New Sony SXRD Which one??

mark g. nelson

I have decided to buy a new Tv . My choices have come down to the 60" XBR2 or the 60" A2000 both SXRD.

Do any of you own one of these ?

Do you think the XBR is worth 800 more.( 180Watt VS 120 Watt bulb, free extra bulb, Better SD processor,1 more HDMI port).

Thank you in advance for any input.

P.S Don't you love it when your wife says go buy your own Christmas gift this year!!

PhantomOG

I would buy the XBR simply for the cablecard slot.

If she said go buy your own, why not go for the 70" XBR?

szhleppy

I just went through the exact same decision process...except my genius sales guy at Showcase (Tweeter) said that the only difference between the 2 sets was the location of the speakers.

I decided that the extra $$$ for the XBR2 was worth it. I would recommend reviewing the Owner's Threads for each set over at AVSForum and make your decison from there. They're lengthy and contain a fair share of BS posts, but also have a lot of good information to help you make an informed decision.

mark g. nelson

Thanks I will check it out. I also figure the price diff. is only 600 given you get a second bulb with the XBR. I only hope they last longer then the JVC bulbs. Thanks

Marell

Hi, if you really want to get the Sony spend the extra $$$ and get the XBR2.

According to some of the reports on AVS the A2000's are experiancing the dreaded green blob (or a green haze) problem that the XBR1 was notorious for, they seem to share the same engine. I have not heard of a XBR2 having this problem (yet hehe) the XBR2 has a redesigned engine. I stoped reading the AVS Sony owners forums about 25 days ago so go and read before you buy.

The A2000 uses DRC1 (video processing) which has been available for like 5 years if I remember right.

Last years XBR1 used DRC2 so they nerfed the A2000 if you ask me.

The KDS-RXB2 use DRC2.5. The bulb that comes with the KDS-RXBR2 is only rated for 4000 hrs. Last years XBR1 was 8,000 hrs (i think the A2000 is 8,000 hrs aswell) so you are not getting a deal with the _free_ bulb...

Four weeks ago I decided to get the Samsung HLS-6767W a Costco/Sam club model. It has the same gut's as the HLS-**87W models. I have been very happy ever since. Only seen rainbows here and there usually only during credits, not a big issue for me. I was sitting on the damn fence (even posted in the AVS fence sitters thread!) at the end the Samsung just seemed like a better buy with all the reported green blob issues (never saw one personly) that Sony had last year, the price diffrence, and the fact that the Samsung's can take 1080P via COmponent, VGA and HDMI whereas the Sony only over HDMI, made the Samsung a winner for my 360.

BTW 360 on a 67" Samsung DLP ROCKS!!!

Good luck with your purchase, whatever you choose you will be happy! Just make sure you get it from a B&M that has a no cost money back 30 day (or more) return policy. Whatever you do, do not pay the MSRP (I believe you can shave 10-15% of the MSRP or get the stand thrown in or something go kick some tires and go to more then one store. Make sure you consider getting the extended warrenty, BTW check with Sony they offer an Extended warranty aswell their's may be cheaper/better/more reliable then some 3rd party that your B&M sells...

Marell

mark g. nelson

Well I bit the bullet and bought the XBR. It will come on Friday. I pressed the sales guy for 2 days on the price and I got it for 3175.00 + tax. The lowest CC would go is 3550.
I think it had the best SD picture and the Sony Blu ray was to die for on it. I can't wait for the Chargers game Sunday Night.I hope its as good as I think it will be. Dish is also coming Friday wth another HD receiver. Damn I'm Broke.
Thanks Guys

fireshoes

sweet tv man. go chiefs!

maingey

Does anyone hold out for real sets, like Runco, Marantz, Fujitsu, or even Director's Series Hitachi, or does everyone think there is similar performance in the Sony/Samsung/Panasonic lines? Just curious.

okiepolkie

From my experience, Fujitsu plasmas are very nice. From the same experiences, they are better plasmas than most of the "household" brands. I have not seen many Runco products in actual installations, so I won't make any comparisons. I'm told they are supposed to be excellent as well. Unfortuanetly, with the recent drop in flat panel prices, they are becoming a tougher sell. Many people will look at cost first, size second, then picture quality.

With that said, the lines you mentioned all have their own strengths as well, especially when price is the primary factor.

szhleppy

maingey wrote:

Does anyone hold out for real sets, like Runco, Marantz, Fujitsu, or even Director's Series Hitachi, or does everyone think there is similar performance in the Sony/Samsung/Panasonic lines? Just curious.

Educate us.

maingey

I won't claim to say I know everything, but the shop I recently started working in provides Runco, Marantz, and Fujitsu as our primary pieces, though we are also Samsung, Sony, Toshiba, Panasonic,Hitachi (all 3 lines) and pretty soon LG authorized dealers. With setup, proper calibration, to me it seems the 'better' companies out there blow away the most of the 'common' brands found out there. Yea okie, you're right, first does come pricing, but when you look at most of the manufacturers standing behind their product for barely a year, and try to get them to on the phone.... ya. Meanwhile others offer standard 3 year replacement warranties to start, says something about them. I just dealt with a case where a client had a Runco projector out of warranty and having prolems. Projector and processor were sent out to Runco, and processor main board replaced. 1 month later problems persist. Runco sends out independent RUnco repair guy, foots the bill, takes projector back, foots the bill, and covers all additional work, citing it is their responsibility for the client. I've dealt with sony and Panny in other situations, and they pretty much replied 'too bad so sad'. I know Runco uses the same glass as Pioneer Elite, but the video processing is different (Pioneer Elites do give great PQ). And LG makes most lcd panels for Toshiba (LG actually has 4 lines). When in HD, admittedly, it's harder to tell the difference in the better sets, and from what I've seen Samsung and Hitachi (Director's) are doing some pretty mean work for their pricepoints. Also, it seems that, like audio, there is a trade off. Get tons of features, and let the quality suffer or Get the quality, but be lean on features. Again, I don't know tons, or how to articulate everything I do know, but I'm holding out for the Runco. We just go the new SP 50 inch in today and it's going up next week, the cw50 is on it's way out. 1080p colour processing to a native 720p panel, will be interesting.