[Peter_Klim]

Time for me to get a new TV. Today I turned it on and suddenly the picture compressed to the top of the screen, then video signal displayed as if the TV turned off, which is a black screen (same for the VCR & DVD). Audio still works.


Anyway, is Sony still one of the best TV values out there?


I have the 1997 model KV-32S22 - not their best. And I would like to get another one of about the same quality or better, at about the same "street" price - about $600-$700 (If I weren't getting a projector, then I'd get something much better).


Any suggestions?

 

[JoeAngelicchio]

Hard to believe your TV would go so soon. Is that the norm now a days with CRT's? Last TV I bought (which I need to replace now) is a 25" NEC monitor that I bought back in 1984 when 400 lines of resolution was quite good. You got me concerned now that I have to buy a new CRT.

 

[Peter_Klim]

Quote:

Originally posted by JoeAngelicchio Hard to believe your TV would go so soon. Is that the norm now a days with CRT's? Last TV I bought (which I need to replace now) is a 25" NEC monitor that I bought back in 1984 when 400 lines of resolution was quite good. You got me concerned now that I have to buy a new CRT.

Yeah, that's what I said: "only 7 years?"


Maybe it's because my wife is a TV junkie?

 

[Workindood]

Or maybe it got a power surge....


You have a good surge protector?


When a thunderstorm is coming I ALWAYS unplug everything.

 

[Joxer]

The reliability of CRT TVs has gone downhill in recent years since the manufacturing moved from Japan to Mexico and China. I have Japanese TVs that are still going strong after 20 years, but a 1990s Sony died after about 10 years. I suspect a TV made after 2000 has typically 5 year till something fails - of course it could be repaired in most cases. The 1993 Sony set cost about $150 to repair, it was just a bad capacitor in the power supply. I had it fixed and gave it to my folks and got a widescreen HDTV. Of course the new HDTV set designs keep changing so fast, I feel I want to upgrade more often than 5 years anyway!

 

[Secant]

My Sony KV-32V15 is 9 years and 6 months old....my primary set until this past year, and still works great. The colors have faded slightly compared to my newer HDTV, yet SD looks 2x better this old analog set than the HDTV set due to poor SD cable quality...the old Sony blurrs just enough to give a better picture funny enough.


I'm hoping Sony still has the quality they had 10 years ago. Funny thing is I paid $1,200 for the KV-32V15 10 years ago and now even after 10 years of inflation, I can buy a more technology enhanced Sony 32 HDTV for the same price today. I just hope the quality hasn't been cheapen to keep the prices down. I'd rather pay a few hundred more today and get an extra 5 years of use than have it break after 3 years yet have "saved" $200 on the initial purchase price...

 

[Mathesar]

I bought a 20" Sony tv for my room in 1989 and used it mainly for videogames and movies for ..im not even sure how long but it was years.. ,once I bought another (bigger) tv I gave the 20" to my mom and to this day it still works and has never been serviced,you'd be suprised how good the picture quality is after all the years...the only thing I noticed is when you first turn it on theres a slight reddish tint but it goes away after about 5 minutes .. definately got my moneys worth.


I currently have a 4 year old Sony wega (KV27FS12) and a 7 month old Sony 32HS510 hdtv, both working like new so far ... we'll see how long they last.

 

[caltvdude]

Well I think everyone here can agree that these TV's should last longer than 7 years.


In response to your question Sony is still a good TV but probably far from the best value. For your size and price you'll find there standard 32FS120 and a higher line 32FS320.


The FS120 IMO is a about the worst value of any 32" sold today. It's basically a stripped down junk model they sell slightly higher than competing brands because they know a lot of people will only buy Sony and will feel overjoyed in seeing it's only a little more than the other big names. Nice of them huh.


I'd either look at the FS320 or a Toshiba 32AFX54. Toshiba will give pretty much same features for PQ, though it is hard to find at local stores since its there CS line.

 

[Peter_Klim]

Quote:

Originally posted by caltvdude Well I think everyone here can agree that these TV's should last longer than 7 years. In response to your question Sony is still a good TV but probably far from the best value. For your size and price you'll find there standard 32FS120 and a higher line 32FS320. The FS120 IMO is a about the worst value of any 32" sold today. It's basically a stripped down junk model they sell slightly higher than competing brands because they know a lot of people will only buy Sony and will feel overjoyed in seeing it's only a little more than the other big names. Nice of them huh. I'd either look at the FS320 or a Toshiba 32AFX54. Toshiba will give pretty much same features for PQ, though it is hard to find at local stores since its there CS line.

True, those Sonys are stripped down models of their higher end TVs. But that does not mean they are worse off than other brand TVs of the same price range?


When I purchased my stripped down model, I compared the picture quality and it looked much better than the other brands in the same price range.


But I'll take your advice and at least look at the Toshiba. Thanks!

 

[Mathesar]

I'm willing to bet if you compared the Sony FS120 32" along side any other brand analog 32" you'll choose the Sony as far as picture quality goes, I do agree the FS120 is pretty stripped down feature wise and has weak sound quality from the built in speakers, I had one in my home for 3 weeks before deciding to return it for the Sony 32HS510 HDTV I'm using now, but the FS120 did have an excellent picture and very good geometry / convergence.