[Norde]

A local store has one of these big boys in stock and a friend asked me if he should get one. It's impressive at 40" and a perfectly flat screen.


I went down to check it out and on first sight I thought the picture, over the air NTSC, looked awful. The worst of all the XBRs in the area. Fortunately I was left completely alone with the very nice and simple remote. There were more adjustments to be made than I have ever seen on a TV. After only two or three minutes I came up what I though was a perfect picture which easily exceeded the other smaller XBRs. Why don't these dealers calibrate these sets properly? I didn't see HDTV or DVD display, but imagine that it is wonderful.


The question though is, should anyone spend $3,500 on this set. While it does anamorphic and is HDTV ready and has no visible scan lines, it's still 4:3. My friend, he really does exist, hates the black area on anamorphic DVDs on a 4:3 set, yet he seems to prefer them to black lines on the side of a 4:3 picture showing on a wide screen TV.


I am in real quandry as to recommend this set. You can get a lot for $3,500 these days. If you believe digital and wide screen is not going to happen for 5+ years then I guess this is the ultimate TV.


Any thoughts?

 

[Rachael Bellomy]

It is a very nice set. I considered one. I bought the 36" XBR because I didn't want the Sony stand. The 40" is so heavy, about 300+ lb's that stand options are very limited. If I could of had a custom stand built, or had, I might of bought the 40". I don't reget the 36" XBR 450 at all! There's always a bigger fish...but I'm happy with the one I caught. If My room was bigger, I might of...? 4/3 sets are best for the current broadcasts me thinks. I had a 34" 16 x 9 set for a week and returned it. I thougt the only thing it displayed well was DVDs. I don't like the stretching on smaller 16 x 9 sets. Your bud might not either. The 16 x 9 display area is impressive on the 40 incher too. I'd rather have that set than say the 40 or 42" Toshiba 16 x 9 sets. I like Sony's ergonomics very much...I've blah-blahed enough....best wishes!

 

[ciper]

The image on low quality signals will always suck to some degree on all the current "high end" sony tubes because of the drc and such. This is a great tv though. I also opted to get the 36 inch until a year from now when I will upgrade. More than likely I will get the 40 inch unless there is something better.


I didnt get the 40 inch this time for three big reasons.


1 wait for the price to come down

2 never buy the first run of a new model

3 wait until others have found all the tweaks and nuances of this set so that i can benefit from their knowledge.


on a side note, DO NOT TRY TO MOVE THIS YOURSELF. Even if the weight doesnt sound like much the tv is very hard to carry even with 4 people. There arent that great of handholds on it and the weight is unbalanced in the set. Pay the extra and have the store deliver it.