I've only had mine for two weeks, but it's been performing perfectly (fingers crossed). I will say that the 32" my dealer has on display exhibited some terrible color "patches" which he explained were present on several of the TVs he had received.
I give it a 5-star rating 'cause I've had no problems.

Junk, absolute junk. My 36XBR200 has horizontal bowing on the lower part of the screen, especially toward the left side. I have never seen this problem on any other TV. After four service calls, each with a new attempted fix suggested by Sony, the TV is none the better. The Sony rep admits the flaw and lack of improvement, but claims it to be within Sony spec. I can only say that Sony has very low standards. If I could carry this 230 pound behemoth, I'd chuck it through my dealer's window.
Also, I met someone who has gone through four of these TVs, unable to find one with acceptable levels of distortion and shading; talk about patience!

All I can say is that if I knew then what I do now, I never would have even considered this TV.

Great Picture, Great Menu, Great color. Lots of video imputs, great remote. Basically no glare.

Tilt, many tvs require the tv to be degaussed. The tv weighs 236lbs.

The Sony Kv36xbr200 was from my understanding the first model year. I expected some imprefections, but the picture is beautiful. Most Sonys you notice have a blue tint on the whites of the picture, which you don't see in the XBR's. I needed my tv to be deguassed because the tv doesn't travel well. You have to make sure that you don't place unshielded speakers next to it or you're screwed. I've seen many people do that. If you think the new model is any better your wrong. The XBR250 loses many of the PIP options and they give you wireless headphones in its place. Sorry, but for sports lovers the PIP options are a must. The XBR200 has three circut boards,one for each gun; so if one went you would be ok. The new model only has one. Sony has been very helpful with any questions. If you need service on your tv ask the sales person who their company uses to fix the tvs.

Similar Products Used:

Previous Sony models and Toshiba. Compare to Panasonic Super Flat.

FOR ANYONE EXPERIENCING PROBLEMS WITH SONY OR ANY SONY PRODUCT, READ THIS--I've read all the horror stories and
have been through similar episodes of frustration which has
led me to contact a very high ranking Sony executive, Ms.
Pat Harrison, located nearby Sony HQ in Oradell, NJ--She
answers directly to the president of Sony's US operations
and I assure everyone reading this post, this woman does
care, cuts the clutter and RESOLVES problems-I had 3
different Sony KV-20VM40 TV/VCR units and each one was
defective, all with the same problems--to cut to the chase,
Ms. Harrison arranged for pk.up and repair of each unit
but their own Service Centers were unable to correct the
problems and finally, without resistance, refunded my
money--Consumers need to have a direct dialogue with
executves, the Customer Service people in Ft. Meyers,
Florida mean well but are very often restricted and limited
as to the relief they can provide--In short, you need to
convey all of your frustrations and dissatisfaction to
an individual that can effect change and deliver results
and satisfaction--this woman will help you as she helped
me--In closing, let me say that Sony's problems with their
consumer line of direct view televisions can be summed up
in 3 words: Made in Mexico.
I hope the above is helpful--T B GREEN, Southern CA

9 PIP

contrast, Sony giving you the runaround, heavy,
proprietary TV stand (to support 230lb TV)

Fortunately, no problems w/ this TV yet other than the
contrast. Whites are too bright. Using movie mode.

I love the 9 PIP. Glad I bought this over the xbr250.
Well worth giving up the wireless headphones for this!

Using Canare component video cables. Returned the Monsters.
Noticed a huge difference in terms of detail and quality of the picture afterwards.

All in all, an excellent buy for the price I paid.
Paid $125 for shipping, but total w/ tax and shipping =
$1500. What a bargain!

My wife and I purchased this television at the end of January 1999. It was a replacement for a nine-year-old 31" RCA in the bedroom. The video performance of the Sony shows an enormous amount of potential: exceptionally low video noise, excellent color reproduction, and a highly detailed picture.
Unfortunately, the experience of owning this set has proven to be a nightmare. We received a unit that had very serious geometry problems--vertical and horizontal lines were severely bent, not only near the edges but all over the screen. It was deemed too serious to fix properly so my dealer replaced the set.

The second set also had geometry problems--to a much lesser degree--but a Sony authorized repair shop was able to minimize the distortion to where only horizontal lines at the bottom right corner were visible. Not a good showing for a product that Sony says (in their promo material) reproduces straight lines as truly straight.

The replacement unit also had other problems: (1) dark corners (each dark area was about the size of a golfball); (2) a big area (about 12" high x 10" wide) of light red in the background on the left side of the screen and an equivalent area of light green on the right side; and (3) an inability to properly reproduce black (it managed only gray).

The shop that dealt with the geometry couldn't fix the other problems. I called Sony asking for help and they wanted another authorized repair shop to look at it. I still had a few days remaining to make use of the dealer's exchange privilege, but the second repair shop assured me they could fix the TV. Sony, I was told, knew that early production units had these problems, and the solution was a new yoke assembly, which would be installed on my unit.

But then, two weeks later, the shop discovered that the yoke on my unit was, indeed, the latest version (it's supposedly on all Wegas manufactured in December 1998 or later). Since there was nothing else they could do, the shop told us to "learn to live with" the set's deficiencies.

I again called Sony, this time requesting a replacement television. The customer service representative instead arranged for the second repair shop to pick up the unit and have it evaluated by a Sony field technician. The field tech
attempted to repair the set but couldn't. He and the repair shop concurred: the problems were "within Sony's specifications" and that we should "stop concentrating on the problem areas when we watch the television."

This was silly, so I again asked Sony's customer service rep for a new set. He said his "hands were tied because of the statements by the repair shop and field tech that the unit was within specification." But he promised that Sony's customer relations office would take up the issue next.

Last week, while on a trip to Virginia, I visited an electronics store and noticed that one Wega (a 32" FV1 version) seemed to perform properly, whereas a 36" Wega (FV1) had obvious large dark spots in the corners. Clearly, there must be quite a few defective Wegas being manufactured.

So here we are: an outlay of over $2,000 for two defective televisions, the latter of which is still in a repair shop; a repair shop and a Sony technician who think dark spots, discolored areas, curved lines, and no blacks are normal behavior for Sony's best analog television; and fading hope that Sony has any interest in resolving this issue or cares about a customer who has been loyal in the past, and very patient and obliging during these three months of torture.

I will submit an update at an appropriate time in the future.

Finally, I would love to know how many others are experiencing problems with their new Wega televisions. Sony insists that my Wega problems are unique. Please post here.

Super Picture

Sony Customer Support Sucks! (CSS)

This is not so much a summary as a plea for help. I purchased my 36XBR200 in April of 99'. I have not experienced most of the problems I have read about here. I do have one major problem though. I use this set primarily for DVD, with some occasional TVRO and OTA. When using the bonus functions on DVD, (text, on screen grafix, etc.) The text is so out of focus on the left side of the screen it is virtually unreadable. It does'nt seem to affect the picture quality but it makes me wonder. When I spend this kind of money on a "State of the Art" product, I expect better. So far the chain store I bought it from, and Sony Support have been totally unresponsive to my complaint. The one time I did manage to get an "Authorized Repair" guy out here he told me the focus adjustment was accomplished by gluing magnets on the back of the CRT. He said that anything that he could do would probably only make it worse.
This is totally unacceptable! If anyone here has had any success in getting Sony to back their equipment, and support their so called State of the Art Product, I would appreciate any help I can get. My E-mail address is Jerry@Diamondeng.net. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you one and all,
Jerry

Similar Products Used:

Several Trinitrons over the years.

Awesome

None

This is a great TV if you have the proper environment to put it in.