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Sony VW80 now available in Aus and cheap!!

post #1 of 196
11/2/08 at 8:38pm
Thread Starter 
http://www.sony.com.au/homecinema/ca...tegoryId=22033

The VW80's were confirmed to me this morning by Sony as available now here in Australia. MSRP here is $A6999 (only $US4773 at the current exchange!). I would have full expected an $8-9K MSRP given all the talk of the crappy $7999 US MSRP on the VW70. MSRP here for the VW60 as a direct comparison was $A7999($US5442).

I honestly don't know what's up with US VW70 pricing. At the commercial pricing that I get on Sony gear, the VW80 is actually nearly $2K cheaper in $A than what my VW60 cost at launch! I was astonished by that to say the least. Given the low hours on my VW60, due to it's location, I have no fear of getting good money back for it, making it a 'no brainer' update for me .
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post #2 of 196
11/2/08 at 9:23pm
hell yeah update! See if u can hang on to your VW60 a little while to really compare the 2
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post #3 of 196
11/2/08 at 9:29pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by img eL View Post

hell yeah update! See if u can hang on to your VW60 a little while to really compare the 2

No worries man, I've already got one going to my calibrator this week in the hopes of having it ready for the weekend .


I'd like to, but in the install I have it in it's not really suited to spending the time for A/B comparos. You have do night viewing to really do it properly and I tend to always have people around, who don't really want to twiddle there thumbs while I do projector testing.
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post #4 of 196
11/2/08 at 9:32pm
It is a great price indeed, however still more than I could afford. Glad I bought my VW60 from HK at the time the Aus Dollar was strong. Oz, have you noticed how much wider the VW80 is compared to the 60? She's a wide berth!
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post #5 of 196
11/2/08 at 9:50pm
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Originally Posted by MarkH View Post

It is a great price indeed, however still more than I could afford. Glad I bought my VW60 from HK at the time the Aus Dollar was strong. Oz, have you noticed how much wider the VW80 is compared to the 60? She's a wide berth!

No I can't say I have noticed the wide berth. To my calc, it's 7.5cm diff, that's a 3.74cm(1.4in) on either side, not going to really be noticeable to me.

You must have gotten a very cheap HK deal on the VW60 for VW80 not to appeal. I'd say given there's no retailer online to look at yet for a true street price indication, it's a bit hard to comment on it vs say VW60 pricing taken a while after launch.
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post #6 of 196
11/2/08 at 9:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by OzHDHT View Post

No I can't say I have noticed the wide berth. To my calc, it's 7.5cm diff, that's a 3.74cm(1.4in) on either side, not going to really be noticeable to me.

You must have gotten a very cheap HK deal on the VW60 for VW80 not to appeal. I'd say given there's no retailer online to look at yet for a true street price indication, it's a bit hard to comment on it vs say VW60 pricing taken a while after launch.

Well when I picked up the VW60 it was around late June, and shipped to Perth was about AUD$3900. Think the dollar was round the 90c mark then. And that was the limit to how much I could afford!
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post #7 of 196
11/2/08 at 10:20pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MarkH View Post

Well when I picked up the VW60 it was around late June, and shipped to Perth was about AUD$3900. Think the dollar was round the 90c mark then. And that was the limit to how much I could afford!

Well done, you grabbed a heck of a bargain there indeed. Based on what the 80 is costing me, it will only owe me $600 more than what you got the 60 for.
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post #8 of 196
11/3/08 at 12:05pm
Pardon me on this, but is the aforementioned VW-80 the SAME unit as the VW-70 (US) ? If so, Sony really dropped this baby in price, which is what I said it would HAVE to do in order to compete with the JVC RS-20.

Well, good stuff if this is the same unit !
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post #9 of 196
11/3/08 at 2:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bytehoven View Post

No, the VW80 is better.

This just makes no sense. You're saying that the VW-80 is an upgrade/better from the VW-70 (US model), for less than the VW-60 ? With all due respect, count me a skeptic.
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post #10 of 196
11/3/08 at 2:20pm
Wonder if it would be worth it to try and get one of these imported to the US if it's not going to be available here???
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post #11 of 196
11/3/08 at 4:27pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bytehoven View Post

Andrew...

When you get your VW80, could you report what version of Image Direct 3 cd-rom is included?

Thanks

Sure no probs. I'll try to make a mental note to check it, as I don't use it- I let my calibrator handle all that side.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bytehoven View Post

OK, but I heard it from a very good source the VW80 is not being sold in the US because it's better than the VW200.

That's fascinating if true. Shouldn't a side by side of the features/specs list from each Sony website answer that:

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/...52921665533555

http://www.sony.com.au/homecinema/ca...tegoryId=22033 Select VW80 from side bar
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post #12 of 196
11/4/08 at 9:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by WOLVERNOLE View Post

This just makes no sense. You're saying that the VW-80 is an upgrade/better from the VW-70 (US model), for less than the VW-60 ? With all due respect, count me a skeptic.

VW80 has Motionflow/Dark Frame Insertion. Possible on the 100hz panels for 50Hz PAL and 24p Blu-ray.

Low Australian pricing appears to be unique as they want 5000 pounds (us$7,9000 aud$11,500) for it in the UK.
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post #13 of 196
11/4/08 at 9:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by OzHDHT View Post

No worries man, I've already got one going to my calibrator this week in the hopes of having it ready for the weekend .

Don't expect to have mine that soon and in the meantime would be interested on what you think of the 80 and how it compares to the 60.
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post #14 of 196
11/4/08 at 9:45pm
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Originally Posted by Ken Tripp View Post

Don't expect to have mine that soon and in the meantime would be interested on what you think of the 80 and how it compares to the 60.

Mine is in the hands of the calibrator as of yesterday arvo and being finished off tonight so it can be sent on to me tomorrow for setup Friday night. I'm getting excited now .

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken Tripp View Post

VW80 has Motionflow/Dark Frame Insertion. Possible on the 100hz panels for 50Hz PAL and 24p Blu-ray.

Low Australian pricing appears to be unique as they want 5000 pounds (us$7,9000 aud$11,500) for it in the UK.

Dark frame/motion flow does seem to stand out. I really though that was going to be on the VW70 as well. My take on the UK is that Sony is sticking to their globalised pricing model, which goes by currency not equivalency. If you lived in the UK and earned and paid pounds for everything, 5000 pounds would probably seem relevant. It's only when you start comparing exchange rates that it quickly gets out whack.
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post #15 of 196
11/5/08 at 3:13am
I am now ready to purchase a Projector. I've read everything there is to read on the HD100 (RS2) and am ready to pull the trigger.

But now the VW80 has made an entrance which has confused things somewhat.

Honest opinion - VPL-VW80 or JVC HD100 (RS2).

Any comments welcome - please!

Cheers

Blade

P.S Schneider Lens will be used with this Projector.
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post #16 of 196
11/5/08 at 3:54am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken Tripp View Post

VW80 has Motionflow/Dark Frame Insertion. Possible on the 100hz panels for 50Hz PAL and 24p Blu-ray.

Low Australian pricing appears to be unique as they want 5000 pounds (us$7,9000 aud$11,500) for it in the UK.




I have read that the motionflow doesn't work on Blu-ray at 24p it's only used on 50hz material ie dvd at 1080p @ 50hz . I have a VW60 and love it, it would be good to see what's the different between the two as the vw80 is $1000 rrp different the vw60

ie where is the vw80 made as the vw60 is made in Japan
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post #17 of 196
11/5/08 at 4:10am
In sweden this pj costs almost 10 000 dollars
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post #18 of 196
11/5/08 at 4:50am
For those concerned, the VW80 is physically quite a bit wider than the 60, and the 60 was big to start with. Fractionally longer too.
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post #19 of 196
11/5/08 at 6:52am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken Tripp View Post

VW80

Low Australian pricing appears to be unique as they want 5000 pounds (us$7,9000 aud$11,500) for it in the UK.

OK, $7,900. and THAT is virtually identical in price to the US-offered VW-70. This still seems odd to me that Sony has all these variations floating around, but as I said earlier, look at their cornucopia of LCD flat panels (V,W,X, Z, XBR...alphabet soup ! ) Just seems like a marketing nightmare.
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post #20 of 196
11/5/08 at 7:00am
Quote:
Originally Posted by BladeRnR View Post

I am now ready to purchase a Projector. I've read everything there is to read on the HD100 (RS2) and am ready to pull the trigger.

But now the VW80 has made an entrance which has confused things somewhat.

Honest opinion - VPL-VW80 or JVC HD100 (RS2).

Any comments welcome - please!

Cheers

Blade

BLADE, BLADE !
Yea, my honest opinion is that you are goofing around with the wrong comparison at this point...these models move like mercury ! No, you have to be comparing the VW-70 OR VW-80 with the JVC RS-20 /HD750 model ! The new one toasts the previous JVC models for numerous reasons. Check it out.
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post #21 of 196
11/5/08 at 1:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bytehoven View Post

VW80/70 comparison to the RS20/10 is something I am also looking forward to.

The one thing Sony seems to be doing very well that might be of significant benefit, is with regard to gamma/grayscale screen uniformity. The recent SXRD projectors I have seen, have all had perfect or very near perfect shading from top to bottom of the grayscale.

Do you mean out of the box or after calibration? Im on my second VW60 which still suffers severe gamma issues. Been working on improving it with incremental success for the last 2 months. However I still love my VW60!
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post #22 of 196
11/5/08 at 3:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by OzHDHT View Post

http://www.sony.com.au/homecinema/ca...tegoryId=22033

The VW80's were confirmed to me this morning by Sony as available now here in Australia. MSRP here is $A6999 (only $US4773 at the current exchange!). I would have full expected an $8-9K MSRP given all the talk of the crappy $7999 US MSRP on the VW70. MSRP here for the VW60 as a direct comparison was $A7999($US5442).

I honestly don't know what's up with US VW70 pricing. At the commercial pricing that I get on Sony gear, the VW80 is actually nearly $2K cheaper in $A than what my VW60 cost at launch! I was astonished by that to say the least. Given the low hours on my VW60, due to it's location, I have no fear of getting good money back for it, making it a 'no brainer' update for me .

This is interesting. The VW80 seems to be the next extension of the Pearl line and is priced in AUS accordingly (i.e., similar to the initial MSRPs of the VW50 and VW60 as translated into USD). This is what I was expecting from CEDIA, but instead Sony gave us in the U.S. the VW70 at a significant price increase over the 60, which they decided to keep in the current lineup.

If the VW70 had the features and AUS MSRP of the VW80, I think it would sell like hotcakes, just as the pearl and BlackPearl did. Basically, it seems to me that Sony was milking us a bit.
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post #23 of 196
11/5/08 at 7:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bytehoven View Post

With the VW80 in the US market, there night be little reason to buy the VW200.

I am not sure this is the reason, as based on the link to the Sony Australia site, the VW200 is also selling for a premium there as well.

Moreover, you could make the same argument for displacing the Ruby when the Pearl was released; there was initially no cost reductions on the VW100. The Pearl had some improvements over the Ruby, but lacked other features, such as the xenon lamp. The same could be said for VW80 vis a vis VW200.
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post #24 of 196
11/5/08 at 11:55pm
I thought the VW70 and VW80 were functionally identical in specs. So how can the VW80 be better than the VW70 that will be released in the U.S. Can someone explain?
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post #25 of 196
11/6/08 at 12:42am
Could it be that the fall in the Aussie dollar being so very recent and so great, has caught Sony napping and might they eventually catch up and increase the price ?
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post #26 of 196
11/6/08 at 2:48am
Bought a VPL-VW80 today - Very happy indeed.

Cheers

Blade
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post #27 of 196
11/6/08 at 3:16am
BladeRnR, What PJ are u upgrading from?
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post #28 of 196
11/6/08 at 3:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by img eL View Post

BladeRnR, What PJ are u upgrading from?

Hey mate,

Believe it or not this is my very first Projector

I am just getting back into HT after an extended absence (Last system was 1992 when the Yamaha DSP-A1000 was king).

Cheers

Blade
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post #29 of 196
11/6/08 at 3:48am
Wow! Blade, I guess this is a really big update for u
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post #30 of 196
11/6/08 at 4:25am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Matts View Post

I thought the VW70 and VW80 were functionally identical in specs. So how can the VW80 be better than the VW70 that will be released in the U.S. Can someone explain?

As far as we can see, the VW70 doesn't include the 120hz processing including MotionFlow and Dark Frame Insertion.
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