Sony KV-32XBR250 Standard Televisions

Sony KV-32XBR250 Standard Televisions 

DESCRIPTION

32" FD Trinitron® Wega™ XBR TV

USER REVIEWS

Showing 11-20 of 34  
[May 24, 2000]
Eric
Casual Listener

Strength:

Excellent picture; the unit looks stylish.

Weakness:

Extremely heavy; weak remote; picture too dark.

First off, the product is extremely heavy, so if you find a spot for it, it's going to be there for awhile (unless of course you know a couple of very strong friends to help you move it). Surprisingly though, the unit moves quite easily on the base itself, i.e., moving the television by pushing the base is almost effortless.

The screen is absolutely incredible using component mode with my Pioneer DVD player. It is pure movie greatness. The cable reception is plain out terrible. I even have digital cable and the digital stations are half-way decent, but the channels on the low end of the tuner are not any better than a regular television (not to say the television is to blame, but it sure doesn't justify the cost of the set).

The picture is very dark too. The contrast or brightness settings are almost at 80% of the possible allotment. Truth be told, the television is incredible for DVD movie watching. If you want a leisurely television for just watching tv, pass on this one. But if you want a pure entertainment center piece, this is definitely the set to get. Make sure your DVD has component video output. You'll see nothing better.

I know I mentioned the style of the set too. Although probably not much of a consideration for most of you, the television looks like an expensive piece of furniture which helps when you don't want your living room to look like an entertainment studio.

Similar Products Used:

None.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
4
[Dec 16, 1999]
Jason
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Tight and amazing picture when watching DVDs.

Weakness:

The WEIGHT, heh.

I've had it for about three months now and have had no problems what so ever. I'm using a decent component video cable with my Sony 550D DVD player. I can't even describe how good the picture is when watching DVDs so I won't even try. I find leaving on the movie setting while watching cable looks best but it can get too dark sometimes. The TV's speakers are also the best I've heard for a non-big screen TV. The only slightly thing that is annoying, and not even about the TV, is that my Sony DVD player is hooked up to my receiver via digital optical cable and I also hooked up the analog outputs of the DVD player to the TV in hopes of listening to DVDs through the XBR's speakers instead of firing up my main system. Alas, it didn't work. I figure the Sony DVD player detects the optical output and shuts of the analog outs. I stray here but this TV is probably the best non-HDTV you can get. The way I figure it is use this for about 3-5 years until the HDTVs drop in price and then upgrade. Then I'll have a nice TV for the bedroom, heh.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
4
[Dec 04, 2001]
Rob
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Piture quality minus the uneven brightness and banding

Weakness:

different brightness across the screen

Well it's taking me two years to review this product. Man am I ever disapointed. The TV was great for about the first 8 months, then the brightness and banding problem creeped up. I have had 4 different technitians at 4 seperate times come in to service it. So far the problem persists. This is a direct quote from Sony Labs here in Canada dated the 3rd of December 2001

"As I mentioned to you, this "uneven brightness" symptom is not 100% fixable, But replacing the shielded coil, part # 1-419-754-11 and reducing the sub-brightness setting by 3 adjustments stops is the best compromise to avoid degrading the picture performance. This is considred acceptable by our Factory Standards"

How the hell can they say that it is acceptable. I have been fighting with sony for the last year for a TV that I paid/w stand $4100CA, had to take 4 days off($200/day) of work and is not to my standards.

So far I have spent about 5k Canadian for a TV that I am not happy with at all.

With over 15k of home theater setup, good thing this is my only sony component. or I would have 15k of junk instead of mear 4.5k.

Similar Products Used:

none

OVERALL
RATING
2
VALUE
RATING
1
[Jan 17, 2002]
a b
Casual Listener

Strength:

Great sound, picture quality at reasonable price.
U need to buy this 2 belive it.

Weakness:

Very heavy

None

Similar Products Used:

None

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Sep 15, 1999]
Tim
an Audio Enthusiast

Just got the KV32XBR250, and I am very pleased with it with one big exception:Sometimes, depending on power up sequence of components, I get a large area of poor color convergence in the lower left corner (about the size of my hand) that makes reds look purple. I guess I will have to contact tweeter to see if this set is defective. I hope I don't have to bring it back to the store, it is quite heavy! When the TV is powered up 1st and finishes it self-cal, then the cable/vcr/dvd/rvcr is turned on, the problem does not appear and the picture is awesome. But if you power it up wrong, it has to be off for several hours before powering it up again can fix the problem. I've noticed that the cold powerup time is much longer... I give it 3 stars for now and 5 if the problem is fixed!

OVERALL
RATING
3
VALUE
RATING
[Sep 14, 1999]
T. Ansari
a Casual Listener

Just got the 32xbr250 delivered over the weekend and I am very pleased with its performance. It was easy to configure for other components such as cable, VCR and DVD player. I also have got the Sony C650D DVD player connected to it and in the 16:9 compressed mode, the picture is truly awesome. One has to see it to appreciate it, I think. Haven't got the receiver and speakers--yet. Working on those for later.
It looks good from all angles and the picture is clear and sharp. The remote is easy to use but I think the channel and volume controls should have been a little more in the middle. I don't know if I like the flip open area for controlling DVD and PiP features.

Mind you that this is the first new TV for me in the last 12 or so years. Until I got this I had been watching a 19" Sears LXI brand.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
[Sep 15, 1999]
Trance
an Audiophile

A bit expencive. Simply the best picture tube TV ive seen. Not far from HDTV. Good remote although for this price I would expect a universal remote because it cannot control my entire audio system or my Sony TAE9000ES. The remote can control your Cable box,VCR,DVD thats it. Sounds very good. The magor minus I can say about this TV is its weight. This TV is the heaviest of all 32 Inch Tvs. If you plan on staying in your Apartment(house) for a long time then get it, but if you plan on moving soon dont even bother with this TV. I expect more for this money but have to say that if you are looking for the best picture quality on a TV then Sony wins.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
[Nov 20, 1999]
Edgar
Audiophile

Strength:

Picture Quality, Sound Quality (not bad for a tv), remote, menu system

Weakness:

Weight

The picture of this television is the best I've seen. I've seen the Loewe 16x9 tv ($4000) and other crt's and rptv's, and this has the best picture! If you consider the picture quality you're getting for the price, this tv is a bargain.
The tv comes with infrared headphones (they're ok, batteries included), and a backlit remote with a bubble like button that works like a joystick allowing you to move around the tv's settings menus.
The tv comes with 4 inputs: 1 in the front that includes s-video, 3 in the rear. The rear inputs are:1 includes s-video, the 2nd has the component inputs for a dvd player, the 3rd is regular composite inputs. The tv allows you to name the inputs (SAT, GAME, DVD, RECEIVER, and I haven't really looked if you can change the names because these were perfect for me). The tv also allows you to label regular tv channels and allows you to have 'Favorites' which you can quickly skim through.
If you have dss you'll notice the tv has a great picture, but when you pair it with a dvd player (I have the Toshiba 2109) and the component connections, this tv is pure eye candy! The picture is absolutely spectacular! When you watch a dvd and select the 16x9 mode, this tv has the 'vertical compression' (works automatically) which will stretch the picture to take up as much of the screen as possible. This feature is awesome.
If you want a tv with the best picture, and can play 4:3 and 16x9 material, this is a definite must buy! Besides, the time when digital programming is required to be televised by ALL tv stations is 2006! By that time you can upgrade to the new 2006 16x9 xbr's!

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Feb 12, 2000]
Justin
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Inputs, Picture mode on remote

Weakness:

too big, heavy

So, this TV is pretty awesome when you have a little component video input action going. I don't think I've seen a DVD ever look bad on this thing. The picture mode button on the remote is very cool, letting you go from standard->movie->sports->vivid again. I usually only watch stuff in Movie mode, which is barely bright enough to watch in a lit room.

This TV has approximatley nine million inputs. Front RCA and S-Video, 3 sets of RCA in the back, 2 S-Video in the back, 1 set of component, 3 s-link out, 1 s-link in, and probably more I'm forgetting.

I did have to return the first one I got because of geometry problems, something pretty common with WEGAs. Be sure to get the store to deliver it for you, because it weighs almost 110kg (240lbs).

The biggest issue I have with it is the fact that it makes broadcast TV look like crap. Seriously. I have cable, but not digital cable (yet), and splotches of black can be seen everywhere, edges are jagged unless you put the set in Movie mode, which is very dim in a well-lit room.

Similar Products Used:

Sony 27" tv

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
3
[Apr 11, 2000]
William
Casual Listener

Strength:

Nice sharp picture, excellent sound.

Weakness:

Price, weight and width

I've just returned my Panasonic 36' superflat for the 32 Wega XBR. The picture quality is far more sharper and clearer than Panasonic. The sound quality is the best TV sound I ever experienced. I am not an audio fan nor trying to build a home theater system. This set makes it perfect for my need. The only downside is its price and the
tv width. 36 XBR costs $500 more and too wide so I have to go for the smaller one. But it is still good.
I paid $1539.99 (with free sony FD2 stand) + tax + free delivery at Goodguys.

Similar Products Used:

Panasonic 36' superflat CT36SF36

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
4
Showing 11-20 of 34  

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