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

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding widescreen HD TV at a reasonable price
Review: Contrary to popular opinion, you don't have to buy an expensive plasma or LCD (liquid crystal display) TV to get a great high-definition picture. In fact, many experts (including Consumer Reports) assert that high-definition TVs using traditional cathode-ray tube technology -- as this high-definition Sony does -- currently offer a sharper picture than plasma and LCD TVs, plus they are much less expensive and more reliable. This widescreen HD Sony TV has a very good picture with standard broadcasts and an outstanding picture with HD broadcasts and DVDs. If you'd like to get a widescreen high-definition TV now but you don't want to spend thousands of dollars on an expensive plasma or LCD set, please consider this 34" Sony. The picture is superb and the price is quite reasonable.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing picture! Wow!
Review: I bought this new Sony earlier this week and it is amazing. Of course, the grain-of-salt part of this review should be stated - this is my first HDTV and I am still in awe of the images. Truly remarkable. I was looking for a 34-inch direct-view tube TV (CRT) mostly because of the price. But, what I've found out since (even finding this out AFTER my purchase), is that direct-view tube TVs have better image quality, especially blacks and contrast, than plasma or LCD! I couldn't believe that at first, because I truly thought I was making a compromise by opting for a CRT display. Not so.

I also must admit my slight embarrassment when I found out that I bought the biggest direct-view widescreen tube TV that there is. This was also an accident, as I thought there must be bigger. In the store, of course, this TV looks much smaller than many of the others that surround it. But in my decent-sized living room, it's big! Oh, and so crystal clear. I'm not usually a documentary buff, but I'll watch ANYTHING in HDTV at this point... the Olympics will be awesome in HDTV.

One last thing - I feel like I received two presents in one because the widescreen display now makes all of my DVD collection look brand-new again. It's truly awseome! Oh, and by the way, I insisted on the salesman at circuit city showing me a better model for my money (limiting to approx. 34-inches and only widescreen considered) and he couldn't do it. The only better model I was considering was the XBR version of this TV (which comes with a built-in tuner, but with cable or satellie, you won't need a tuner). But, it was $600-$700 more! No way!

In summary, I don't usually consider myself a top-of-the-line A/V guy ("good enough" has always been my and my wallet's motto), but this new Sony makes me feel like a big spender! Enjoy!

October Update: It's been almost 3 months of sheer joy with this TV - the price hasn't gone down yet either, and that makes me think I got a good deal ($1350 on sale at Circuit City pre-olympics). The sleek, uncluttered look combined with the bragging rights of Sony quality and reliability make me the envied early adopter in my neighborhood. The HD channels that I get through Time Warner are adequate, but I always want more. Discovery channel in HD is your best bet for showing off to visitors. One last thing - I've talked with a number of people and done some more reading and it's pretty clear that the CRT (tube) version of HDTV is a safe bet now - it's cheap, but also tried-and-true technology that has been perfected over a 50-year period. Forget expensive warranties. This Sony is at the top of its game! :-)

Rating:
Summary: Set broke within 2 weeks.
Review: I purchased the Sony Wega model KV-34HS420 on December 14, and it was delivered to my home on December 17, 2004. That was about two weeks ago and already the picture tube has failed. The picture in all modes (normal, wide, zoom) appears to be in an "hourglass" shape. I am trying to contact an authorized repair agent, but I have been told by Sony that even though the set is covered under warranty, I may still be charged for a housecall by the independent authorized service agent.

This is very frustrating, and I feel as though I have gotten no cooperation from the retailer or Sony. The authorized repair agent is not answering their phone and they do not even have an answering machine for me to leave a message. Frankly I had expected Sony to stand a little taller behind their product.

Rating:
Summary: Phenomenal picture, great product!
Review: I spent 3 months researching TVs before finally selecting this sony. I learned that CRTs still have some of the best pictures out there, particularly in this size range. My brother has a 42" rear projection HDTV and I have watched TV on some of the big plasmas, so I had some first-hand experience to compare this Sony.

In the end, my decision was based on a combination of size and cost -- 34" was the biggest I could go, $1500 max price. So, I took a careful look at many TVs and narrowed a list down to the following: Panasonic CT-34WX54, Philips 34PW8502, Zenith C34W37, Toshiba 34HF83. Several of those manufacturers have new models, so make sure to check on them. Each were around the same price (I got in on the $1350 deal for the Sony at Circuit City in July, as a previous reviewer noted) and had similar features. I picked this list as these manufacturers have reputations for good quality CRTs -- you can't go wrong with any of them. As many will say, you have to see TVs to really tell what you like. The Sony won for me.

I would highly suggest anyone buying a new TV also invest in AVIA's Guide to Home Theater or Digital Video Essentials. These products will help you calibrate your TV so you get the most out of your investment.

I have had this TV for about 6 months and I am extremely pleased with it. Everything works flawlessly and most importantly the picture looks fanastic. Watching the Sox win the World Series in HD was a great sight!

Rating:
Summary: You'll have a tough time finding one that's better
Review: This HDTV has me and all my friends glued to anything and everything that we watch on it. Regular tv shows are improved, HDTV shows are unbelieveably realistic and vivid. My DVD's, XBOX, and Playstation2 games seem like they are the next generation of games yet to come. I highly recommend this TV and be sure to get all of the top of the shelf cables, and power strips/power signal cleaners for it. Give this tv the best and it gives it right back to you.

One thing though...be sure to have this baby delivered! Have the stand ready for the delivery guys (probably gonna be at least 3 if not 4) to set it up onto. This baby weighs in at a whopping 200LBS! and is very front heavy and awkward to lift. My 3 friends and I almost dropped mine a few times getting it up the stairs; and where they placed in on my entertainment console, is where it is going to stay for a long time I am sure. And where I plop myself down on the couch in front of it, is where I will be for a long time too... Maybe I should upgrade my couch too...

Rating:
Summary: Awesome!
Review: This Sony has the best picture of any TV under $5000 I've ever seen.

It's a conventional tube TV, so it won't get you the bragging rights of owning a sexy plasma TV. But who cares? The best plasmas cost 4 times as much per square inch of screen, and the picture is no better than a top-quality tube TV. The cheapest plasmas cost twice as much as a tube TV but don't have as good of a picture. And forget about LCDs - they cost more than tube TVs but have the worst picture quality. So, unless you have very limited space, or need to be able to move your TV frequently, you should go with a conventional tube TV, it offers the best picture AND the best price of all three technologies.

I have a cheap DVD player hooked up to this TV with component video cables (which are highly recommended, btw), and the picture is breathtaking. Once you watch a widescreen DVD on this thing, you will want to take the week off work to watch a bunch more.

The built-in speakers are fine for built-in speakers, and certainly fine for watching most TV shows. But watching movies in wide screen begs for bigger, better sound. I plugged mine into a bookshelf stereo system, and it sounds really great. A home theater system, of course, would be better, but more expensive.

This TV has enough inputs to plug in two DVD players, a TiVO, a digital cable box, a camcorder, an HD converter, and a VCR, all at the same time. Most of the inputs are on the back, a few are on the front (very discretely, as not to detract from the stylish look of the TV).

Conventional analog TV signals don't look nearly as good as signals from digital cable or HD-TV. This is true with all HD TVs, not just this one: The finer resolution of the set greatly exceeds the resolution of the source, so it's kind of like looking at a low resolution digital photo expanded to fill up a large, high resolution computer monitor. Well, not that bad, but that's the idea. You'll definitely notice the difference between analog cable and digital cable. But if all you have is analog cable, that's okay too. This Sony is better for analog TV than most other high-def sets (as well as most lo-def sets), according to Consumer Reports (November 2004).

There are a LOT of channels available in high-def. They include ABC, CBS, NBC, ESPN, Cinemax, Showtime, PBS, Discovery, and a few others (depending of course on where you live). Most cable & dish companies provide these channels for an extra $10/month. Circuit City, a partner of Amazon.com, is offering 12 months of free high-def programming with the purchase of this TV in markets served by Cox Cable.