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- My rating: 0 stars
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42 out of 43 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"Excellent! No better picture around"
Pros: Picture is outstanding, even for non-HD signals. You cannot find a better picture. I have had it for a month now love it and have no regrets. Features are easy to access and remote is easy to use.
Cons: It weighs about 200 lbs, and takes two people to move. The remote not compatible with all DVD players, ie Sharp, which is the one I happen to own.
Summary: CRT is still the way to go if you want to get the full benefits of HD. You simply cannot get the full benefit of the HD signal on a plasma or LCD. I believe the technology isn't even there yet and if it is you probably have to spend upwards of 10k.
On HD channels, the detail and clarity it captures are impressive. It is truely a visual experience. Even the other channels come in better on the KD-34XBR960 than on the Toshiba it replaced or the small Sony Trinatron that I own.
There is one thing your cable company won't tell you that you should know. Because it has a built in HD tuner, you do not necessarily need to get a cable box or card on this TV. With the built in tuner, you can capture the HD signal through the air and even on their standard cable. You only need the cable company's box or card if you plan to use extra services that they sell, such as certain premium channels or pay-per-view. If you get the cable box or card, know that in doing so, you are giving up some of the TV's features and get to watch more self promoting ad junk from the cable company. So if you don't want buy the extra services from them, ck on what you can get by simply connecting the cable directly to the TV. Where I live getting the card would have given me one more HD channel than what I could get by just hooking up the cable to the TV. It's not a channel I watch, so it wasn't worth the extra expense. I can't of course get pay-per-view but I don't use that anyway. I also don't care for the ad-filled channel screen they offer as part of their digital package so not having to deal with it is an added bonus for me.
Watching DVD movies on it is incredible. The picture quality is sharp and flawless.
The only real negative is that the remote does not support Sharp DVD players and I happen to own a Sharp. Another negative is that I notice a lag when you change HD channels and you can't preview them.
All in all I highly recommend the Sony KD-34XBR960 and am very satisfied with it.Updated
I have now owned this set for a year and a half and am still very happy with it. I have had no problems and it has performed flawlessly.
- 5 replies to this review
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Did you actually say " CRT out performs LCD and plasma"??? Thats insane. Thats like saying 8 tracks sound better than cds.
Actually your statement was totally backwards. You cannot get the full benefit of HD with a CRT. Thats why most stores don't even put CRT's near there HDTV's. I suggest going to your locl electronics store and take a look at what you are suggesting. -
I bought one in April, 2005. The picture quality is the best of any screen in any format I've ever seen. Sports programs, e.g. baseball, football, etc. are unbelievable. The picture seems to be in 3-d. I'm very happy.
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I would agree that Sony has good quality products sometimes, but there are many times after you buy the product home they fail in 2-6 months which sucks because you have to call Sony's consumer services which it is horrible plus they could also make you to pay for repairs & parts that they "supposily" don't cover under the warentee. And if your not lucky you they return the product bac to you 1 or more months later.
I would never buy from Sony again. -
This is a dumb question but don't know a better way to get info ... how do you know that you are getting the digital signal without the card.
If you can tell the difference then this is great info. I will not buy until after the first of the year, but from all I've read this will be the set. -
It is not clear which HD channels you're getting without the cable box?
Are you using the antenna to pull in these HD channels?
Are you getting the local stations in HD from your analog cable connection?
Apparently, you do not have digital channels from your cable company.
