Picture sharpness, detail, inputs

Heavy

Wow. I couldn't choose between this model and a similar Toshiba, the Toshiba was 200$ cheaper but I went ahead and bought this anyway. I'm really glad I spent the extra money, this set is awesome! The picture is amazing, especially if you use the component inputs. I have my PS2 hooked up with S-video and the picture is much sharper than my composite input on my old 27". It looked big in the store, but it really dominates my living room. I can't say much about the sound, I use a seperate system. The only real drawback is the wieght, but that's pretty obvious considering the size. I highly recomend this to anyone looking for a quality TV. This is probably the nicest non-HD TV you can get.

Incredible Picture (clear and bright all the way to the edges), great sound for a TV, duplicate controls mounted on the top of the television for convenience, and cool silver color. Picture in picture was well worth the extra $100 from the KV-36FS13.

Weight is about 225 pounds, so it can be difficult to move. Also, the layout of the remote is weak, and let me explain. The buttons I use the most when I am watching TV are channel and volume (up and down) yet they are at an awkward place when you hold the remote in your hand. (Small detail, but a pain.)

I started thinking about a new TV about 2 months ago, but just finally bought one last night (I am a pleasure delayer, if you have seen Vanilla Sky). In my 60 days of research I went to four separate stores; from a small, higher-end home entertainment type store to the big warehouse type Superstore. I looked, I listened, and I poked and prodded on every sales person I encountered. Finally, it came down to 4 decisions; and I think these need to be handled in this order. First, decide if you want to go projection or conventional tube. Second, decide if you want to make the jump to HDTV, or stay conventional. Third, decide on the size you can live with. Finally, decide on the brand. Here is my story and my rationale. I choose conventional tube because it is usually a brighter image than a projection, and my den is rather bright and could have washed out the image. I then choose to not do HDTV, because I saw my TCO (total cost of ownership) increasing as I learned more and more about the technology. Converter boxes and different bolt-on accessories just didn't seem as clean to me as a pristine TV with everything I needed for the next 4-5 years included. For the size question, I went with the 36" and I have no regrets. The 36" is obscenely big in my room and it dwarfs my TV stand, but I would have regretted not spending the extra $400 if I had gotten the 32". The brand was the final choice, and it was between Sony and Toshiba. Seeing them side by side was the best test, and I determined that I like the look of Sony tube more than the Toshiba tube. By that same account, however, I like the look of the Toshiba projection more than the Sony projection. In summation: If you are going to be buying another TV in the next 5 years, make THAT purchase be your first HDTV televsion. But for now, save the money for HDTV and just get a biggest and best TV you can afford without the HDTV capability.

Similar Products Used:

This is the best TV I have owned, so I have no "similar" products used.

Comprehensive component inputs

Heavy, heavy, heavy....but you already knew that!

I was able to wheel-n-deal with the salesman at Sears ( key: go on a weeknight, after the holidays, and just before the store closes), and I got the stand and some Acoustic Research component video cables thrown into the transaction. Once the TV was mine, the next logistical step was to get this HUGE TV home. Heed the advice of others, get professionals to move this TV. My brother and I had the unfortunate task of bringing the TV into my 2nd floor bedroom, but as soon as we had the set up qand running I was not disappointed. Connecting my progressive scan DVD using the free component video was a easy to do. Although, I could not get a full appreciation of HDTV, I recommend component video connection (I compared it with connecting via the analog jacks, and there just is no comparison). The TV definitely needs to be adjusted, but you won't get any help from the users manual, which only gives cursory information on how to best set up the picture quality. I had to fumble my way around the advanced menu to finally get the picture quality that I want. Speaking of which my only complaint seems to be with the amount of "redness" this TV has. The sound from the main speakers are adequate, but I have the audio running through my Pioneer Elite receiver anyway. The bottom line is, it is a decent TV to have as a second-room TV, but I would spend the extra cash on the full blown XBR HDTV or a HDTV projection for a main room!

16:9 mode is worth the price! I'll never have a TV without it. A whole lotta TV for the money!

I had to turn down the factory color setting a good deal - the factory defaults are really "in your face". But correctable. My unit has a slightly bent screen, but not enough to return it over. And you better decide where you're going to put this set in your room, cuz you ain't movin' it! It's a heavy SOB.

Well I think it's axiomatic that the bigger your screen gets, the worse your resolution gets. If I could only magnify the picture of my 13" that I had 20 years ago without losing any resolution - I'd have a SOTA TV :-) .

I wouldn't get this big a TV for a very small room (get a 32" maybe). I think you need to be minimum 8' away.

My 27" Wega had a tighter resolution for normal TV. But I think that's just a function of screen size vs. viewing distance. It's in the DVDs where you really see the picture!

DVD in 16:9 mode is just fantastic on this set. This TV is big enough so you can really enjoy even the 2.25:1 screen ratio movies, which were just awfully small on my 27". So I am very happy with this set. Really, don't buy a TV without this feature, or you're throwing away 25% of your screen resolution when you watch DVDs.

My screen is bent a little. It is no issue whatsoever when watching a show - you can't tell. But when looking at the reflection when the TV is turned off, you can see that it isn't perfectly flat. I won't return it over this - hell, a TV this heavy is pretty much a long term commitment!

The default settings are terrible. On my 27" the default "movie" mode was quite good - calibrating with a test disc only improved the picture a little bit. But on this 36" set, none of the defaults are acceptable. A girl in a red dress will blind you if you don't turn the color down well below half way. It feels weird to have it turned down so far, but it is clearly for the best (it's just the scale that's off - the color at my setting is quite vivid and brilliant). I have yet to calibrate this set with a disc, but I'll bet dollars to donuts that proper calibration will result in a color setting well below half way.

I wanted to get one of those TVs shaped like a wide-screen, but my wife pointed out that the 36" Sony in widescreen mode was the same size - with a humongous normal TV picture as a bonus. So we grabbed this one. Sears was out of the non PIP model, so we got the PIP for the price of the FS13. This happens to be useless in my area, because my cable company scrambles practically every channel, but what the hell... PIP was free for me. I would never spend for the feature though.

Just like with my 27" Wega - I feel like I'm stealing with these Sony's. They give you a ton of TV for the dollar, specifically in the DVD age of 16:9 movies. For 1200-1300 bucks, it's really a no-brainer. I don't know what else in the world you would consider buying instead of this. If this is your budget, then this is your TV. Period!

So these remarks probably don't look like a 5 star review do they? Well, the Sony Wega has made me VERY happy both in 27" and 36", and I am going to give it 5 stars even though I've picked a few nits here. 16:9 anomorphic mode at livable prices is something I could just kiss Sony for. I'd really give 4.5 stars if I could, because of the bent screen. But I don't want to get this set off to a bad start, so I'll round up.

Similar Products Used:

KV27FS12 Wega