-Rs. Eh, whatever.....

 

[jayn_j]

I also have a 27" XBR Trinitron that sounds like navychop's. Something was wrong with their wave soldering system the day they ran my main board through as I had to open the thing several times to fix poor soldering on the PCB. One problem was with the relay in the degaussing circuit, resoldered then never gave me a problem again.

Sony's wave soldering problems were the reason I stopped buying Sony. I had endless problems with cold solder points on a 53XBR35. Seemed like I was opening it up every month to resolder something or other. Had similar problems with other Sony stuff throughout the '90s as well, but nothing compared to that beast.

 

[navychop]

...I also have a 27" XBR Trinitron that sounds like navychop's. Something was wrong with their wave soldering system the day they ran my main board through as I had to open the thing several times to fix poor soldering on the PCB. One problem was with the relay in the degaussing circuit, resoldered then never gave me a problem again....

Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Had it in the shop early on for the "green" - degauss failure. That particular problem never ressurected itself. Great pic still, so I put up with the other problems.

 

[scottie_h]

sony is the best isnt it?

Be a little more specific to make sure you're getting the info you're looking for. Best at what?

(they're good with some products, not so good with others - I personally don't think they'd be considered the "best" at very much)

 

[lakebum431]

I'm thinking possible troll here?

 

[bhelms]

I wondered about that too, but it made for a lively and informative thread...

 

[toto]

Visit a local store in another month or so to see why Sony is a great reputation for TVs and an astronomical price. (XBR8)

 

[teachsac]

It'd have to be pretty spectacular to beat what I'm seeing with Hitachi's new Ultra-thin Director's Series (X902).

S~