SONY have a justifiable reputation for making some of the best television sets around, and here's another which upholds that tradition.
If you learn nothing else from this opinion, take note that this is one of the very best analogue widescreen televisions available.
At the time I bough this, ITV digital had just folded, and there was an uncertainty how terrestrial digital was going to be implemented in the UK, so a digital tuner was not a priority. Other models will have this feature.
It supports a wide range of analogue video standards - basically you can use it anywhere in the western world.
It also boasts stereo nicam and fasttext.
There is an optional stand, but as I have a full
home cinema setup, it sits on an IKEA TV bench.
I suppose the most striking feature of the unit is size - the telly is built around a 32 inch flat screen trinitron screen - that means it has a 27" by 15" flat plane of glass at the front. I don't mean flat-ish - I mean perfectly flat - like a mirror.
We've all got used to rounded screens over the years, forget all of this.
The only visible controls are a single 'on-off' button, discretely located at the bottom right of the unit.
A 'secret door' at the right hand side of the unit allows access to some of the more common features - volume, channel, aux-input etc - this is very handy if you have to plug a camcorder in occasionally.
It must be admitted at this stage that to get full functionallity of the system you need the remote control. If you have other SONY kit, it follows the same inhouse instruction standards - so there is full compatibility with other SONY equipment.
On screen menus are fairly straightforward, and the instruction manual should be an example to all domestic hardware manufacturers.
At the back of the unit are three (yes three!) SCART sockets - that allows for video, DVD and satellite - an additional two audio ports allow you to connect a hi-fi.
Two vertical panels about four inches on either side of the screen contain the left and right speakers.
This is perfectly sufficient to render stereo nicam sound. There is a third opening at the rear of the television which acts as an integrated sub-bass woofer. In practical terms this means you can't push the TV against the wall without affecting the lower end of the audio range.
Sound output is 2x10w RMS on the front speakers - remember this is just half the volume of a 100w RMS system, so in my book that's 'plenty noisy'. The sub-woofer is 15W RMS which matches the front speakers perfectly.
Trinitron tubes don't have the normal arrangement of three electron guns, for red, green and blue colour signals which are projected onto tiny dots on the front of the tube.
Instead they use an 'aperture grille' arrangement, where a single gun is aimed at a series of tiny vertical slits.
The resultant picture is very high resolution, and uses a fraction of the power of a 'conventional' colour television - so you get a better picture, and you can kid yourself that you are saving the planet by reducing greenhouse gas emission at the local power station!
A less obvious consequence of this is that it attracts rather less dust.
On a normal television the picture is refreshed 50 times a second - on larger screens (and this one is by any standards large!) there would be a noticable flicker, so the boffins at SONY have created a system which doubles the refresh rate to 100Hz. Very occasionally this can cause a rapidly moving picture to become a little difficult to see, but I've only noticed this a couple of times in over a year.
So much for the basics - what's it like to use? - simplicity itself.
Switch on, tell it to go and find your local television stations, and you are up and running in minutes. This is a once-ony overhead.
It even picks up the station names from teletext instead of having to enter them yourself.
The only disadvantage of such a system is the size and weight - at 64Kg it isn't light (you'll need at least two grown men to lift it on to a TV bench) - and at 23" deep it's going to stand a fair way off the wall - especially if you remember to leave a couple of inches for the rear port.
I wouldn't suggest mounting it on a wall stand unless you have VERY strong walls!
I paid about eight hundred pounds for my set, mail order over the internet. Worth every penny I'd say.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Love sony stuff, great op, may just save up a few more pennies for a 36" (can't make my mind up!!!)
tonya121 19.04.2003 23:35
Great op. Loads of detail. Loved the advantages and disadvantages!
tonya121 03.04.2003 22:54
Advantages and disadvantages.........thanks for making me laugh!! We have a SHARP FST and the AV input sockets are at the front under a panel. A small person has broken the panel and as we like to keep the DVD player plugged in most of the time the whole effect is trailing wires out the front - very ugly. Used to have a SONY but it died. Would have bought another but they are expensive kit. Nice op.
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No longer do you have to choose between going without a remote control or purchasing an ... more
expensive original remote. Our direct replacements are electronically identical to the original and provide all the same functionality at a fraction of the price.
Postage & Packaging:£4.50 Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
No longer do you have to choose between going without a remote control or purchasing an ... more
expensive original remote. Our direct replacements are electronically identical to the original and provide all the same functionality at a fraction of the price.
Postage & Packaging:£4.50 Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
No longer do you have to choose between going without a remote control or purchasing an ... more
expensive original remote. Our direct replacements are electronically identical to the original and provide all the same functionality at a fraction of the price.
Postage & Packaging:£4.50 Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
No longer do you have to choose between going without a remote control or purchasing an ... more
expensive original remote. Our direct replacements are electronically identical to the original and provide all the same functionality at a fraction of the price.
Postage & Packaging:£4.50 Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Apr 2nd, 2003
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