Sony KF-42WE610 Rear Projection

Sony KF-42WE610 Rear Projection 

DESCRIPTION

  • Sony’s Wega Engineâ„¢ system maintains picture in the digital domain
  • Sony’s Optical Engine delivers high-resolution picture corner-to-corner
  • 3.28 million dots resolution delivers stunning detail and clarity
  • Fixed pixel display and constant light eliminate flicker
  • Slim, lightweight design enhances any décor
  • Images and MP3''s come to life with Enhanced Memory Stick® media
  • Expand the life of your TV with easily replaceable lamp
  • Enjoy outstanding picture quality on HDTV monitor

USER REVIEWS

Showing 1-9 of 9  
[Jan 24, 2009]
chris
Casual Listener

DO NOT BUY THIS TV!!!
MORE PROBLEMS THAN IT'S WORTH.
SONY'S CUSTOMER SERVICE SUPPORT OFFERS NO HELP AND KNEW ABOUT THE PROBLEMS BUT DO NOTHING ABOUT TELLING THE BUYER ABOUT IT. ALL THEY WILL SAY IS " DIDN'T YOU SEE IT ON OUR WEBSITE" ... I DON'T VISIT THIER WEBSITE EVERYDAY TO SEE IF MY TV HAS A RECALL. THEY WILL BEND YOU OVER AND SEND YOU ON YOUR WAY WITH NO RESOLUTION.
IF YOU PLAN ON BUYING THIS BE PREPAIRED TO SHELL OUT HE DOE OR THROW IT OUT THE DOOR.

OVERALL
RATING
1
VALUE
RATING
1
[Apr 03, 2008]
Marc Rodriguez
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

None

Weakness:

Plenty

Every negative post about this SONY TV is o true. I've had the same horrible experiences that most of the other posts describe - failed bulbs, replacing the optical engine, horrible customer service.

I've owned the TV for only about 4-5 years and I have to throw it away already. The bulb overheated inside the unit and melted half of the internal components. When I had a tv repair guy come to inspect it, he literally told me the best way to fix it is to get a new TV!

I will never buy another SONY product again as long as I live!

Customer Service

They give you the run around constantly, even for items that they say are recognized defects. It took me 3 months to finally resolve the optical engine issue eventhough they recognized it as a defect on their own Website.

And none of that matters because now its basically scrap metal.

I only wish the rating scale on this website had 0 as a choice because that's what I would give SONY.

OVERALL
RATING
1
VALUE
RATING
1
[Jun 14, 2006]
Jimmy
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

It's heavy.

Weakness:

Everything!

My Sony KF 42WE610 has been nothing but trouble.
First,green blotches appeared on the screen and was told that the 'engine' (which was described as the LCD parts of the system) went bad and it was a problem common to this model
Fortunately, the unit was under warranty because the part cost $3000.00!!!
Frequently, I have to unplug the TV to reset it because it won't start.
Now, it won't start at all, the red light just blinks 5 times over and again until the lamp fan goes off. Sony says they don't know what is wrong and I'll have to bring it in (not an easy task for such a large piece of electronics).
I've also had trouble with my Sony computer and phones.
I'll never buy Sony again.

Customer Service

Slow and long waiting period for available technician.

OVERALL
RATING
1
VALUE
RATING
1
[Apr 14, 2006]
pkspohn
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

None that can make up for the design flaws and crappy customer service.

Weakness:

Quality, Quality Quality. Customer service. Being forced to buy the $300-$400 service agreement and then having to live without the tv time after time as they lug this piece of crap to be repaired.

Owning this TV is the worst electonics experience since I started buying audio and video equipment 40 yrs ago. I owned a 27 inch Sony a few years ago and replaced the tuner and audio board the second year I owned it. I should have know better than to but another SONY. I'm on my third lamp ($175 ave price) and for the past three months I've been looking at a green blotching area the size of a softball in the middle right side of the screen. Sony doesn't answer questions sent via email but there are 100s of posts on message boards describing lamp failures and different color blotches. The fix seems to be a $600-$900 optical unit. I will never purchase another Sony as long as I live!

Customer Service

Never have I dealt with such lousy customer/tecnical service. Don't assume that you'll get lucky and get a decent TV.

Similar Products Used:

JVC-excellent luck with CRT 32 inch.
My 1st Sony which was also junk!

OVERALL
RATING
1
VALUE
RATING
1
[Sep 14, 2005]
basscapes
AudioPhile

Strength:

Extremely competitive brightness in daylight/lights on in room. A very capable RPTV for highly lit rooms! Detail and sharpness are incredibly good. Action doesn't "blur out" like some other LCD sets (regardless of direct or RP type!). DVI input will be a bonus once I get a true HD satellite receiver

Weakness:

Black level isn't the best for low level ambient/no light situations. You MUST have some light on to not notice this. Component inputs will not accept true RGB or computer monitor outputs. Sony's manual make NO mention of this whatsoever!!!

This set came to me as a result of my five year old Toshiba 32" set starting to lose its colour (lots of red bloom starting) and my wife and I deciding to take the 16 x 9 plunge for watching anamorphic DVDs. I ordered the kf42 and a stand (not the matching Sony one- too expensive) and received both peices in less than a week. To state things plainly- Sony had a quality control issue with a lamp supplier and didn't know about the issue until after a LOT of sets got into the market. My set is just under a month old and I have had NO problem whatsoever with the lamp. Also of note, once the lamp was changed out on a floor model at the store I purchased the unit from took place, they've run it 12 hour a day for the last year without incident!!! This set is a daytime set- that is, if you watch it in a darkened room, you will see a slight lack of black level resolution (a symptom of ALL LCDs!!!), but the brightness of this set can compete with OPEN blinds on windows!!! You may not want to watch the set in total darkness if the black issue bugs you. I can ignore it even with space stuff (read: STAR WARS or FIFTH ELEMENT) although I still see it. I wish for only one thing- that this set had Sony's new iris control that the new A series sets are rumoured to have. That would make things even better!

Similar Products Used:

I've tried this set against the latest LG DLPs, Hitachi CRT RPTVs, and even some better DTVs. It just looks the most natural out of all of them. Or rather, this set has the least warts of all, IMHO...

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
4
[Sep 08, 2004]
Bernard
AudioPhile

Strength:

In this size nothing comes close. Plasma? Check out the dot crawl and video noise. Oh, and the price. Not worth it yet.

Weakness:

Come on Sony.... what happened to quality control??? Samsung wants to crash your party and you're letting them.

First of all let me warn you about some quality control problems. The Bulb burnt out after a few weeks and I had to get my brand new TV fixed as they wouldn't exchange it. Also many units have a green blotchiness or green "haze" covering parts of the screen. Kind of like green cloudiness. This is noticable when you darken the room and watch movies with dark scenes. You can also see it when you select a video input and look at the dark screen with no source. If you find a good one however this TV is with out a doubt the best picture that money can buy. The colours are beautiful there is no dot crawl or video noise with good sources. (unlike plasma which is very noisy aka dot crawl.). When you wwatch movies on this TV you see things that you never noticed before. You suddenly find yourself critiquing the source quality or the way the film was transferred to DVD. Movies also seem more three dimensional as they are so clear and sharp. As plasma to me doesn't compare quality wise I chose this TV over the Samsung DLP LCD rear projector. The Samsung seemed a little sharper but the colour quality was so much nicer on the Sony. The colours seemed a litle washed out on the Samsung. Ironically one of the sales men who sold both models recommended the Sony over the Samsung for reliability. How wrong!! However quality control issues aside, The Sony truly delivers outstanding image quality. I have had this TV since Nov. 2003 and am still amazed at the image quality. Today I was watching Kill Bill volume One and was in awe of the colour and picture. BUY THIS TV !!! Just make sure the retailer has a written and reliable return policy in case yours has one of the two well known issues mentioned above.

Similar Products Used:

Sony 27 inch, Sony 53 inch rear projector.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Mar 19, 2004]
BeEvil
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

picture, price, all over look of TV, did I say picture yet? LOL

Weakness:

None

Have had the KF42WE610 for just over a month now. This TV is awesome!! I compared this unit to the RCA HDLP50W151, and the 43" Samsung DLP. I did not have room for anything bigger that these units but I did compare the picture to the Panasonic and Hitachi LCD/RP televisions as well. I went with the Sony because the picture was very nice the unit it's self was beautiful, Sony is renowned for quality and the price was right. I picked up this unit at a Future Shop for 4100 CAD even. This price includes a 3 year extended waranty and 15% tax and shipping. The picture is crisp and clear, especially through my direct digital progressive scan JVC RX-DV3SL unit. Even through my Bell express VU the picture is very impressive. Can't wait till all the chanels are in HD. The picture will be breath taking. So far I have no complaints.

Similar Products Used:

none

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
4
[Jan 20, 2004]
Sam C
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Beautiful picture even from standard cable, PIP, memory stick slide show, price, average lifespan, weight (at least 1/2 of plasma) and uses the same engine as the 2003 XBR.

Weakness:

Projection bulb uses mercury, if that bothers you.

We had not intended to buy a 2nd. large screen TV, as we have a Sony XBR53 in our family room, and were looking for a replacement 27" set for the living room. At Circuit City a Sony rep was demonstrating and answering customer questions regarding HDTV, Plasma, LCD, etc. We asked several questions, watched a Sony plasma and this set side-by-side and could not see any difference. Given the average life of an LCD (3 times that of plasma), ease and cost of regeneration by the replacement of a bulb (currently $250)and the cost (at least 1/2 of plasma) there was no contest. An added benefit is the ability to play, as a slide show or individually, memory stick photos.

Similar Products Used:

None.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jan 03, 2004]
Peter Ghitman
AudioPhile

Strength:

Great picture, wonderful, rich color, very little drop off in image quality with increased viewing angle.

Weakness:

Defective lamp system

Beware, until Sony addresses the widespread problems it is experiencing with the lamp system in this TV, do not buy. See http://www.agoraquest.com/viewtopic.php?topic=11217&forum=34 for more information. Mine failed after only a few days of use. It's a shame, because otherwise this unit is a GREAT set, especially for the money when compared to Plasma sets.

Similar Products Used:

none

OVERALL
RATING
1
VALUE
RATING
5
[Dec 28, 2003]
Kurt Jagielski
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Picture Resolution, Light Weight, Slim Profile

Weakness:

Auto Sound Leveling Feature that prevents sound fluctuations between programs and channels does not work. Also--the DVI interface between the TV and my cable box, which is supposed to be a step up from the Component connections, failed to provide a picture sometimes, but worked properly at other times, until I finally went back to using the component connections

Good compromise between Plasma and Traditional Projection, Picture proximates plasma, and much lighter and thinner than traditional projection TV's

Similar Products Used:

Traditional Projection TV's

OVERALL
RATING
2
VALUE
RATING
2
Showing 1-9 of 9  

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