bought in may 2002, 59" top of the line. No pic when turn on, screen just shows red-blue type of colors, then everything shrinks to a bright dot and the TV just turns itself off. Even in stand-by mode, the TV is turning itself from standby to off to standby constantly. I can bear the clicking sound and the standby indicator turning on and off.

What is wrong ? Fix or junk this box ? If fix, who will you recommend ? I like in the 650 phone area.

thanks
tan

You might want to call Sony tech support and see what they think is wrong, and how much it costs to fix. Then you can decide. If you call a repair company out, it's probably $150 down the drain cause the repairs are always more than we want to spend on a 6 year old tv.

everyone I called said junk,. But the picture quality was very good.
The box has problem before, and I could not get anyone, sony and its dealers to come fix it. I ended up opening the box up, found a loose wire, and that fixed that problem.

This problem is beyond me, so I will junk it.

tan

The XBR2 was released in 2006, and in 60" and 70" sizes. What are you talking about?

bought in may 2002, 59" top of the line. No pic when turn on, screen just shows red-blue type of colors, then everything shrinks to a bright dot and the TV just turns itself off. Even in stand-by mode, the TV is turning itself from standby to off to standby constantly. I can bear the clicking sound and the standby indicator turning on and off.

What is wrong ? Fix or junk this box ? If fix, who will you recommend ? I like in the 650 phone area.

thanks
tan

Sony did not make a 59" XBR2.

Are you sure you are not talking about the KDP57XBR2 that came out in 2001 with a MSRP of $5499.99 and looks like this?

http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/6894/kdp5765xbr2yo7.gif (http://imageshack.us)

As its a CRT RPTV, it sounds like your Green Gun is out. Sony might not have replacements for these CRTs any longer (would be surprised if they did). They could be obtained from a third party, but all in all, you will probably be better off replacing the set, even though CRTs can look spectacular.

My beloved kdp-57xbr2 is developing a failure, too, but is not quite dead yet.

When turned on from overnight rest, there is arcing in the blue CRT, and if I let it continue, the screen goes bezerk, eventually all blue with curved lines, and then shutsdown. Pulling the cord for a few minutes permits me to turn it on again.

I found that by cycling the power before the set fails, and doing this about 7 or 8 times, permits the CRT to warm-up sufficiently, and the set turns on and stays on. The picture is outstanding.

I've spent the last several days researching the problems (and I have the service manual as well), I deduce this to be a CRT with a thermal, internal short. Eventually, it will fail permanently.

I've got a service guy coming out tomorrow for an estimate ($95); have priced replacement tubes from several sources (all around $150), so if that turns out to be the problem should be another 100-200 in labor.

Previously, under warranty, the green tube was replaced, and the guy was in and out in less than an hour.

So why the detail here?

I also spent considerable time these past several months looking at DLP, LCD, and Plasma sets as potential replacements. I've also got a 32" Vizio LCD for the office. Nothing I've seen compares favourably to the Sony CRT RP I have, so if it cannot be fixed, I'll have to settle for a lesser picture.

So...learned minds out there, does my diagnosis make sense? Am I nuts replacing the CRT for a few hundred dollars inparts and labour?

Anyone move from a CRT to a DLP and remain satisfied? to a LCD or Plasma?

Thanks!

Mike

In today's "gotta have flat-panel!" market, you can steal large crt sets , most of which can look as good or better than your Sony did for just a few hundred dollars or less! Some people will give away crts if you'll haul them off.

Just check the contrast setting on any set you're thinking of buying and walk away from any set with contrast much above 50%. (to avoid burnin)

Good hunting!