Do you use AVS forum to research a new HDTV ?
 

I was all gung ho to buy the new Sony SXRD 60" the other day, that is - until i read about it on the AVS forum.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...highlight=sxrd

There are so many reports of color problems with this TV on this thread that it singlehandedly talked me out of getting this TV. But now im second guessing that, and wondering if the people on this forum represent the top 5 % of the most anal retentive, picky, and obsessive perfectionists in the entire audio/visual world.

Should i listen to them? Should i take a chance and go ahead and buy it? Everytime i get good and ready to buy my first HDTV set, this happens! I dont know how to decide,-

any comments ?

I definately check out avsforum and read the critiques/complaints. Then I'll settle for the item that is in my price range with the fewest number of issues/complaints.

You are right though, that it is nearly impossible to satisify the masses at avsforum (being as you said, the most anal, obsessive over such technology). And that is definately a good thing. However, for me, I cannot afford something "perfect" in everyone's trained eyes (so I go with the lesser of total "flaws").

AVS forum is, in my opinion, a mix of very intelligent and informed (and often picky) people on one side, and a bunch of bozos on the other :) I'm not sure which group I fit into :)

Check the tv out for yourself, if you like it, it's a good match for you. Also, a lot of the problems reported at AVS are defects that likely won't affect your set. IMO, the SXRD is a kick butt tv.

The complaints are always going to be high there and they represent about 3% of the people that actually bought that TV. I wouldn't take it to heart. There's a lot of good information there but you're obviously always going to get more posts from people who have had problems then those who didn't. If you been researching different models and that's the TV you want, buy it.

thats the million dollar question, isnt it?


Just how accurate of a sampling are the people in that 300 page thread??? Does that represent the top 1% obsessive pyscho perfectionists, or perhaps 10 %, or perhaps 30% of the general population that bought the TV? The exchange rate is rumored or claimed to be less than 3 %, but if you read that thread you would think its like 50% !!

The thing that compounds the problem is there are people in there claiming that ALL SXRDs are defective, and its just an unfortunate shortcoming of the technology to produce those uneven color blobs. Sony even released a service bulletin to the effect of - "all sxrds are prone to some discoloration or uniformity problems during warmup, that "should" dissipate over 20-30 minutes"

thats ridiculous, i dont want to wait 20 minutes to watch my fucking 4000 dollar TV ! I want to buy this tv so badly, but i am scared after reading that thread.

I have a feeling i am probably going to just wake up feeling froggy one day and just chance it, and buy the damn thing-

I fell in love with it after seeing it in best buy, i mean the picture just blew the other sets away. I think it was even superior to the plasma sets

I would factor in the info as much as I would with any site.

In the final analysis I would only buy what I could see and demo myself.

I haven't read the thread, and don't have much reason to, sorry. But I can say that any projection technology has a warm-up time. The lamp is very bright and needs some time to be fully on. It should NOT be 20 minutes for DLP, LCD, LCOS, though. Not even for CRT anymore. (SXRD = LCOS)

I see a couple minutes, perhaps 5 tops with my DLP. It's not like it takes away from anything. The thing is dim with imperfect colors for a couple minutes. I always turn it on first, then get a DVD or situate myself in the chair or whatever.

I know this is the second or third time this week I have ranted about AVS, but those threads just get so out of hand. The "owner's threads" for tvs, dvd players, etc. often reach hundreds of pages. How on earth is one supposed to find any useful info in such a mess of posts? Although we don't have nearly the number of HT fans at this forum, at least it's easy to get a straight answer. Although posters do have to deal with elitist SOBs like me :)

I recommend AVS on occasion for the info. Not for the crowd.

It is a lot of reading, and you have to learn how much to trust certain individuals and how to understand when the comments are simple hyperbole. But those giant threads are one of the best places to get info on certain machines. As you mentioned in a speaker thread today, salesmen will outright lie just to push what they have on the floor. I find user reports on the web far more valuable, at least when in an adequate population to make the statistics/comments meaningful. And AVS is certainly well-traveled.

Ex:
In the case of my projector, which has had a large, atypical number of lamp failures (2 for me, some with 3 or 4!), AVS has been a good place to discuss and get tips. And BenQ/Toshiba have recognized the problem, extended warranties almost indefinitely at the moment, and are researching a solid fix. Partly due to our combined efforts at contacting them. It is esp helpful when you consider the whole world. There's a guy from Australia with this problem, but BenQ in Australia isn't really recognizing it, yet. So we in USA/Europe have given him hope.

On the other hand, you definitely need a thick skin to go over there. I could name a few people that I wouldn't mind using a baseball bat on. I tend to get my info and then not visit for many, many months.

It's honestly most likely the top 1% obsessive psychos. That said, that doesn't mean there isn't a problem with the TV. The question for you is how serious does the problem sound? What a perfectionist considers "unacceptable" may be something you'd never notice on your own. As described in the thread, does the problem seem like something that would prevent you from buying the TV, or does it seem like something you couldn't care less about?

When I started checking on information for my basement theater I started with AVS Forum, but I also found Home Theater Forum to be very helpful. After several weeks of checking both I eventually found myself only checking HTF. I even found someone to ISF calibrate my 57 inch Hitachi on HTF.

Generally speaking, AVS forum is useless for any kind of consistent, informed opinion. It used to be way better, but the rabble have totally overtaken the forums. Most people can't even describe their problems accurately, have no idea how to fix them, have no idea what a baseline picture would even look like, or can even assess if they even have a problem.

Most of the good people there have long since left or hang out in very specific topics.

I definitely relied on the good word of mouth in the avsforum when I bought my Sony Grand Wega. I've had my TV a year and have no complaints.

I do like AVS, but it gets damm intensive over there. Use it as one of many tools you use to make your decision. It is also a good site for tips/tricks/settings, etc if you can read through it all...

I prefer http://www.hometheaterspot.com - not even close. Not as much traffic as AVS, but I find it much more helpful and more important "friendly". AVS has a lot of info if you weed through the crap and ignore the jerks. I've gone from checking out the site daily to less than weekly.

IMHO, the SPOT has more people that are just plain trying to help each other out instead of trying to show each other up regarding how much they do/don't know.

That's the way all forums should be. I think the reason most sites were more civil a few years ago is because of who had access to the internet. There were no $400 all in one Dell systems, and no cheap high speed internet. Sure, there are some young people who are smarter than older folks with real world experience on an item, but there are also quite a few young bucks who think TV X sucks because someone posted it on some other forum, who read it on some other forum. :lol:

Stick to advice or reviews from people who own the sets or obviously did research, and you'll be fine.

I visit AVS, but I also check user reviews at amazon, circuit city, and cnet websites as well.

Yep, I completely perused the 100+ page threads for the Samsung and Denon equipment I recently purchased to get a feel for people's experiences.

If you are going to drop $4000 on a TV, I would highly recommend seeing it in action at a local A/V dealer. They will have it properly setup and calibrated, while Best Buy's setup is pretty much right out of the box with all the settings amped up to 11. I'm not telling you to not buy it at Best Buy, just don't judge it there.


NOTE: I do not have this TV, nor do I have any vested interest in it, Best Buy or your local A/V dealer.

While it seemed to go against human nature, when I was doing my research (3 years ago), I realized that I couldn't rely at all on what the picture looked like in the store. I looked around to get a feel for price, size, look of the TV itself, etc. But then I came to a couple internet forums and relied on the advice of people who were experienced with the sets I was considering to help make my final decision.

I visit AVS everyday....but just like any other forum, I just pop in for various comments and cry-sessions. Would I buy a an HDTV just because somebody there said it was perfect? Don't think so. But reading about the experiences of consumers and customers can give you a building block of sorts. It's the same on all the forums...as I said. You learn, you burn, you find people you can trust and people who are nothing but trolls and idiots....as well as born liars.

But I do love AVS for the HD local programming threads and reading about what TV's to avoid. The HD programming section is essential. Good stop while on the internet.:thumbsup:

Well guys, tonight i finially did it! I just had enough of reading reviews, thinking about it, going back and forth, surfing online retailers, etc. etc.. I said, F it - its now or never. Today, i am buying the TV.

Sony SXRD 50" , $3099 at circuit city

it is now sitting in the absolutely enormous box in my living room floor!!!


Detailed report to follow-

How does one seek those out?

I've never visited AVS other than browsing a couple of times but I'm in the research phase and tried using them to start that. They don't appear to allow any questions along the lines of asking for input on how to narrow down possible selections within a certain price and size range and the majority of threads seem geared to those that already have a couple specific models already in mind.

I have no idea how to go about narrowing my focus to even further the research process short of spending days reading every thread from the last few months until I start to see the same models pop up repeatedly. Other than size and price, I don't even have enough of an opinion on whether plasma, LCD, DLP, LCoS.. 1080P or not, or a front projector might be worth studying further.

I haven't been one that upgrades a TV every couple of years so I'm looking at the long term, up to a decade, purchase and can't even figure out if the first generation 1080P's are the way to go.

Once I had a couple of specific models in mind I'd definitely sort through the buyers threads that can be 1000 posts but up until that point I can't figure out how to get info there.

thats the problem with that site, there is SO much info on there that it can actually be a challenge to find the one little nugget of truth that your searching for. And this problem is compounded by half of the people not knowing what they are talking about, and the other half being so insanely critical and perfectionist that it scares you away from the product.

What i basically did was, over the course of about 6 months, i just tried to consume as many different opinions, reviews, and technical reports as possible. From here, from AVS, from other forums, from review sites, from epinions.com etc, .... and then just assimilate all of that into decision making process, but truly the thing that made up my mind was seeing the SXRD in person. It was a love at first sight feeling...

As soon as i saw the HD picture on this tv, .... i knew i had allready spent the money.

Yea, I think that is a good way to do it. Do, not, I repeat do not stroll over to a TV forum at AVS and start a new thread "what TV do I get?".

Take some time on your own to narrow down your choices. You should be able to narrow your choice to 4-5 based on cost, size, and a few basic's (light control, angle of view, black levels, connections needed, etc).

Then look for or ask very, very specific questions (after doing a search). When I wanted a PJ I quickly decided on Infocus X1 mainly as there was a ton of stuff information available. So when I did get I got a ton of help on mounting, settings, tweaking, and when I had a minor problem with it.