Sony Wega 32" TV ~$690 shipped

[Vpham97]

buffboy,
While you are there, you might as well get a widescreen HDTV for $2800.

 

[Viper22]

crazybubba: Change the settings that you are using......do yourself a favor and go buy Video Essentials on DVD and use it. The Contrast and Brightness that ship from the factory are way to high and actually damage the picture tube any time it is on at those levels.

Viper22

 

[buffboy]

tell me, why are u so interested in HDTV they only have like a few channels that are that high quality hdtv and the channels are like hardware or gardening or weather, which u dont need that good picture for

 

[Vpham97]

I'm not trying to cut you down buffboy. I know that the thread is too long to read through them all.
The XBR model is what I had wanted all along!!! That's what I was trying to convince some of these folks earlier. I'm jealous for you, that daddy is there to get you a good TV. The local Sony outlet here in town sold the 32" XBR for $1500. I didn't look at the price for the 36". They didn't have one in stock anyway. As it, the 32" is already big enough. If you look on Egay, the 36" XBR is selling for $2000 & up shipped. It might be a lower XBR model than the one you've bought.

The main point I was trying to make in throwing in a couple more hundred dollars for a widescreen HDTV was for the widescreen part. The widescreen compression on an XBR is pretty big, but it gets a whole lot bigger on a real 43" widescreen. I wouldn't mind blowing a couple of thousand dollars on a widescreen TV. What I mind is losing my investment. I have to pay $3,000 now, but later on down the road, it will be worth far less. For all we know, today's HDTV might not even work down the road. The folk running the HDTV standard couldn't get their head out of their ass yet. That HDTV in the store now might be unusable for HDTV in the future. HDTV might flop on its head so bad that we will scrap it all together and go to the standard that the European are going to! That?s right, other nations are not considering HDTV. They are moving forward w/ a less costly standard.
However, we are loosing my other investments anyway. Driving a car off the parking lot and loosing a couple of grand off of it value. I bought my computer in May 1999. October 2K, I sold off the same system for $200(I swap out some of the name brand component of course.) Notebook computer 4 years ago might be worth $4,000. Now, I might not even want to pay $300 for the same notebook computer. For $1,100, how much investment can I loose on this TV's?
So there you go buffboy, peace w/ you. Either ask enjoy that TV you just bought or you can ask mommy and daddy to go and get a real widescreen TV. How many PIP screen can do on your XBR? Can you tell me where you live so that I can come over when you are not home and swap out your XBR Wega for my FS series Wega?

 

[buffboy]

haha vpham97, you're real funny, lol! but sorry, no i'm not gonna let u swap ur FS for my XBR, lol. It's the XBR400, so i'm sure u could find how many pip channels are on that one with an easy search on the net. I'm not sure cuz me and my dad just went to the store today and got it, the earliest they could ship was next monday, 12/11, the day b4 my day!! Woah, whatta bday present eh? lol. Well my dad isn't really that interested in HDTV cuz as you said, the peeps runnin HDTV need to get their heads out their a$$es and do somethin with it, we dont know where HDTV will be by next year, for all we know it could totally die out and not even be worth 1000 at the end of a year. Remember that little thing that was supposed to come out, it was called divx, it started at Circuit City and it was supposed to replace dvds, well it didn't, it quickly died out and today would sell for nothing b/c there is no use for it, well this is the same type deal. My dad and I dont think that HDTV will kick off so that's why we're goin with the plain old SONY WEGA XBR400 (sarcastic), well when i get it next week i will tell u the pip channels if u dont find it out already and also how the picture is, ttyl

 

[T2T III]

buffboy,

The screen of a Mitsubishi HDTV - even playing a regular DVD will blow your XBR away. Even if you don't utilize the HDTV portion, the output with digital cable or satellite TV is truly amazing. I saw a Mitsubishi @ Sears that was broadcasting a hockey game via Satellite TV - it felt like I was truly there. While the output of the Sony is quite good, it is nothing like a Mitsubishi or similar set.

With that being said, I'm quite happy with my 32" 'FS' series Sony. At $610, it is simply a bargain. A 36" screen would not work in my family room, so 32" it is.

Come back and talk to us when YOU get a real job and are able to purchase items by yourself without having to put them on your mommy and daddy's credit card. 'Nuff said.

 

[Crazybubba]

Viper22, Thanks for the advice and warning. I will get the video essential DVD or lower my picture and contrast.

CB

 

[geoffkin]

Yah, what WJE said! lol

800.COM is shipping out my 2nd TV today! Hope Eagle Shipping doesn't bust this one up too...

 

[KidViciou$]

wje, you are RIGHT!

i bought MY tv, and im only 17

 

[Insomniac]

I just laugh at stupid nonsense like that. His post is such a waste. He is trying to compare the two TVs. When they cost the same (instead of 2X more) then you can tell us how stupid we are. Until then enjoy your new top-of-the-line TV (complete BS, just like the top-of-the-line Zenith).

geoffkin: My replacement TV shipped out last Friday. I should get it tomorrow or Friday. I hope it is perfect this time. Well, at least no geometry problems.

 

[FunkmasterT]

i got my second tv today. this time they EGL sent out two big guys. i must say that i am impressed w/800.com tho. let me explain...

at first when the guys loaded the wega box out of their truck, i noticed some 800.com clear pkg'ing tape over the top of the box, i thought, crap, what are they trying to pull? sending me a refurb or return???? it OBVIOUSLY wasn't the original sony pkg'ing tape.

then, they brought the box inside and there was a small sticker on the 800.com tape that read, "800.com has opened this box to add reinforced packaging material." and, sure enuff, when we cut open the box, there was tons of addt'l foam inside the box. kudos to 800.com!

the guys from EGL were very cool too, being very careful this time around.

well, i'm happy with the way this turned out.

FMT

 

[buffboy]

yeah wje, just a question, how much was that mitsubishi hdtv, bet not even close to 2000 eh? yeah that's what i thought

 

[Techin' till I die]

OK, so what are we doing about the picture quality issues?? Did ANYONE get them resolved?? Send units back?? Get an explaination???

 

[Insomniac]

What picture quality issues?

You were comparing a $2000 TV to a $1000 TV, so I guess the cost of a Mitsubishi HDTV doesn't really matter since you obviously didn't care about price in the first place. Besides, you can just put it on your dad's CC.

 

[Techin' till I die]

No Insomniac (get some sleep will ya?).

The problems w/ the "wavey" picture.

 

[KidViciou$]

PLEASE dont tell me this is a defect.

i was watching CNBC, and they had a ticker going across the screen. on the left bottom part, of the top ticker, it looks like it goes in and then comes back out, almost like that tickersymbol that wraps around the building in NY. it is very slight though, is htis a problem or just how the wega is?

 

[Techin' till I die]

That is what I am trying to find out, too. The other thing I noticed is how the image seems to stretch out on the sides. I wonder if Sony varies thier "slot pitch" on the sides vs. the center of the tube. It is noticable and livable, but the distortion or "waves" is not IMHO.

 

[Darthkim]

Hehe.. couldn't help but say something because Mitsubishi was mentioned (LOL)

True, HDTV is and still has the best picture whenit is hooked up to digital cable, and Hi Def sources.... I work for them and i see one every day.

True the machines are still expensive but in time, the price will drop.

I would wait until the DLP models come out. All i can say is, DAMN!!!!!!

These machines are sweet, don't have some of the light problems big screen tv's have and the best of all, can handle computer graphics without damaging the tubes. I was playing flight sim 2k and its amazing (on a 65" screen) The only downside? its almost the cost of some cars... but eventually it will come down

But until then... i am happy with my Wega... very happy..... the 1200 i spent on it was well worth it. Kudos to everyone...

 

[Insomniac]

I have been talking about this wavy ticker defect for 2 weeks almost! I noticed it a couple seconds after I put it on CNBC. Which was 2 minutes after I turned the TV on. What a quick way to ruin your day. I will go over everything that I know and have done for all of you.

After I noticed this, I searched the 'net to see if this was common. Everything I found said this was a problem when the Wega was first sold in N.A. (1998) but has since been fixed. This is a geometry problem. This how I can best explain it and I may not be 100% accurate. I believe the lines on the TV are not straight, but wavy. I believe you only notice it when something moves horizontally across the screen. I think you don't see it otherwise, because each line is around .04 inches thick. But when something goes across horizontally, we expect it to stay at the same height, but as it follows that line it moves up and down slightly giving the appearance of it going away and coming closer. This is very evident on a stock ticker because it is always scrolling.

So, after discovering this, I called Sony (1-800-222-SONY) and they agreed to send a tech out to my house. I then called 800.com and told them about the picture. I also told them I may send the TV back after the tech looks at it and they said no problem and asked me to tell them either way. The tech came out and looked at it. He said worst case was a new picture tube and he would have to take my TV. He speculated on what the problem was, but was not sure. It ranged from us not being used to a flat screen on a large TV (CRT) to the shadow mask not being right. I decided to send the TV back instead of getting it fixed. (Of course I tried to get a 36" instead, since the 32" was out of stock, but that didn't work )

If it was just text/tickers I would of survived, but you will soon see it is the entire TV. If you have Video Essentials, skip to Title 19 a little after 5 minutes in they pan across a stadium and you see the waves everywhere. If you have The Matrix, around Chapter 12 they pan across a sign that says 'Nebekenezar' (sp?). You will see it there. I've seen it in plenty other movies, TV shows and sporting events. Everytime it was because of horizontal motion. No way I am putting up with that.

I hope this helps you guys.

BTW--Why do I need to go to sleep?

 

[geoffkin]

I hope I don't get my 2nd Wega next week and it has this problem! 800.COM will love me for returning another one! LOL
So how many people here DO and DON'T have this problem with their Wega's? Please list if you have the 32 or 36 incher!

OH and a side note. I picked up the Avia Guide to home theatre DVD for just under $22 DELIVERED from Half.com with one of their $5 coupons. Thought some of you might want to get this to help set up your new TV's...better hurry, they had 3 in stock right now. If they run out, just watch for it to pop up again. I've heard people have been getting it this cheap for a while...and that's CHEAP!

 

[Techin' till I die]

OK, I got the 32" KV32FS12 and it has the waves especially on lower left corner. I have talked w/ 800.com and will keep everyone posted.

 

[steveme]

The wavy on the wega is just how it is. I had 4 of them and they all had that...it has to do with the flat screen. My e210 monitor does the same thing. Dont think about it and you wont notice it

 

[Herbman]

I have the 36" Wega it shows no problems that you guys have been describing. The picture looks perfect.

 

[Techin' till I die]

Thanks for your detailed response Insomniac.

I said get some sleep because your earlier response to me did not make any sense. You must have confused me w/ the kid whose Daddy bought him the TV.

Your name is "insomniac" which is some one who is chronically deprived of sleep, so....... I said "get some sleep" in an atempt @ some form of humor.

Hope that does not sound condesending, as it is not meant to be.

Let's all keep each other posted on this deal, especially the resolution (no pun intended) to the distortion issue.

As for me, I am heading to the local B&M stores to compare more closely.

Thanks again.

 

[Viper22]

I just tested mine with The Matrix and dont see what you all are talking about. I might be used to it if it is there because i have a Sony GDM-F400 FD Trinitron 19" monitor that I am on a hell of a lot so who knows.....all i know is the price was good and the TV kicks butt

BTW I Have the FS12 36" Model

Viper22