Official Sony XBR4/5 Owners Thread(NO PRICE TALK) - Page 400

I have a Sony KDL52XBR4. I bought it around April 2008. The TV developed issues with pictures within first 3 months. Sony came and replaced the LCD panel then. Recently I started seeing fuzzy pics, double triple images on the right side, with occasional lines going horizontal. I was told I am not covered with extended warranty. But they did offer me KDL55EX640 new for $825 + tax. Earlier they offerred me a replacement refurb 52XBR4 for $699 which I refused to accept.

Is it a good deal and also will they take away the old TV. The problem happens sometimes and most of the time it looks fine.

No extended warranty coverage.

This is NOT a good deal. The EX640 is a far inferior set to the XBR4, and the slightly increased screen size does not begin to compensate for the inferior picture quality. I would not even accept a one-for-one swap, let alone pay almost $1K to boot.

If it were me, I would insist on no less than a KDL-55HX850. The XBR-55HX929 would be an even better option and worth kicking in some $$$ to boot, maybe up to $1K.

I didn't think it was a good deal either. I was going to haggle for KDL-55HX850. I am just not sure if they take away the old TV or not.
I will give it a try today and see what they say. Will post it here. Thanks

Let us know what you wind up with. And BTW, if it were me I would not turn up my nose at a swap for a refurb 52XBR4 if it's still an option; but if they want you to kick in some cash to boot I would try to haggle on the amount and would insist on a warranty. My replacement 46XBR5 last August came with a 2-year warranty and was a clean one-for-one swap at no cost to me.

I called Sony back today. They were not willing to swap a refurb 52XBR4 for free, I would have taken that option. At this asked them for a better price and option for the replacement. Will keep you posted how it goes. Have to talk to them again tomorrow.

WTF? They will not give you a used version of the same bloody TV you bought? Are you under extended warranty or just hoping they'll deal with a broken set?

No they wont give me the same tv, They offered me the old TV for 600$ with just 90 day warranty. I don't have extended warranty. This is the reply from the Sonylistens


The offers that were made to you are the best offers that we can make at this time. We do not currently have any HX950 or HX850 models that we can offer to customers.

Thank you,

Kevin Krause (C3I6)
Social Media Advanced Resolution Team
Post Sales Support and Promotions
Sony Electronics Inc.

Sony listens emailed me back today offering to extend the warranty on Refurb KDL52XBR4 for 1 year instead of original 90 days. I don't know if they will insist on $600 or not. What do you think ?

Sounds like you're making progress. If you are not covered by any extended warranty on your original set, you probably don't have much leverage other than customer loyalty. I don't imagine you would be happy with any other substitute less than the 55HX850, so I would jump on the refurb if I were you. But if they want you to kick in more than a token sum I would press for a 2-year warranty. That's what they gave me on my refurb 46XBR5, and it was standard for those of us who qualified for the extended warranty program due to the panel anomalies. As you have learned, there is some flexibility in what they can offer you, depending on who you're negotiating with. A 2-year warranty gives you more peace of mind and makes the set more salable should you decide to ditch it for something newer.

Oh man.. that's a good one. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time.

Not sure if I am going to be loyal anymore. Most of the stores around here have stopped carrying Sony, they are pushing hard with Samsungs. I will try to get the 2 year warranty if they ask me to cough up the $$$, else might be better off getting a newer one on my own. The current TV seems to work after the screen clears up. Just let it die and then get a new one, just wont be sony

What you do about your TV is a judgment call on your part. But just to be clear: as I understand it your current set is 5 years old and out of warranty; the original warranty period was 18 months and the warranty on the replacement panel you got in 2008 was presumably not longer than that. Even if you qualified for the extended warranty coverage due to panel anomalies (and from your previous posts it is not clear to me that you do qualify), AFAIK that warranty period expired as of November 2012. In this situation, anything Sony does to mitigate your problem is gravy. In the meantime, aside from occasional glitches, you have been enjoying (and continue to enjoy) top-of-the-line CCFL picture quality which IMHO exceeds any other LCD on the market to date other than Sony's own follow-on XBR7 and the XBR8 and HX929/950 LED's.

If, on the other hand, you somehow managed to qualify for the extended warranty and got your claim in before the expiration date, then there is no reason why Sony should hesitate to provide you with a replacement 52XBR4 w/2-year warranty or equivalent set at no cost to you.

If you think you can find a product from another manufacturer that better suits your needs, then go for it. But I would caution you against expecting a superior product or improved reliability over Sony's XBR line at anywhere near the (already very high) price.

My 46" XBR4 is coming up on 5 years now. Until recently it had been the only TV set in our home since 2008. B/c its in a window filled family room that gets incredibly bright during the day, we use the VIVID picture mode with the brightness increased even more than the default setting (with Contrast set to 100 and Back-light 10). In the late-afternoon & evenings with the ceiling lights on we use a modified STANDARD mode (toned down) and for movies either in the dark or with a little lamp on in the corner we use a CUSTOM mode I fine tuned to get the darkest blacks out of the set (Back-light on lowest setting, power saving mode ON, and a few other tricks).

Our main sources are OTA channels, BD/DVD movies and content streamed via Boxee (Netflix, internet channels, etc). When my kids watch their Disney BD's/DVD's or streamed cartoons during the day the picture is out of this world. B/c the room gets so bloody bright, VIVID is literally the only setting we can use during the day. Although it is not optimal/accurate (saturated reds, blue-ish whites, etc), in this environment it looks stunning. To this day when we have guests over and they see HD golf OTA or football on the XBR4 they marvel at how vibrant the picture looks. We had neighbours over a few weeks ago when our sons were playing in the family room with Cars 2 BD on for background entertainment, and from where we were sitting in the kitchen (open concept) the couple both asked us "why" the picture looked so good? The wife then asked her hubby "how come it doesn't look like that at home?" I explained to them that the picture settings (colour, contrast, brightness) were practically maxed out and that it wouldn't watch it like that in the evening, but still for that moment in that environment is looked killer.

Having said that, the black levels never satisfied me all these years when watching movies with low/no lighting. I knew it was a trade off. We needed an LCD in that room and a plasma would have died trying to compete with the daytime brightness. Last Christmas (2012) I finished my basement and finally bought a big, bad plasma (GT50) and resurrected my old home theater system. The new Panasonic plasma is a marvel in many ways, but especially in the black level department (naturally). Movies downstairs now look the way I had hoped and envisioned all these years. The picture has a very cinematic quality to it, plus my analog LD's have never looked better - the XBR was never able to process the signal well (LD's looked horrible on the Sony). But as great as the new plasma is, a funny thing has happened: I'm actually appreciating the quality and capabilities of my old XBR4 even MORE now. After ample comparisons with source material it is clear (pun) that the Sony has a far sharper picture; obvious to anyone not just me. I've played with settings on the GT50 and have the inputs and picture modes pretty much set to how I like them, and without a doubt the picture is noticeably softer than the XBR4's. BD content is about the closest the GT50 will get in terms of sharpness but putting the same disc on upstairs is like putting eye glasses on for the first time. The plasma is also a much dimmer image, which is expected, but even after I've tweaked it's colour and brightness/contrast setting for OTA hockey - which I view with all the lights on in the basement - I can't get the picture to "jump out" like it does upstairs on the XBR4's modified STANDARD picture setting. Plus the image is much softer. And its not just for OTA - I notice these disparities just as much when using Netflix on both sets.

Its quite remarkable how I now perceive my XBR4's picture as being better than its ever been before. Instead of noticing the LCD's contrast limitations I am now appreciating how sharp the picture quality is The new plasma may reign supreme in the basement, but my XBR4 is and always will be the undisputed champion of the main floor family room. It may be a bit of a dinosaur these days in terms of weight and girth, but I love my Sony XBR4 more than I did 5 years ago. And I don't know about anyone else but I'd put this XBR4 up against any LED set available - LED was never an option for me downstairs, even though I wanted to get the biggest size, because the back lighting they use appears so unnatural and artificial to me (way too blue). If my main floor Sony ever died I'd sooner replace it with a plasma than an LED panel. Really can't get accustomed to what's going on with those pictures.

Long live the XBR4.