Sony KV-36HS420 36" FD Trinitron WEGA Hi-Scan 1080i HD-Ready TV

Rating:
Summary: Excellent large-screen 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 picure. 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 are lower priced and more reliable. This Sony HD TV has an excellent picture with standard broadcasts and a superb picture with HD broadcasts.

Yes, this model -- despite being a high-definition TV -- has the traditional 4:3 aspect ratio rather than a widescreen 16:9 ratio. But my cable system currently broadcasts 175 channels in the traditional 4:3 aspect ratio and only 9 widescreen channels. How many widescreen channels do you currently receive? Widescreen 16:9 TVs have smaller pictures with gray bars on the side when displaying traditional 4:3 channels. Furthermore, because the screen on this TV is so large, when widescreen pictures are played on this set, although there will be letter-boxing bars above and below the widescreen picture, the picture will still be the same size as on a 34" 16:9 TV within a fraction of an inch. Thus, compared to a 34" 16:9 set, this TV will give you bigger pictures from conventional 4:3 channels and virtually the same size pictures when watching 16:9 channels or widescreen DVDs.

Widescreen high-definition broadcasts and widescreen high-definition TVs will be the norm in a few years, at which time the prices of such sets will be significantly lower than they are now. However, with the current situation where most channels still display traditional 4:3 pictures and only a few are in widescreen and high definition, a large screen 4:3 HD TV, such as this 36" Sony, is a good economical choice for many people at this time.

Rating:
Summary: Nice until it died
Review: I'm surprised there are not more reviews on this TV because I think it is a very popular model. Everything I have ever read about this is the best HD tube TV out there. Mine lasted all of four hours but I'll give what's good about it first.

The picture with a progressive scan DVD player is amazing. Almost as good as the HD feeds I have seen on the showroom floors. Everyones jaws dropped when I put in the Finding Nemo DVD. I don't have HD at home yet though so I really can't comment on that. I do have a Dish Network receiver (standard definition) with a built in digital video recorder. The S-video picture out of the recorder was not as good as it is with my 32 inch standard Toshiba TV (nothing fancy). It seemed very pixelated. But I never really had time to mess with the video settings before the TV died. I also spent some time with my Xbox playing Halo 2. Again, I didn't have time to get the HD connections for the Xbox but the standard connections made an impressive picture.

The TV also has a lot of connections. I think there are 6 in the back (6 composite, 2 component, and 2 S-video) and 1 one the front (1 composite and 1 S-video). Remote is standard Sony remote.

Sound is nothing great. It seems to me that the simulated surround sound that some of these TV's sound worse than the plain old stereo sound. The manufactures need to figure out that if people want good sound most everyone has a seperate sound system. I'd rather have good, plain stereo sound to watch sitcoms and the news. I'll fire up my sound system when I want good surround sound.

This TV is unbelievably heavy. Over 220 pounds. It takes 2 strong people and even then don't move it any further than necessary. And were gloves, the bottom will actually cut your hands. I've always liked the CRT TVs better than plasmas, projections, and LCDs because they have a better picture and are cheaper. And I figured the weight didn't matter because I would move it in, set it up, and forget about it. I'm rethinking that theory now. It's a pain to move and difficult to find furniture that will support the weight. I would strongly suggest paying someone to move it in wherever it will stay.

Now the bad....Finally got the TV moved in. Watched half a DVD and then player some Xbox. The next day my wife was watching the satellite and the TV just went dead. Getting power but wouldn't start up the screen. First to the Sony hotline. I don't know about anyone else, but I despise these computers that think they can understand human speech. I would much rather do the touchtone phone thing. It couldn't understand my street address and I was ready to stomp my phone in the ground but I finally got through to a living, breathing person. Their advice unplug it and wait a minute, blah, blah, blah. Nothing. He gave me a number for Sony in-home service. After being on hold for 15 minutes Sony doesn't do in home service in my state. So I called Circuit City and got someone to come out the next day. The guy from Circuit City did a great job but still wasn't able to fix it because he needed to order the parts. I guess it was something with the power supply. He said he had never seen it from a Sony TV and it was a one in a million thing. I just didn't feel comfortable keeping the TV so I had to load the monster back up and return it to the store. This was way to much cash to lay down to wonder when it was going to decide to die again. Circuit City took it back no ploblem.

So now I am back to researching again. LCD prices will probably be down by the time I figure out what I want.