Hello.
I just thought I'd share the experiences I had these past two months shopping and buying my TV.
I researched both the KV32HS420 and CT-32HXC14 (mainly here!) and thought that I'd be happy with either one.
So I went with the cheaper Panasonic.
Looked great and had a very user friendly menu and remote.
Bought it at Circuit City and had it for almost a month.
First time with a High Def and here's what I thought:
Standard Def channels were grainy but not a surprise.
We watch alot of SD channels so it's an issue but hopefully the regular networks will jump o the HD train soon.
HD channels looked great (the 4 that I have) but as I read in other posts the black is REALLY black.
I didn't know what that meant before I saw it myself so here goes. If the person on the TV has a black shirt on you don't see any detail or texture or wrinkles, just pitch black. Big deal? not at first but it bothered me after a while. I felt like something was wrong but it couldn't be adjusted. Soon it pissed me off.
The other big complaint is that I have to change my imput device or channel(I forget what it's called) to watch a DVD or VHS.
Big deal? No, but it's a pain in the ass.
If I'm watching TV and decide to pop in a DVD it should just appear on the screen. I shouldn't have to jocky with anything.
I heard that I'm not alone with this complaint but there's no solution as a yet. That's just the way it is. I suppose I'll get used to it.
Big problem with the TV speakers though.
Intermintant high pitched feedback(?) noise was a problem.
At first I thought it was a cable issue (even though I ponied up and got the Monster Audio cables, cheaper at Sears by the way) but I unplugged everything except the TV (nothing was plugged into to back and DVD/cable box was powered down) and still had the noise so I knew it was a hardware problem and not some kind of feedback issue.
CC was great with the return!
No hassle if within 30 days.
Heavy bastard though.
They didn't have another so I grabbed the Sony that was on sale at Best Buy.
Very happy.
It's bigger (and freaking heavier!) but looks better than the Panny.
The display tag said it was 35 3/4" wide so I thought it would overlap my 35 inch stand but it was perfect!
Setup sucked though.
There was no setup pic that matched my basic config TV/Cable/DVD.
There was some mention of a splitter that was needed? WTF?
I couldn't get the TV to get a signal!!
It really pissed me off because i thought my cable box was messed up somehow.
I could see in the TV menu's setup section the 6 imputs that matched the numbers on the back of the TV where the component cables went but no matter what i did it wouldn't give me a signal.
After walking away and coming back, after a few cookies, I noticed the TV/Video button on the remote.
Again it gave me the 6 different video channel options but this time when I hit "5" (or 6 I forget) BAM! I had my Cable and DVD signals.
Now, SD channels look better and the Black issue is much better than the Panny!
So that's good.
No problems with sound so far (knock on wood).
I'm happy.
SO I recommend spending the extra $150 and make sure you have a strong buddy to help you get it into the house (or have it delivered) and grab the Sony.
*****************
An extra note for anyone checking out Wide screen vs Regular.
I'd go with the regular and watch the few programs and DVD's that are wide screen with those two black bars on the top and bottom.
I wanted the hip new thing and grabbed the Panasonic CT-30WX54.
It was "cool" and had no speaker issues but watching regular TV totally sucked.
There is a Zoom and stretch option to fill the wide screen but all the people on TV look fat and short.
Believe me, I played around with it but it really sucked.
So not only do the regular SD channels look blurry but it's messed up as well.
I bought a 30" but it was like I paid alot of money for a 27 inch TV with black bars down the sides!
Here's a good example.
Watch Fox or CNN and you'll see news text scroll along the bottom of your screen.
You can actually see the text stretch and warp as it goes along the outer 2 inches on either side.
I returned it to Circuit City and grabbed the CT-32HXC14.
Sorry Circuit City.
It looks like I abused you pretty bad!
I did buy the TV stand and my DVD VHS combo there though.
And your prices are excelent sometimes.
Long review but hopefully helpfull.
Now what is this about a Sony config disk?
Can someone point me to the link or thread where I could buy/find one of those?
Or see some more info?
I did a search but didn't find anything specific.
TIA!
Hail
I just thought I'd share the experiences I had these past two months shopping and buying my TV.
I researched both the KV32HS420 and CT-32HXC14 (mainly here!) and thought that I'd be happy with either one.
So I went with the cheaper Panasonic.
Looked great and had a very user friendly menu and remote.
Bought it at Circuit City and had it for almost a month.
First time with a High Def and here's what I thought:
Standard Def channels were grainy but not a surprise.
We watch alot of SD channels so it's an issue but hopefully the regular networks will jump o the HD train soon.
HD channels looked great (the 4 that I have) but as I read in other posts the black is REALLY black.
I didn't know what that meant before I saw it myself so here goes. If the person on the TV has a black shirt on you don't see any detail or texture or wrinkles, just pitch black. Big deal? not at first but it bothered me after a while. I felt like something was wrong but it couldn't be adjusted. Soon it pissed me off.
The other big complaint is that I have to change my imput device or channel(I forget what it's called) to watch a DVD or VHS.
Big deal? No, but it's a pain in the ass.
If I'm watching TV and decide to pop in a DVD it should just appear on the screen. I shouldn't have to jocky with anything.
I heard that I'm not alone with this complaint but there's no solution as a yet. That's just the way it is. I suppose I'll get used to it.
Big problem with the TV speakers though.
Intermintant high pitched feedback(?) noise was a problem.
At first I thought it was a cable issue (even though I ponied up and got the Monster Audio cables, cheaper at Sears by the way) but I unplugged everything except the TV (nothing was plugged into to back and DVD/cable box was powered down) and still had the noise so I knew it was a hardware problem and not some kind of feedback issue.
CC was great with the return!
No hassle if within 30 days.
Heavy bastard though.
They didn't have another so I grabbed the Sony that was on sale at Best Buy.
Very happy.
It's bigger (and freaking heavier!) but looks better than the Panny.
The display tag said it was 35 3/4" wide so I thought it would overlap my 35 inch stand but it was perfect!
Setup sucked though.
There was no setup pic that matched my basic config TV/Cable/DVD.
There was some mention of a splitter that was needed? WTF?
I couldn't get the TV to get a signal!!
It really pissed me off because i thought my cable box was messed up somehow.
I could see in the TV menu's setup section the 6 imputs that matched the numbers on the back of the TV where the component cables went but no matter what i did it wouldn't give me a signal.
After walking away and coming back, after a few cookies, I noticed the TV/Video button on the remote.
Again it gave me the 6 different video channel options but this time when I hit "5" (or 6 I forget) BAM! I had my Cable and DVD signals.
Now, SD channels look better and the Black issue is much better than the Panny!
So that's good.
No problems with sound so far (knock on wood).
I'm happy.
SO I recommend spending the extra $150 and make sure you have a strong buddy to help you get it into the house (or have it delivered) and grab the Sony.
*****************
An extra note for anyone checking out Wide screen vs Regular.
I'd go with the regular and watch the few programs and DVD's that are wide screen with those two black bars on the top and bottom.
I wanted the hip new thing and grabbed the Panasonic CT-30WX54.
It was "cool" and had no speaker issues but watching regular TV totally sucked.
There is a Zoom and stretch option to fill the wide screen but all the people on TV look fat and short.
Believe me, I played around with it but it really sucked.
So not only do the regular SD channels look blurry but it's messed up as well.
I bought a 30" but it was like I paid alot of money for a 27 inch TV with black bars down the sides!
Here's a good example.
Watch Fox or CNN and you'll see news text scroll along the bottom of your screen.
You can actually see the text stretch and warp as it goes along the outer 2 inches on either side.
I returned it to Circuit City and grabbed the CT-32HXC14.
Sorry Circuit City.
It looks like I abused you pretty bad!
I did buy the TV stand and my DVD VHS combo there though.
And your prices are excelent sometimes.
Long review but hopefully helpfull.
Now what is this about a Sony config disk?
Can someone point me to the link or thread where I could buy/find one of those?
Or see some more info?
I did a search but didn't find anything specific.
TIA!
Hail
