If anybody in the New England area is considering purchasing this tv Cambridge Soundworks has on sale for 2999.95; 500 off; add in this mornings Boston Globe. I own one and highly recommend........:b
I hate you Steve. I was looking at this set closely, but wasn't planning to purchase until I moved into my new home in early 2003. I cannot see purchasing it now and trying to move it in 8 months time. Damn you!!! Now I have to hope I can get that price down the line somewhere.
Steve $3000 for the original XBR 700 is a good but not great price. I saw one at COSTCO for $3,000 about 6 weeks ago. One reason the price on this piece is dropping is that the new version of the XBR 700 is not far off. Among other things, it will have adjustable Digital Reality Creation. This should be a real advantage so you can dial-in just enough to maximize picture quality. DRC has been said to decrease picture quality with certain quality feeds. I would wait till the new model arrives and then probably wait till the holiday shopping season for the best price.
Arthur had my set calibrated by Gregg Lowen; haven't touched a setting since. 3000 may not be great but it's better than 3500.
If you want to spend $3K and want the 40" sony, then you should wait. Perfect Vision magazine reports new version 40xbr800 coming this summer with a list of $3500 (meaning you should be able to get it for $3k). Improved features over xbr700 include DVI input (to make copyright protected hollyood happy), sony Memory Stick port, and improved DRC line doubler. If you want to save $, go for the XBR700 but insist on something like $2K - otherwise wait a couple months for the new one. Rich B.
