what size HD TV?

[jbsl]

I have had two Sony tvs, 27 and 34 inch CRTs and no problems.

So I want to get the Sony 50A3000. For the cost, $1499-1799 which will probably drop some more by the time I buy one, and performance compared to Plasma and LCD the 50A3000 is a great deal.

I only watch 3-6 movies a week and no tv at all. So I watch 10-15 hours a week so that is only 600 hours a year so the bulb burning out should not be a problem. I am not paying what a 50 inch plasma or LCDs cost just for 10-15 hours a week. I'll probably get a replacement bulb when I buy the tv just to have one.

Every tv made by Sony, samsung, etc will have a failure rate in the field(your house). I have worked in manufacturing for the last 10 years. The vendors supplying the parts for lets say tvs do a random sample on the parts they make. So they may check 1 dohicky out of every 10 dohickys. If there is a high fail rate then they will increase the number of dohickys checked. It depends on the company. Also depends on the part, some parts may have a higher percentage being checked than other parts.

So every 1000 dohickys that are put in tvs only 100 were checked to work. 900 left the plant without having the dohickys checked. The tv maker may have checked that the dohickys in the tv are working together correctly but they are trusting the vendors to test the dohickys for bad ones. So you buy the tv and have a bad dohicky that fails and you have to replace it or the tv.

So the only way to drasticly reduce failure rates in the field is to inspect every dohicky in the tv. Of course that reduces your production of dohickys by large numbers and you can not make a profit. Tv makers cannot keep up with demand for their tv cause the vendors have to inspect every single dohicky which takes up extreme amounts of time and the vendors cannot supply the demand for their part.

Nothing made by man is perfect especially anything off a assembly line. Some companies do more than others to reduce the failure rates but even then they will have a failure rate in the field.

For example when I bought my brand new 2004 La Scalas one tweeter did not work when I tried them the first time. I was upset but Klipsch took care of the problem by sending a new crossover and tweeter.

I knew everything I just posted but was still upset about it. The good companys have great customer service and Tech support. Which Klipsch does.

[Champagne taste beer budget]

This has been a timely thread for me, as I am suddenly in the market for a new large TV. I'm thinking of the KDL 46 or 52 W3000, though the 52A3000 is pretty sweet for a lot less. Need to spend more time in front of them at the store, I don't think the 3 hours so far is enough to make the decision. Nice to hear the opions though.

[jbsl]

That is what's great about forums. Ask a question and get lots of opinions and ideas to help you finalize what you want to do.

I'm going to try and get the 50A3000 late Mar if posible and if not wait till this time next year and see what is available.

Thanks for all the ideas.

[flossmore]

Sony XBR what ever it may be (crt, lcd, lcd proj) is always a great product. One thing about there LCD line is that they share a manufactering plant in Korea with Samsung and possibly Sharp now. There XBR's are always the most visualy appealing to the eye based on cabinet design. One thing to keep in mind is that when you view a TV in a store they are pre-set out of the box to be super bright and almost always have visually appealing sources playing on them. It's when you tune them to the real world that you get the real verdict. For instance I bought a Sharp 46 2 months ago out of the box it was absolutely terrible for everyday viewing. Brightness cranked way up and contrast and backlight were also cranked up. This is a 1080p panel and with some adjusting I got what I felt was a true picture. Now I compared to Sony XBR and Samusng and both were very competive. XBR was about $800 more though and I couldn't justify the difference in price. The cabinet was gorgeous though and that was worth a few hundred to me. With the new 120hz LCD displayes motion blur is almost non-existent so they are really putting the pressure on Plasma. Those 3 brands are all worth taking a look at as long as you can see them for what there worth in the real world.

P.S. Sony Esp. XBR is notorious for clouding, Sharp has been known for banding issues and Samsung has the infamous blocking problem (pixelation).

[Champagne taste beer budget]

Well, I'm going through some pretty large life changes right now so I thought I might as well go large with my new tv. Ordered the KDL52W3000 yesterday along with the Avia setup disc. In the place I'm living right now I'll be sitting about 6 feet from it. [] Should be like being at the theater, but free popcorn. I don't expect to be here long, looking for a house to buy, so will be a more reasonable distance soon. I'll post in-home impressions once it's set up, scheduled for delivery on Sunday 2/17.