Beautiful picture. Clean industrial design aesthetic. Great features. Intuitive user interaction.

Poor manual. Loud cold boot degauss power up. Enormous weight.

I really think this is wonderful product. Right out of the box the picture was wonderful (anything but the vivid setting). I purchased a Playstation 2 for the DVD player and used the component video connection. The picture via this connection is stunning, I feel it rivals the output of any DVD picture quality I have seen at show rooms. The DirectTV picture is nice, but I can't wait to get a HDTV setup later this year. It makes a really loud sound on startup but I have been told this is the normal monitor degauss (they should have made this a manual option). Overall I am very pleased as long as the stand can support the weight over time I wont need a new set for a long time.

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First high end monitor

Excellent Picture, even with cable, on-screen menus are intuitive.

Owner's manual, weight

Could not fit the 36 inch set into the space, so bought the 32 inch. I am very impressed by the picture quality, even with the analog cable signal in my area. Found the picture memory settings needed tweaking, the PRO setting was closest to my personal preferences. I've turned down the contrast (picture) and backed off the colour somewhat. Tend to leave Velocity Scan Mod off, or at low, and run sharpness about 2/3rds of the way up. I have not had any problems with geometric distortion, horizontal and vertical lines were straight right out of the box. There are NO visible scan lines on this set, this alone makes this set wonderful to watch. There are som artifacts on the screen under some circumstances, typically on fast moving images with straight lines (dot crawl or jaggies) but these can be tuned out with the VSM settings. I guess this is a trade off. Have not yet used a DVD player, as I'm not sure if it would be worthwhile to get progressive scan. Any users have a comment on this. The front glass surface of the CRT is amazingly flat, as shown by any reflections that I observe on the tube face. Some of the television stations on the cable service have poor equipment, or don't bother to calibrate their equipment, and this definitely shows on this TV. When a signal is good, the picture is awesome, even people who don't normally pay attention have made positive comments when they've seen my set.

The "Steady Sound" feature doesn't seem to keep the commercials from sounding louder than the program audio--this was a disappointment. The overall audio through the built in speakers is reasonable, but I am running it through an audio system.

The remote has received some criticism in this forum, but I like the simplicity. The menus and joystick work well for me, and the remote operates my old VCR perfectly. I do wish it was backlit, however.

The speaker grill problem looks like it may happen on my set, although it is minor at the moment. (25 days of heavy use).
In summary, I'm watching a lot more TV than I used to!

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original XBR 25

Incredible DVD pictures, progressive feed give great pictures. HD looks good too. Anamorphic squeeze. Fed with the right signals, this TV is great.

Cannot turn off Anamorphic sqeeze on HD material. The XBR400 lacks 2:3 pulldown, which was put on the 450. Fed with bad or cruddy signals, this TV really shows the flaws of those signals. Heavy. I need 1 more s-video input on back

Great TV for watching DVDs while you still watch a lot of 4:3 programming. Picture is good from any source as long as the signal is good and clean. Most cable broadcasts are clear, but with some exceptions. VHS recorded in ELP can be pretty bad looking, though. TV brings out the flaws.
HD looks great.
This is my first digital TV. Looked at Toshiba, Panasonic before gettig this one.
I've had this TV almost a year and am completely satisfied.

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27" JVC

The great picture

the price

Hi everyone,

I haven't purchased the New sony XBr450 , but like everyone else i'm still decideing on this one or the panasonic model, the sony xbr450 is alittle more but it looks like the better deal, now i'm trying to look for a goo price, i live in the bay area, california does anyone know where i can go to get one for a cheaper price, i seen the tv and i'm hooked now just looking for the right price,i was thinking of getting online i seen it for 1954.00 online but i also got to think about the shipping and if i have a problem with it, any comments would help or your storys with buying it online. or you can email wzupeveryone@aol.com

Excellent all around picture, even with cable, remote easy to use, 16:9 comp, professional appearance.

Remote not backlit, sound just ok, no headphone outlet on tv.

Hi, this is my second new tv in a little over a month and I am really happy with it. I originally purchased the 32" Samsung digital tv because of the significantly lower price and great showroom pic, had all sorts of problems with it and had it exchanged for this, which was what I wanted in the first place anyway. The picture on this tv is crystal clear, even with the lousy regular cable in my area. With the digital cable on, the digital channels are crystal clear, while the analog channels are just ok. Just ordered the avia disk to tune the tube, although it seems to be pretty good already.

I also purchased a progressive scan dvd player and with the 16:9 compression on the pic is amazing. With the samsung there were a lot of complaints in the family about headaches, ect. after viewing for a while, not one about this tv. Hopefully we don't move and this lasts for 20 years.

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Samsung tsk3292f

Outstanding picture with all sources

Build quality and lack of a decent manual

I compared the XBR400 to several other highend sets, however I found the SONY to have a superior picture in all cases.

When I finally purchased one I found it to work fairly well out of the box.
I have noticed some people complain about the poor picture quality from analog cable sources. My advice is to take your time and experiment with the picture setup modes. If you're not sure about doing this without guidance
buy a Video essentials disk to set things up properly. The electronics in this television is capable of very high resolution. If the source has a high noise
content like analog cable than adjustments to the sharpness, brightness and contrast controls will make a big difference. Of course your cable has to be setup and working correctly.

However I have found a number of problems with this set.

When using picture in picture the right side picture does not display video 5 and 6

Without any type of video or cable connections a 60 cycle hum bar is visible in
a blank raster.

Enhanced 16:9 mode crushes anamorhpic DVD material, giving a vertically distorted picture and a second set of 16:9 bars.

Convergence problems, i.e. color not converged to provide a white line.

Pincushion correction problems, i.e. vertical and horizontal lines not straight.

SONY service center told me that picture in picture does not display video 6
on the right side. Video 5 should display.

The hum bar is a know problem.

They had trouble understanding the enhanced mode issue, claimed they didn't have this problem with other sets in the shop. However when I checked several sets in retail stores I found they all had the same problem.

I have since obtained a service manual and found that I have been able to deal with the enhanced mode issue, convergence and pincushion problem. The set will have to go into SONY for the hum problem fix as well as the picture in picture problem.

To sum it all up the factory build quality is terrible and SONY service is really not on top of the issues with this set. However the set still has an outstanding picture and is well engineered.

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NEC commercial monitor

Incredible picture with progressive input-better than expected with cable...quality built with perfect factory calibration

none,especially compared to the horrible Panasonic32hx40 at the same price.

I finally got the guts to buy this beautiful TV. After 3 Panasonic 32hx40s',one worse than the other,I had all but given up on finding that perfect tv for all my uses. Thanks to all the useful reviews..some good..some bad..I decieded to take a chance on sony. First thing I noticed was the true colors that this set displayed.People have mentioned about red push...I guess they have never seen the panasonic..my god..this sony has not a hint of it compared to the 32hx40! The geometry is dead on,i guess i was lucky since other people complained about that.The Panasonic was like looking at the "funny mirror" at the fair! Speaker grills are fine. The only thing bad i can say is that the auto 16.9 feature must be put on every time in the menu for the squeeze..it should do this on its own? I will look into this further....5 stars to sony!

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visually stunning, 16:9 mode

none

Hello all, I recently purchased this set from a friend and (he upgraded to a plasma) was wondering where I can purchase, copy the manual of this tv. If anyone out there knows please let me know....

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27" Panasonic Tau

Great Picture, No Scan Lines

Motherboard shorted out during a 5% power reduction initiated by the electric company.

I posted my review of this set way back on October '00 and have been very satisfied with this set until Aug 11 of this year.

My set now has been bitten by the defective motherboard syndrome that has effected many XBR 400's based on what I have read in this forum. The other day, it was 105 degrees here on Long Island resulting in a 5% power reduction system wide to prevent rolling blackouts. Not sure if this reduction in voltage caused the motherboard to short out, but now my set, shuts itself down after playing for about an hour. The set just turns itself off as if someone was playing with the remote control. This seemed so ironic that this problem started during the power reduction. I immediately called SONY as the set is still under the one year service program. (I also bought an additional four years when I bought the set). The response I got from SONY was that this is a common problem in the XBR 400's manufactured in 2000. I was referred to a local authorized repair shop who will order another motherboard and install it at no cost to me. Who knows how long that will take! THIS SHOULD NOT HAPPEN TO A SET THAT COSTS $2000 TO PURCHASE. Not sure if the boards were improved for the XBR 450's, but I sure hope so!

I really love this set and I hope to get it back on line real soon.

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Sony wega (Non XBR)

Picture clarity is second to none. It's incredible. The color is very brillant and clear. Incredible looking set. Cool
silver tone look. easy to navigate menus, nice PIP, plenty of inputs.

Very Heavy, Needs at least 3 people to move. You also need to have a good stand that can support over 230 pounds.Not impressed with 16:9 picture mode, and tv sound. recommend using a outside source for sound. It makes a world of difference.

Where is the section for the Sony Wega XBR 450??? At www.agoraquest.com there are a couple of reviews on the Sony Wega XBR 450 under the review section. Also, you can post questions you have about the wega, maybe configuration problems or answer some questions in forum section. You should check it out. the website just launched and needs all the particpation possible from you to make it work. And registration is free.

really have enjoyed my previous XBR, but this new one is the best ever. The picture is so clear it looks like you are looking through a window. Use the Video Essentials,it make the DVDs and digital cable TV awesome to look at. With the HDTV situation so uncertain, this TV gives you all the flexibility for today's viewing choices as well as the ability to view HDTV when it finally arrives (even though it's not full HDTV resolution, it's hard to tell the difference).And again if you have any questions, submit them to the forum at www.agoraquest.com

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