HDTVs? SONY Bravia series (screens, phone, sound, Samsung)

[jfkIII]

Hi...I'm getting ready to make the jump to the 21st century and buy an HDTV. When I go to Best Buy....my head comes out spinning! Either you get some 17-year old TV wiz kid...who doesn't even realize that TV's once existed only as b&w...or you get so much information and your bombarded with 200 TV screens at once.

Anyway...I think I've decided to go with the SONY Bravia. I was going to go with the KDL-40V2500...but its being discontinued, I believe. So now I'm thinking of the KDL40S3000.

If anyone has an opinion (good or bad) on the Bravia series, please let me know.

Thanks.

[StillwaterTownie]

You should get a bigger screen. Unless you're buying one for the bathroom you can't get a TV too big.

[cdelena]

Originally Posted by StillwaterTownie

You should get a bigger screen. Unless you're buying one for the bathroom you can't get a TV too big.

I agree... HDTV is no gain on smaller screens. I have one 30" and it is simply too small to display all the pixels of HD, might as well have bought a regular set... My 55" is much better.

[southernlady5464]

Unless you're buying one for the bathroom you can't get a TV too big.

Yeah, you can...if it's too big for the room. A 55 inch would have been too big for our current living room. We have a 37 inch Sharp Aquous. Perfect size for our living room. Liz

[vehrenkamp]

I have sony(bravia) 50 inch,3years old.i have the same problem with sound,will go off for 15/20 sec and come back on.you can change chanals and sound comes right back on model # kdl-46s5100,any fixs that anybody knows,will a sound bar solve the problem

[Peregrine]

Not sure why you care that it is being discontinued. Every model gets discontinued. They should still continue to provide parts and warranty for a very long time.

[skinsguy37]

Originally Posted by cdelena

I agree... HDTV is no gain on smaller screens. I have one 30" and it is simply too small to display all the pixels of HD, might as well have bought a regular set... My 55" is much better.

What in the world does that mean?

[Wartrace]

WHATEVER BRAND you get take the extended warranty. I am sitting here with a Sony KDL-60EX645 I bought in April 2013 and it died September 2015.(1489.00 cost) Sony only has a one year factory warranty as do most other brands. The sad thing is I only watched it maybe two hours a day and on some days not at all. The set might have around 1000 hours of use.

I have been busy and trying to fix the TV was low priority but I am now looking into the problem seriously. It appears my backlights have malfunctioned. Two TV repair guys said it isn't worth fixing over the phone but there is some hope from the limited information I have found on the net. Finding parts is going to be a problem too. Funny thing is the screen is the same one used by Vizo for their tv's.

[skinsguy37]

Originally Posted by Wartrace

WHATEVER BRAND you get take the extended warranty. I am sitting here with a Sony KDL-60EX645 I bought in April 2013 and it died September 2015.(1489.00 cost) Sony only has a one year factory warranty as do most other brands. The sad thing is I only watched it maybe two hours a day and on some days not at all. The set might have around 1000 hours of use.

I have been busy and trying to fix the TV was low priority but I am now looking into the problem seriously. It appears my backlights have malfunctioned. Two TV repair guys said it isn't worth fixing over the phone but there is some hope from the limited information I have found on the net. Finding parts is going to be a problem too. Funny thing is the screen is the same one used by Vizo for their tv's.

Extended warranties are generally a bad idea. There are some cases, maybe in your case, where it's worth having an extended warranty, but it's rare. Most of the time, the extended warranties are so expensive that it winds up being half the cost of your TV, and your TV depreciates in value so quickly - kind of like vehicles do - that the money spent on the extended warranty could be saved to purchase a replacement TV of the same specs and value, even if it is just a year or two down the road. So, let's say the extended warranty is $300, and your TV does breakdown within three years. Would you rather have that TV repaired, or take that $300 and purchase a brand new TV of the same value - and that will more than likely be the case a year or two out.

Anyways, you mentioned Vizio. I LOVE Vizio! We have a 70" screen in our living room, and the picture is fantastic. We would have paid three times as much for a Samsung or Sony of the same size and specs.

[Wartrace]

Originally Posted by skinsguy37

Extended warranties are generally a bad idea. There are some cases, maybe in your case, where it's worth having an extended warranty, but it's rare. Most of the time, the extended warranties are so expensive that it winds up being half the cost of your TV, and your TV depreciates in value so quickly - kind of like vehicles do - that the money spent on the extended warranty could be saved to purchase a replacement TV of the same specs and value, even if it is just a year or two down the road. So, let's say the extended warranty is $300, and your TV does breakdown within three years. Would you rather have that TV repaired, or take that $300 and purchase a brand new TV of the same value - and that will more than likely be the case a year or two out.

Anyways, you mentioned Vizio. I LOVE Vizio! We have a 70" screen in our living room, and the picture is fantastic. We would have paid three times as much for a Samsung or Sony of the same size and specs.

A four year extended warranty is about 199 to 150 depending on the TV. One thing I noticed is some sets at the same price point have a lower warranty cost and thats a pretty good indication of quality.

I can buy the same set I purchased in 2013 for 1499 at about 900 dollars. If I had purchased the warranty even at the inflated price of 300 dollars I would still be out 600 dollars.