The Official Sony 2006 KDS-(XX)A2000 [NO PRICE TALK] SXRD Owner's Thread - Page 419

Originally Posted by mweflen

50A2000 purchased November 06, offered 52EX700 for $465.

Pro-rated depreciation doesn't seem to hold as an explanation.

Originally Posted by rdandy5875

Today I got in touch with Sarah about ongoing problems with my 60a2000. I had the OB replaced about a month ago for a green blob, and a few weeks later the problem started again in a different spot.

She offered me another optical block replacement (ugh), or a REFURBISHED 60ex700 at no charge. I'm not to keen on having a refurbished set so I asked for a NEW 60ex500 and was obliged. Again no additional costs.

Hopefully the ex500 I get will turn out to be a good choice.

Also, was only "allowed" a 6 month warranty on the NEW ex500. Her reasoning was that my original 60a2000 came with a 6 month warranty. I'll have to see what I can do about extending it.

Overall I guess I'm happy with this resolution thus far.

I was at best buy a few weeks ago and really didn't like the off angle black levels of the ex700 vs the ex500. I stream content from my xbox 360 so I wasn't interested in the internet capabilities of the ex700. LED would have been nice as well as the reduced power consumption and slim factor, but just something about REFURBISHED units turn me off completely. I've heard of lag and voice sync problems with the ex500 though, hopefully I won't have these issues. Improper voice sync will drive me crazy, and they'll be hearing from me promptly is this new unit shows signs of audio/video mismatch or excessive lag.

I sent in the serial number sticker as well as the required pic of the problem. Hopefully I'll see a confirmation and shipment notice next week. After I get the new set I will probably replace the OB once more (myself, I'm pretty handy) and try to sell my beloved 60a2000 for $600-$800. Recouping my losses for the new bulb I just bought and the refurbished OB.

Thanks to this thread and the avid posters who presented such comprehensive information. I was ready to hit the roof after the OB replacement turned out bad. I'm not sure what kind of offer I would have gotten from sony CS without Sarah, but she seemed very prompt and courteous. I would recommend anyone with ongoing problems to seek help from her through facebook (of all places, imo facebook is evil I barely ever go on it).

Good luck all. Its to bad these lcos sets turned out bad. IMO they still handle motion better than 120hz lcd's. I absolutely loved my a2000 for the 3 years it functioned top notch, not one complaint until the OB problem. It was so nice to see my friends buying lcs after LCD years after I bought my a2000, and their new sets still couldn't hold a candle to my big old rear projection. They were always trying to better me and none of them really ever did. I went through 3 bulbs in 3 years and sure toward the bulb life expectancy (6k hours or so), it would be pretty dim, but I'd pop a new bulb in and it was like brand new again. I would have happily kept buying bulbs for years to come.

Originally Posted by mastamoon

So which model line are most people going for to replace their a2000's?

Ive also been offered either a 60ex500 or 60ex700. Having a hard time choosing. Tried to see both TV's yesterday but BestBuy had their ex700 about 15ft up and tilting up.

Decisions decisions...

Originally Posted by mweflen

Yeah, there's no way you can judge the EX700 in those sorts of conditions.

If viewing angle is a prime concern (i.e. you SERIOUSLY need like 175 degrees or something for your room), go with the ex500. Otherwise, go with the 700 - you get lower power bills and robust internet streaming.

Originally Posted by rdandy5875

I actually witnessed the ex7's black levels gray up significantly with about a 25-30 degree off center perspective (60 degree viewing angle), which is why I chose to opt for the ex500 which stayed uniform for most of the viewing angle up to about 70 degrees off center (140degrees total). I have a chair and a love seat at about 40 degrees off center so this was a major factor for me. Even over 60-70 degrees just a small color change on the ex5. I looked at both tv's for a good half hour each with the same feed, which in this case happened to be iron man.

Let me re-iterate that a store is really no place to compare certain differences. The sets are usually on demo mode or a wacky saturated "vivid" mode. I've also seen how the stores will "amp down" the tvs they don't want move as many of, and have their more lucrative ones set up half way decent. First thing I ask them is "where is the remote" so I can change the settings myself, and then I just stare at the tv for long enough for them to go away and leave me on my own, then I start screwing with the settings.

Good luck everyone.

Originally Posted by CaysonE

My 60A2000's OB seems to be failing for a second time now. Purchased the TV August 2006, repaired in July 2008, and now the greenish yellow haze again. I messaged Sarah Kepler via her Facebook page (is there a better method of contact?), what else should I be doing to get this fixed? I had to fight Sony pretty hard last time just to pay 50% of the repair bill. I don't want to have to go through that again as well as worrying whether or not this is going to crop up again in another 2 years.

Originally Posted by mweflen

Not only should you easily get exchange offers, they should be correspondingly lower in price due to your out of pocket expenses in repairs. BE SURE to mention the $$$ amount you spent on the repair (which is covered retroactively by the extended OB warranty), and that you would like this to be reflected in the exchange offer prices. If you have an event number from your previous interactions with Sony, include that also.

Contacting Sarah should be enough. I'm sure there is a backlog due to the holiday. If she doesn't reply by the end of the day, message her again, or try her coworkers Arica Cooper and Brooke Hurley on Facebook.

Be firm, but also positive and polite.

Originally Posted by JPBOSS

Agree totally with mweflen here. Sony should actually send you a check for the out of pocket you spent for OB replacement(s) along with a new KDL-60EX700 or EX500 of your choice for $0.00. Let us know if you continue having trouble reaching any of them. I just received a message via Facebook from Sarah today stating that the Chicago warehouse was off over Holiday weekend and was unable to get tracking info to me today and will probably be tomorrow before I receive tracking. Just by this correspondence, I know she and her team is on the ball. Obviously, proof will be in the pudding when my new 60EX700 is sitting on my stand.

Originally Posted by popmasina

how did you get sarah to offer you the 700, did you have to pay any and did you only get a 3 months warranty?

Originally Posted by JPBOSS

Sorry, I didn't mention it that I had the 60xbr2. I started keeping up with this a2000 thread because you guys seemed to be on the ball more in getting replacement offers from Sony and this is where I found out how to contact Sarah. My father in law has an 60a2000 as well. However, the troubles Cayson5 was having he's due the 700 if he so desires. Since Sony just reduced price of the 700 by $300 the a2000 owners may be able to start requesting them as well. It seems like they have a formula/flow chart they go by for offers now.

Originally Posted by dbdreams


JPBOSS,

I was just wondering do you know what the A2000 cost was when it was new? It seems the A2000 owners are getting better offers than XBR1 & XBR2 owners.

A2000 new $3000-$3700 replaced with EX700 $2700-$3000
XBR1/2 new $4500-$5000 replaced with EX700 $2700-$3000

Originally Posted by popmasina

is there a way to get extended warranty with these exchange sets, sony told me they dont offer extended warranty on replacement sets

Originally Posted by estoniankid

Aside from viewing angle issues, which I get, which set has better overall
hd pq with blu-ray and ota input?

I'm on the edge of getting out now as opposed to waiting until the new models release later this year.

Cnet likes the ex700 and gives it a pretty positive reviews. They really like all the features it comes with.

Originally Posted by mweflen

I was told that a new set comes with the standard 1 year warranty, and that an EW could be purchased by calling 866-618-5776. I am unsure of options for refurbished replacements.

Contact Sarah if they keep telling you no.

Originally Posted by popmasina

well sarah told me its brand new but i only have 3 months warranty because its free of charge, is there other company's that offer extended warranty?

Originally Posted by wires1

I paid $4000 for my 60A2000 in 2006. They offered a 60ex500 for $750.

I finally got my OB back from Tri-State Module yesterday. They did agreat job rebuilding it. After trying to remember how it all went together, I sparked it up, and there was that picture perfect SXRD screen that I fell in love with years ago.

Originally Posted by dbdreams

So you did the repair yourself? If so how difficult was it?

I was considering trying that myself with mine so my oldest daughter can use it for a gaming TV but I am unsure of the difficulty and I dont want to waste my money if I can't pull offf the repair.

Originally Posted by opfreak

In normal viewing it might be impossible to tell (for now). And its hard to capture with my camara to actually show the green standing out (because the entire screen gets a hint of green, might hook up the laptop next to it to show the difference in 'white').

But I know it will get wrose. So I'm going to contact sony about this.

What i'm trying to say, is that if you had your set fairly well calibrated, you might not be seeing the green coming.

P.S.

Question:

Should I contact the person on facebook first, or call sony first?

Originally Posted by mweflen

I think you should call first to get an event number. They will likely tell you that there is no such thing as an exchange program. Then, go on facebook and contact one of the three women who help with this. Give then your event number (which was generated on the call). They should help you from there.

As far as detecting it, a gray field test pattern is the way to go. The lower the brightness, the better. You definitely need to get it to the point where it is visible in a photograph, because that is a part of the exchange process.