I'm going to buy either a new TV or a projector (the projector is iffy as it seems to be causing a bit of domestic strife!). My computer monitor is a top of the line 20 inch sony LCD and I've yet to see a display to rival it but a 42 inch LCD TV is way out of my budget. I've got about $2,300 to play with. There are a lot of ED plasmas I can buy but I saw the Sony KDF-42WE655 LCD rear projection which had a better and brighter picture than the 42 in ED plasmas but I'm told Sony had a bulb problem with the rear projections. If my plans for a projector don't work out, this seems like the best for the money I have to spend. Anyone have any input on this particular model? Thanks ... Gerry
gerry1, I just bought a kdf-42we655 and I love it. DVD and digital inputs look awesome. Non digital sources like cable or regular channels look OK, but I guess that would be on any HDTV ready tv. Sound is great, set-up is not so hard. I considered a no name brand plasma but decided on this sony instead. Bulbs go for about $299 at sony.com so I did not seem the reason to panic if and when the bulb goes out (7-8 years is what the sony rep said). I did not purchase the extened warranty ($499) since if something is going to break, it will happen withing the given warranty anyway. If you can, wait a month or two since I also just got my ConsumerReports and they say that prices on LCD projections should fall 10% to 15% soon. I paid $2299. So this is around your budget. I truly recommend this unit. Enjoy.
I recently purchased the 50" model and black levels in my opinion could be better. But having gone through 2 DLPs, I'm somewhat satisfied with my Sony RPLCD. After calibration and utilizing HDMI, its a good set. Oh yeah, I should also add that its not something you want for gaming. I'm a bit picky when it comes to video displays on games and if you're getting this for gaming then go with a Sony XBR model.
Thanks fo much for your input bs0425 and HKT3020! I initially wanted a projector and screen but that may not work out on the home front. I cannot afford an LCD TV that size and I was quite impressed with the picture when I saw it in a store; prefered the picture to all but HD plasmas but can't afford the larger HD plasmas either...this seemed the perfect comprimise but I feard the lamp; I know Sony's had problem in that regard but I'm told this model was the answer to that problem. I'm not concerned about gaming; I'm one of those old school sorts who loves assaulting pin ball machines to see how far I can go without a "tilt" . HKT, you spoke of "calibration and utilizing HDMI"; I'm something of a techno-dunce! it took me three days to set up my new Denon AVR, is this procedure complicated? Perhaps I'll download the user manual and take a peek. Thanks again for the input! ... Gerry
HKT3020 & bs0425: how do you guys record? I downloaded the manual and saw no video out! I never heard of such a thing so did a little homework and, sure enough, the sony has no video out! If i wanted to record, it seems that I would have to connect everything to my AVR and simply use the KDR-42WE655 exclusively as a monitor which would be senseless. Am I missing something here? Thanks...Gerry
Calibrating the Sony RPLCD shouldn't take awhile, just dedicate an hour to Avia or Digital Video Essentials. Calibrating shouldn't be a problem once you have either DVD. ;-)
I have a customer that owns this television and has purchased a DVI to HDMI connector so that he can hook up his laptop to the monitor. The problem that he is having is that if he has his satellite box(s-video and rca audio) connected then he can not view his laptop with the hdmi connector. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
I just got one of these a couple of days ago. Waiting for Comcast to upgrade my service to HDTV, but the over the air signals I've been able to pull in have been very very good with just factory settings. JThurber, I don't understand your customers problems. HDMI comes in as video7. Components come in as video 5 and 6, and s-video/composite would come in on video 1-4. So all it should be is a matter of switching the video source. gerry1, all the recorders I use or plan to) have their own tuners. I didn't even notice the lack of a video out. Not sure what you'd see on an HDTV anyway. Wouldn't it have to be a component out? New member here... My setup as of tomorrow will be the Sony HDTV, with Comcast HDTV service and DVR, Tivo which now that I have the DVR will be used for the analog channels. Off to see what else is up. I found these forums looking for info on how to handle the .tivo files from the Tivo To Go service. Lots of very useful information.
CohenB, he can get it to work if he unplugs the TV(power I think) and then powers it back up on Input 7. If he changes Input to TV or Input 1-6 then goes back to Input 7 the screen is blank. I think that it might actually be an issue with his laptop not seeing a monitor on the DVI out and so switching automatically back to the laptop screen only. Am going to have him test this out and see. Thanks for the info though it was helpful
The Sony KDF-42WE655 was delivered a week and a half ago and the very next day I had to leave town for work because someone got sick...murphy's law! I really an impressed so far although I do have some setting up to do. I use a TV's video out to connect with my VCR and to create DVDs on my computer. There are other ways to connect but I prefer the TVs video out. I didn't want to have to use my AVR constantly in order to access the video out and I don't like to use signal splitting devices so I'm using a switch which will direct the video signal directly to the TV or to the AVR where I can use a different video out to record (strangely absent on the TV)while still having the pic on the TV. In short, I just don't want to have to use the AVR constantly ... I would have bought a plain monitor for that. I don't need the AVR to watch CNN or just mindless TV where sound quality is of no importance to me. I have the digital sound connected from the components directly to the AVR and analog connected directly to the TV which I can send back to the AVR should I want to use analog with the AVR. (A TV, it seems to me, will always sound like a plain ol' regular TV regardless of digital sound inputs). I don't know if I've made any sense at all here but nonetheless, I solved my problem! ... Gerry
Gerry, You made a lot of sense. For me, the surprise restriction is that the audio out doesn't kick in until you turn off the television's speakers. What's with that? I don't have surround sound (yet), but for movies, I like to use my stereo for added sound, but keep the television's speakers on to act as center speakers for direction. Oh well... still a beautiful picture, and I get HDTV cable this afternoon. Ken
You're right, I found that really strange too although I have seen it before. It is a pain in the backside to have to go to the menu and turn them off rather than just turn down the volume if you don't want it. You may not have an AVR but connected analog to your stereo will still give you a much better sound quality than the TV itself when you want good sound. I would recommed two things which will improve your sound you can do it on the cheap also but should get materials equal to the stereo you're using: the first is to get a "passive" subwoofer which connects to your two mains. Make sure it is "passive"...you can shop around and get some decent ones for not a whole lot...you'll be surprised at what a difference it makes. If your stereo has a "Speakers B" you could also use that in place on the TV speakers as your center; granted, it wouldn't be a true center but it would bring some sound closer to the visual source and at a better quality than using the TV itself. Just some ideas! ... Gerry
The television itself has what I've heard called a woofer (as opposed to a subwoofer) so I'll see what that does. Right now, the vast majority of the time we use the stereo in addition to the television is for DVD movies. So I'm thinking that I'll feed the dvd audio direct to the stereo, and take the monitor out on the stereo and use it as the dvd audio source on the television. So in effect, instead of feeding the tv audio out to the receiver, I'll send the receiver's audio out to the television. Something to try anyway. And that way I don't have to bother turning off the tv's speakers which is just plain inconvenient. Thanks for the suggestions... enjoy your TV! Ken
You would get better sound if you connect your DVD directly to the TV. Audio is connected with regular RCA cables like the ones you usually use on like a VCR. Video signal can be sent on an S-Video (better picture on that) or on an RCA like the audio conntections. See page 38 and 39 of your TV manual. Then connect the "audio out" of the TV to the "AUX IN" of your stereo for when you want really good sound. The instructions are on page 49. Like you said earlier, you'll have to turn the TV speakers off to use the stereo. Connecting to the TV first then to the stereo will give you a better sound from either of them. Again, happy watching and listening! ... Gerry
Hey, CohenB! Do me a favor and write back and tell me what you think of the Comcast HD...please? We have comcast HD here in Philly but it will be a week or so before I get it. I'd really like to know what you think of it. Thanks guy! ... Gerry
