Sony 32" Wega TV's: worth the price? (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

This week BEST BUY has a Sony KV32H5500 television
on sale for $1299.

It's HD compatable (may have a tuner inside) and
looks to be full of all the bells and whistles one
could want in a set.

Is it worth the $1299 pricetag? is there something
that my friend could do better for the price?

Thanks in advance

 

[Jack Briggs]

That's last year's model, Ron. And you can find it at Crutchfield for only $1199. It doesn't have a built-in ATSC tuner. The current model is the KV-32HS510. Once calibrated, it's a wonderful set. Otherwise, the color temp runs too high at all brightness levels, resulting in a blue picture. But it's future-proof to some extent, featuring a DVI input. It's worth a buy.

 

[DaveF]

I've got the 36" model, the KV-36HS500, and like it a lot.

From my TV shopping last year, I believe that Sony has the best standard remotes, on-screen menus, and all-around best interface. This TV is the easiest to use (of the increasingly complex) modern television. It has bountiful video inputs, a two different and equally useful PiP modes.

The Sony tube TVs are more expensive than their Toshiba, Hitachi, and Panasonic counterparts. But I have had good experience with Sony Trinitron monitors and was willing to pay for the brand name.

The large tube TVs have a few advantages over the smaller (e.g. 40") projection TVs. First, for a small room like mine with a viewing distance of than 10 feet, the 40" RPTVs are just too large for viewing standard cable or broadcast television; my 36" TV is almost too large at times. They don't suffer any intensity rolloff when viewing from the sides or when not viewing at eye-level. And you don't have to worry about focusing the picture.

The two disadvantages are weight and price. The Sonys, as I said, are expensive if size is your main criteria. And the flat-screen tube TVs are very heavy. Choose its location carefully because you won't want to move it again.

I like my Sony and I would recommend it to someone looking for a mid-size CRT.

 

[DanielSmi]

Jack the one you mention is a 16:9 TV while the one Ron is talking about is 4:3 so it isn't replacing the one on sale. Also the one on sale also has a DVI input. The HV 600 is a little better but BB doesn't carry that one.

Daniel Smith

 

[Mark Hedges]

I think the 32HS510 is a 4:3 set. The 34HS510 is a 16:9 set.

I just got the 32HS500 a couple of weeks ago. I am generally pleased with it. It looks very nice for DVD's, HDTV, and video games. The nintendo gamecube in progressive is gorgeous! It has trouble with lower quality analog signals. Some of the better cable channels, such as Food TV, look good, but if you have a lousy signal like I do on broadcast channels it doesn't look too good. AFAIK this is an issue for all HD sets, and I am not sure if there are any that are any better.

Build quality is slightly disappointing, especially the connecters on the back. It feels REALLY flimsy. It seems very sensitive to magnetic fields - I had to raise my JBL S-Center off of it a little because the pictures color was messed up at the very top.

The remote is easy to use, although I find the remote that came with my $350 Sony HTIB does a much better job of controlling other components.

Mark

 

[Jack Briggs]

I was referring to the KV-32HS510, the current model, which is a 4:3 native set.