Sony KV40XBR800 - Any Complaints? (1 Viewer)

[Jody Wells]

Hello all,

This will be my first post here and I have read back through all the posts concerning the Sony KV40XBR800. I scoured the internet for reviews and so far the only drawbacks I have come across are either "grainy analog display" which seems to come from a minority of owners, or the problem I have seen a couple times which scares me more is a pattern of "green discoloration" or magnetic/speaker interference on enough TV's to have me worried.

For any users out there that have this TV could you let me know if you have experienced either of these problems. I've done a fair amount of research and am planning on purchasing the TV tomorrow. I would like one last round of reviews though due to the fact I will sinking quite a lot of money (for me) into the TV. Any information from owners would be greatly appreciated whether good or bad.

Thanks!

 

[Jay McC]

I own this television and haven't had any problems. I watch satellite television and the picture quality seems to vary not only between channels but also programs on that station, but it doesn't appear to be any better or worse than any other Hi-Def television showing a non Hi-Def image. As far as the green spots, it happened to me once when i moved the sub from behind the TV while the television was on but i turned the TV off, went to the fridge, came back and turned it back on and it was back to normal.

I love the tv. Think its great. The only problem i have is that where it was put when it was delivered is where its gonna stay.

My only advice is if the place where the TV is gonna sit does not allow easy access to the rear panel, don't let the delivery people leave until everything is hook up.

And keep the packaging if you think you there is a possibility you might want to return it so you don't get stuck with a restocking fee.

So once more. I own the TV. I love it. Weighs a ton, though.

 

[Jody Wells]

Thanks a lot for the information. I figure the people having discoloration problems might just have unshielded/poor quality speakers nearby?

I'm sure I can fold the box up and store it in one of the closets around here for a year or so just in case. It looks like Circuit City has a 24 month parts/labor warranty though so if anything is going to go wrong, hopefully it will be during that period.

If anyone else has anything to add, good or bad, I would really appreciate it.

Thanks again!

 

[Chris Tedesco]

It's funny this topic came up.

My freind has the 40XBR and has had it for about 2 years now. Went over there last night and noticed a green blotch in the lower right corner. Magnet problem? Yup, but his speakers are no where near it. It's got to be the T.V.'s speakers.

So I went home and turned on my 36 equivalent of the 40. Guess what? I have a slight green in the upper left hand corner. Something is definately wrong here. I don't have my speakers close to the T.V.

I'm getting a Tech to come out on the 11th of Feb. We will see.

 

[Keith Hancock]

Hello Jody,

After a couple of months of research I purchased the "BIG" Sony a few weeks ago..DVD's and HD mat'l look great! Digital cable(comcast) varies from station to station.

Overall I'm extremely pleased with my decision..Only one small problem.. HD looks so great that it's real hard to watch anything else:frowning:

Regards.
Keith

 

[Jody Wells]

Well I decided to go with an RPTV in the end. The Sony 51" KP51WS510. It was $700 cheaper so I ended up picking up some other goodies I had been wanting for awhile (TiVo, XM Radio, etc.)

I've had it hooked up for several hours now, calibrated it with THX tests from Ice Age (no local stores sell Avia but it's on its way). DVD is absolutely amazing...my roommate and were just sitting there with our mouths open. The DirectTV reception is really poor for some reason though. It looked fine on the old Panasonic Tau 27" but doesn't hold up on the big screen.

Xbox looks slightly worse as well, although I've only tried out Madden (had to see the widescreen). Again, I realize this is due to the large screen size and when they show replays it actually looks very sharp.

I'm saving up for a High Def receiver so I can check out the few channels that are acually offered around here. What's horrible is I need the receiver and an antenna as I have cable for the local channels and DirectTV for everything else.

I'll be hanging around the forum for awhile though simply because everyone here is really informative and eager to help new enthusiasts.

 

[John S]

Thanks for the information update Jody.

Are you using svideo for most of your connections to the new set? Alot of people upgrading, just hook up their same hookups to their new TV's.

I find a good round of making sure every video connection made to the set is as good as possible from every source, can go a long way to people being more satisfied with their new big screens.


Just some thoughts anyways.

 

[Jody Wells]

Hey John,

I'm actually using Component hookups for the DVD player and Xbox, I'm planning on ordering some for the Gamecube but I haven't spent much time on it lately so it's not a priority. The DirectTV receiver I have is hooked through the TiVo and both of those are using Svideo connections (no component hookups on them). The only thing I can come up with as for why the DirectTV looks worse is the big screen. We have it in two other rooms and the picture looks great in both. Let me know if you have any ideas on why that might be. I'd love to be able to drool over normal stuff like I can with DVD but I know that's most likely a pipe dream until I can get a HD receiver.

 

[John S]

Upgrading you Direct TV to HD service, I believe is the only answer for you. I am told, at least in the brick and mortor retailers, that even the normal non hd stuff is improved with the HD Service. By the way others have air'd similar experiences with the Direct TV after upgrading to an HDTV.

 

[Cary P]

If you upgrade to an HD DirecTV box (currently at least $300), and then add DirecTV's HD service at an additional $10.99/month, that will give you a meager total of 4 HD channels (2 more if you subscribe to HBO & Showtime). All of the other DirecTV channels will remain in SD and continue to look really bad on your big screen HDTV. There might be a slight improvement in SD picture quality by using the DVI output on the HD DirecTV box, but it won't knock your socks off.

DirecTV's SD programming just generally looks really bad when upconverted to HD on these big screen HDTV's, and I'm afraid there's not much that you can do about it - other than complain to DirecTV about their overcompressed signal, or get a smaller screen HDTV.

I noticed that you are running your DirecTV through a standalone Tivo box, so that will degrade the picture quite a bit as well. I would recommend spending the $99 on an integrated DirecTivo unit, that should help improve your SD picture quality somewhat over the standalone Tivo.

Can you receive HD over the air where you live? If so, it might be worth it to upgrade to an HD DirecTV box, hook up a suitable antenna, and then receive your local channels in HD as well as the 4-6 HD channels DirecTV offers. There is an HD DirecTivo unit coming out soon which will provide an ideal solution, but at $999 it is way overpriced by at least $400, IMO. I would pass on it until prices come down. I just got back from the CES and remain shocked and disappointed at the high costs of HD receivers.

Alternatively, if your local cable company offers HDTV, get your HD channels through them and avoid the big expense of purchasing an HD set-top box.

The last option is what I do. I have a DirecTivo unit which I use just for DirecTV's total choice package, and then I get my HD locals, + 5-6 additional national HD channels through my cable company for about $25/month.

It's not an ideal solution, but it works for now and my total programming costs are just below $60/month. However, YMMV depending on the price structure of your local cable company.

Hope this helps.