Mike Lowrey

OK, here's my situation. I have a space where my TV sits that is 43.5" wide. This limits the size of TV I can fit there. Most 42" sets are around 47" wide, which of course won't work there. I currently have a 32" Sony WEGA standard def. Flatscreen there which is exactly 30" wide.

So last night, on a couriousity whim, I started to browse Amazon's TV selection. What I found were these three models that I may be interested in.

Sony KV-32HS420 32" FD Trinitron WEGA Hi-Scan 1080i HD-Ready TV for $850


Sony KV-34HS420 34" FD Trinitron WEGA Hi-Scan 1080i HD-Ready Widescreen TV for $1235


Sony KD-34XS955 34" FD Trinitron WEGA HDTV with Integrated DTV Tuner for $1800


According to each Amazon listing, they all have pretty much 5-star ratings. They all basically say that an HD CRT has better picture quality than plasmas and LCDs.

The 16:9 sets are a little over 39" wide so they'll fit nicely in my available space and fill most of it up with very little room left over which is the effect I was looking for. Doing some manual measuring, a 16:9 34" set has just slightly less vertical dimension than my 4:3 32" set. I think I'd lose just over an inch vertically. But of course would gain the full 34" 16:9 space for 16:9 material, while 16:9 material on the 4:3 measures only 28" or so. So I'd gain about 6" in viewing area for my widescreen stuff.

For the money, I'm considering the $1200 model. But actually my question is, why is the other similar model $1800? Is it the internal DTV tuner?

EDIT:
Just found this set as well, which seems to be pretty good too.
SONY 34 Inch Super Fine Pitch(TM) XBR(R) Television KD-34XBR960 also for $1800

B.A.

Mike - get the XBR960, break it in and get it ISF calibrated. You won't feel sorry about spending the money. The only reason I bought my 30" Sanyo is because I couldn't exactly go out and buy that 34" XBR960 on a whim.

Here is a "little" thread on the 960:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...hreadid=408146

Enjoy.

And personally - having a set w/ an integrated ATSC tuner is great.

Mike Lowrey

Yep, looks good. Can't do it now, but sometime in the future. Maybe come Christmas time. Fortunately, my DVD buying will be slowing down quite a bit this year as I've finished up most of my TV series, so I'll only be buying the occasional new movie or new release of an older movie, such as Big Red One.

Pharoh

We have a couple of 34" XBR sets. The best picture available.


However, Sony has announced a much slimmer cabinet for their new 42" set. Not sure when it will be available, but it is supposed to fit where 34/36" sets fit.

Link

Pharoh

Here is another link.

Mike Lowrey

Hmm, thanks Pharoh. Might just hold off on that then. I'd like to have a 42" if at all possible. Yeah, the problem with my 43.5" lateral clearance is that any set that had its speakers on the sides was too wide to fit in my space. Only those with bottom speakers would fit, and even at that, it'd be a tight fit.

I'll just wait to see the dimensions on this 42" set and see.