Anyone have comments on the Sony KV-40XBR700? (1 Viewer)

[Kevin Quin]

Anyone have one of these that can comment on the performance and/or price? I've seen them online as low as $2669 USD.

Info, as always, is appreciated.

 

[Arthur S]

The 40 XBR 700 has received very favorable reviews in the mags. Couple things though.

At $2700 you are probably looking at hundreds more in shipping.

The Sony base is really the only way to go and adds another $400 including shipping.

So conservatively you are at about $3,300 delivered with the base, for a 40 inch.

You can buy the top rated 53 inch Hitachi 53UXB10b for no more than $2250, and that is just using one of Sears 10% off days. No extra base to buy. About twice the screen area. And since you are a motivated buyer, you can get an even lower price on the Hitahci. Crazy Eddie quoted me $2089 for the Hitahci 53 with $289 for delivery AND set up. I would probably not buy from Crazy Eddie but the printed quote might help if you shop around.

One last thing, My experience is that when you get a bigger TV it seems much bigger at first. But after about 2 weeks, that feeling of "I wonder what significantly bigger set would be like" starts in the back of your mind.

Also, would you mind sharing where you got the $2,699 price?

Thanks

Artie

 

[Jack Briggs]

As Arthur said, the magazines are raving about this 1080i/480p 4:3 set. But it must be emphasized that the thing weighs in at 286 pounds. With the essential, matching stand, the thing pushes the limits of practicality.

However, many will tell you that it offers one of the most engaging pictures available from any display, direct-view or rear-projection.

I've seen a couple in dealer showrooms, and they looked reasonably impressive given the limitations of the venues and the poor setup.

You may in fact prefer the XBR700's apparent sharpness (emphasize apparent) and light output to an RPTV. But you might also want to check out Panasonic's new 47-inch 16:9 (native) RPTV that's wowing everybody, including HTF's own resident calibration expert, Gregg Loewen. And it can be had for less than $2,000.

 

[Arthur S]

Jack, since Kevin asked about a 4:3 I responded with the 4:3 set that took top honors in Consumer Reports based primarily on picture quality with standard definition signals. The top rated 16:9 is the Pioneer 533, but it lists at $3,300.

 

[Kevin Quin]

Arthur and Jack,
Thanks for the info. Both of you guys bring up points I hadn't previously fully thought out. I did realize the weight issue, but not the additional cost that the shipping would add to the unit.
As far as my odd desire for a large tube when cheaper RPTs are available, I was concerned about burn-in because I'm a rather rabid console gamer. Comments within this thread have made me second-guess my "one tv for all uses" idea (not that that's a bad thing ) and I'm now considering a less expensive RPT and setting my game systems up on my existing tv in a back room. I'm headed out for showroom browsing at some locale HT stores this Friday, so I'll probably make my final decision after comparing pictures.
Finally, to answer your query, Arthur, I got the price from a review of the unit on cnet. Admittedly, I didn't dig very deep into the specifics of the price breakdown, but if you're interested, here's the Link Removed
Anyway, thanks to both of you for your input. It has helped a lot.

 

[EarlR]

Kevin

If burn in is your major concern both Direct view and the less expensive RPT are both CRT type displays and both are subject to burn in. The only way you can avoid this is with a few of the newer RPT’s that are digital based, DLP, LCD, or LCOS. These are more expensive but will not suffer from the dreaded burn in problem.

Earl

 

[Kevin Quin]

Really? So it IS possible to get an RPT that will be (relatively) safe from burn in? Didn't know that, being new to the forums and all Thanks for the info, it's been very helpful.