Video Reviews

As a long time user of Yamaha and Sony products, the choice between the Yamaha HTR-5560 and the Sony STR-DE985 was not easy.
Both have similar base functions, specs and price.
The Sony has the "bells and whistles", where the Yamaha is known for their high quality of sound.
I decided to go with the Yamaha and I'm glad I did.
After going through the instructions, I found many more options then are listed for this unit.
I also found I could live without some of the Sony extras, like multi-room output, phono audio in and the remote unit macros.
The Yamaha sound is excellent and this unit has plenty of high quality power. It also has more digital ins and outs.
The reason I rated this receiver a 4 star is I would like to have a 3 or 5 band equalizer built in,
a remote that has at least the main buttons illuminated for ease of use in darkened rooms and sub woofer out that has adjustable cross-over settings.
So, the choice is quality vs. options.
I chose quality.

This Yamaha receiver is a great mid-priced option for those who don't want to spend a fortune and yet are too descriminating for a boxed 'set.' Sound quality is clear and smooth, perfect for a mid-sized room. Sure, there are some similarly priced receivers that offer more features but I think if you listen to them with the same speakers in the same enviroment you will be pleased with the Yamaha.
The receiver has multiple inputs, but digital and analog. It also provides conponent video cable switching if you need this also. I have this receiver as part of a home theater system with a progressive dvd player, and widescreen HDTV and a nice matched set of surround speaker. I was worried at the time that the Yamaha was the weak element of the system, but not so... Dvd audio is incredible, especially using digital inputs and disks with decent Dolby 5.0 or dts soundtracks. Cd audio is also quite good and you have the option of changing the enviroment settings to suit your tastes... arena, rock, etc.
My two complaints are that the remote is not that user friendly and needs to be backlit. Buttons are small, as are the labels and the thing can be hard to use in low light. Also, there is only one digital coaxial input vs three (I think) optical inputs. This can be a problem if using multiple devices that don't all support optical cables. Hence, four stars instead of five but over all, for the price, this is a great receiver.

I was absolutely amazed at the difference a receiver can make in the quality of your sound. I had a Sony, Dolby Digital, receiver for about 3 years. Some friends had bought Onkyo receivers that put mine to shame (TX-SR600 & TX-SR800). I thought it was the DTS decoding, which my receiver didn't have, or the larger speakers. I only have bookshelf speakers, Bose 201s and VCS-10 in the front and 161s and VCS-10 in the back. Now movies at my house put theirs to shame. This receiver has all the bells, whistles and sound you could possibly want for $$$$$$$$ dollars less than its closest competitor and the Owners Manual isn't that bad.

Ps. my receiver was defective when I received it. Amazon.com had a new receiver to me in 3 working day of the notice, not when they received the item. Kudos to Amazon.com for outstanding customer service.

Hello..

You've heard it all from the other reviews.

The cons:
- No autofocus in 24P... and that really sucks.
- No remote control for focusing either!!!
- Microphones do not sound good.. but that was expected. So get external microphone
- Don't expect to shoot during lowlight environment in 24P... it's just not made for it.
- Expect to buy a lot more stuff after this.
- The manual is really BAD. If you don't know how to use this camera, you have hours/days before understanding it all.

The AG-DVX100 has killed 16mm motion picture camera systems and 16mm film stock except for the die-hard motion picture fans. The bottom line is - do not shoot 16mm or Super 16mm because this camera produces cine images that are better than 16mm and Super 16mm on DV, which means that it is also cheaper because you do not need to buy and process 16mm film stock. If you blow this video up to 35mm the image quality is still better than 16mm film formats.

However 35mm still rules... but the future for digital looks good.

Also the problems with this camera have been corrected in the AG-DVX100a version so you may want to hold back until you see that one on-line here. You would also do well to get the AG-LA7200G anamorphic lens so that you can shoot in scope with a squeezed digital image (Just like a real anamorphic lens!)!

Bottom line. This is a top of the range domestic camcorder with pro qualities. 16mm motion picture camera users should use this in their productions instead. It is a waaaaay cheaper and looks better. The cine-switch technology in this camera is based on the same system that Lucas used to film his New Star Wars movies with. Also the PAL version does not have 24 fps but this does not matter because PAL is 25 fps and the difference can not be noticed with the naked eye alone and transfer to film is easy with 25 fps PAL but not so easy with 30 fps NTSC so the NTSC version of this camera can also shoot 24 fps for that. Also this camera is loaded with functions. There is not a single thing you can do not with it but! and this is a big but! the NEW AG-DVX100a will address the negatives that the AG-DVX100 has (zoom problems and focus problems and other things). Keep an eye out for the AG-DVX100a although it may be $1000 more expensive than this one but should be no concern to those who had to shoot on expensive 16mm film equipment with expensive 16mm film stock and expensive 16mm processing and expensive 16mm to video transfers.

16mm is dead.

How do you say "amazing"?

Panasonic says it by producing the DVX-100

I'm a filmmaker myself, currently filming my second indie feature on this camera ------ lemme tell you what I love about it -

1. the 24 fps is for real! No gimmicks at all! Make sure to edit with Final Cut Pro 4 to get the most out of the 24 fps capabilities

2. AMAZING PICTURE --- the picture on this thing blows away all other cameras within its price range, and even a lot of those above it!

3. Great professional controls --- manuel aperture, audio, etc --- and all easy to control!

4. The simple stuff --- nice flip out LCD, big buttons, good lense, etc

However, there is no anamorphic..... so I recommend purchasing Panasonic's 16:9 convertor for full capabilities!

In conclusion though ---- you won't find a camera with better controls and better picture quality --- its easy to use, and looks AWESOME over any TV, or luck pending, movie screen!

Buy it --- you will not REGRET it at all!

I had wanted the latest in didgital camcorder technology but the high cost of the Mini DV tapes made me consider SONY's Digital 8 format. I got my DCR TRV 510 shortly after becoming a new dad, after much debate between the 510 and the lower 310 which will save you $$ but the 310 lacks the color viewfinder, slightly bigger LCD monitor, 2MB of internal memory for digital stills, Sony's photo managing software for your PC and the serial port PC hookup. The 510 is my 1st camcorder so I don't have any prior camcorder experience to do any relative comparisons. This camcorder does a very decent job of making home videos and photo stills. The best results are from outdoors in good daylight, otherwise in other conditions such as lowlight indoors the video and stillshots can be slightly grainy. For some reason, SONY didn't include any titling function which they do for their Reg. 8 and Hi 8 models. Also didn't notice the difference between the reg. video and S video hookup to my TV nor between the cheaper reg. 8 and Hi 8 tape. The included battery is not sufficient for heavy duty use, the 4 hour one should be adequate, anything longer will just add to the weight. Very satisfied with my decision to get the 510, overall a very impressive handycam which I anticipate to take home videos and to capture meorable moments in my son's growth.

The best thing about this Camcorder is that it has a 4 inchesscreen! It's big enough that you can show your video to other peoplewithout connect the camcorder to the TV. It's really nice! I have seen other people's camcorders with a tiny 2 inches screen, and that's no good for your enjoyment at all.-------------The night vision is amazing too! After you turned the night vision on, you can take pictures in total darkest. And the picture is really good.------------ The picture quality is great too. Very clear! But it didn't come out too good after I converted the 8mm tape into VCR tape.------------Reviews on Amazon said that Digital Camcorders's audio has CD quality, but I really didn't notice anything. I mean you really don't care too much about the audio if you are just video taping a family vacation or something.----------Something bad about the Camcorder.----------Because of the big screen and it's not Mini-DV, so it's a bit heavy. You will probably get very tired after holding the Camcorder for more than a hour. So if you are a weak person, try a Mini-DV camcorder with a smaller screen so that you won't have any arm problems.------------Another thing was that I thought I was going to be able to connect my camcorder to my Dell computer, but it didn't work at all. Be sure that you have an interface card if you want to use it with a computer. But I really don't see any point to edit your films on the computer, I am too busy for that, and I am not trying to make a public film, my film doesn't need to be perfectly edited. And also, I also thought that when I zoom in the camcorder, it could reach 35mm or something, but that didn't happen. Beware! Camcorders do not have a wide-angle view! you won't be able to tape the whole view, only partly. I think the minimal range of this camcorder is only 50mm. Just be careful. Don't be disappointed. END

I've had the Sony DCR-TRV-510 for about three months now. It's been a lot of fun to use and learn. Straight out of the box, charge up the battery, slip in a tape and you're ready to record. With a little practice and skimming of the manual, you can create some perfectly acceptable and fun still (digital) pictures. On the video front, the camera is exceptionally easy to learn and use. It takes standard 8mm video tapes - cheaper and more readily available than mini-DV tapes. Zoom lens is excellent although once you pass the optical zoom range and go into the digital zoom, you will likely notice the "pixilation" (you can turn the digital zoom off.) Tapes can be viewed on the flip out screen - excellent image. One feature I especially like is the one that lets you find the end of the last video recording -- no matter where you stop on a tape, hit this button and it takes you to where you stopped recording. Low light capability is outstanding even without using the Night Light feature. Still pictures are fun. Easy to do once you've mastered the technique. The picture is only 640 x 480 so it is really only suitable for web stuff or 2 x 3 or 4 x 3 snap shots. Images may be downloaded to your computer using the enclosed serial link or a FireWire interface if you have one. Serial link may be slow but it works just fine for me. I took a couple hundred stills (and 2 hours of video) while on a 10 day cruise and they were fine. Camera can only hold about 20 still pixs internally (in the fine mode) so I would copy them from the internal memory to a separate video tape I decided to use for still pictures only. Once on your computer, you can play with them to your heart's content. Consider buying a second bigger battery. I bought the 8 hour battery - a little extra weight but lots of extra time. I also bought the IR link for the TV. Saves having to hook up wires to the back of the TV/-510 every time you want to view a tape. It works flawlessly. And get a good camera bag.

I puchased the Sharp and found it easy to use but disapointing in low light and indoor situations with slow auto focus and color shifting. I finally replaced it with a Sony TRV66 which is quite a bit more expensive but performs much better all round.

I prefer the big LCD screen of the Viewcam to the camcorders with a viewfinder. The design is born out of practicality. The Viewcam also has a host of convenient extra features; some of which I don't use, but are nice to have. I was also surprised by how clear the audio was.

I don't have this exact model; mine's a tad older but with the 4" screen rather than the 3" screen. On the whole, I am extremely pleased with my Sharp camcorder. The unusual design approach that Sharp takes makes it easy to record people naturally, and allows the one doing the recording to make eye contact with those who are being videotaped -- great for recording children!! The features are rich, and the unit offers lots of capabilities - I like fade in/out and digital stabilization. It's easy to hook-up to a VCR for playback (look for VCR's with front panel jacks). The sound and pictures are terrific. So far, after one year of heavy use, no problems at all using my Sharp camcorder. One last thing, the standard battery really does last 2hrs playback, about 45min record time. A good idea: record children's selections on 8mm tape and play them in travel settings, like in an airplane or in a car.

I've been using TRV-10 for about 6 months now. I had taken it to most of the places I visited. No doubt, it has real good clarity both in Audio and Vedio. Its sleek and handy size is impressive. Photo quality is not at all good as noted by other reviewers. It is just OK to use for home purposes. Print (on 35mm film) sucks. The other thing that did not impress me is Memory stick. It has no use if you have an i-link feature in your computer. I recently got a SONY VAIO Laptop with I-link and after that I never used memory stick option. Now I realize memory stick is useless if you own or plan to own a computer with I-Link. This I did not know the time when I bought the camera. Sony DVGate Motion/Still software replaces the need of I-Link.

In my opinion, if is just enough to have TRV-8 unless you want to spend extra 200-300$ on just memory stick..

Regards Frank

I have just bought this camera and I just love it. First let me tell you that I disagree with the first review. This camera is **very** simple to use, including the memory stick and the software to grab the pictures from it (just click and chose save and voila !). I also like the photo mode even if the resolution is not so good (but that's enough for "fun" picture like family and friends, nothing really serious though... For video the image quality is great and is one of the best (if not the best) of digital camera in that price range. I still have to get an iLink card for my PC and then it will be digital video heaven for me ;)

Check the other cam for that price and choose the best one ... I am sure you will end up on this exact page pressing the "buy now" button !

I enjoy the features on the camera. The effects are done very easily and you can be very creative.

The camera is light and the screen is extremely viewable. Kids love it when I turn the screen around and they can see themselves being taped.

The connection via the I-Link to a computer is a piece of cake and the way the Firewire connection lets you take digital stills from the video tape picture itself totally nullifies the need for the memory stick. I cannot say enough about how cool video and picture editing is via the I-Link (firewire) connection. You can actually control the video camera from the computer screen (FF, Rewind and play without touching the camera, just click on the screen, and get digital still pictures straight from the tape). If you take a lot of closeups and nice shots on video you can save them as digital stills extremely easy after connecting to a PC. It is true that the picture quality is not 3 megapixel digital camera quality but the VGA pictures I capured are fine for full screen blow ups on a PC screen and everyone I showed them to loved the pictures as most PC pictures are not all that sharp unless they are like huge picture files anyway. You can always keep a regular camera (or buy a digital camera) if you want great stills, this is after all a MOVIE camera. And it takes great video and the image looks as good if not better than what you see on the attached video screen.

The memory stick is a nice feature but the quality of the pictures is just as good if not better straight from the digital tape.

I really enjoy using this camera, it is light, portable and well made.

If you have a lot of DVDs or CDs these wallets are the way to go. I have over 800 CDs and they were eating up my space. After getting rid of all the jewel cases I can store all of my CDs and DVDs on one book shelf. And since I organized them by theme, it is easy to find what I am looking for. By the way: you can mark the outside of the wallets with a white-out pen. It makes it easy to know what's inside each wallet. For the DVD wallet you will need to do a little trimming for some of the Liner notes. But it is easy to do. Trust me... once you start using these wallets, you'll love 'em. For what you get with these wallets I find the price fair. Even better here on Amazon.com Enjoy

I now have two of these and I'm getting ready to order two more. They store 20 DVDs in about the same space as 5 in their plastic cases. Each sleeve has a clear pocket on the front to insert the cover art so it is easy to find the movie your looking for. We take ours with us on trips with our portable DVD player. There is no way that we could fit 20 DVDs in our carry-on bag without this case.

What better way to organize the digital photographs you have burned to CD? I run thumbnails on 5x8 index cards and put them in the front of the sleeve in which each CD is stored. Just listing the filenames takes less space. Now I can find particular subjects or photos without having to slip each CD into the drive or writing all over the CD itself.

I also like it for it's original intent .. to store DVDs compactly.

What's in each album? I use a commercial labeler (i.e. P-Touch) which sticks just fine and helps me organize the various albums.

I have owned the SC-HT810V for four days now, after a month-long decision making process. That's the same as this model, with a little more output power, and with table stands for the speakers. The only reason I got that model rather than the 800V was that I stumbled across it at Fry's Electronics for $249 -- cheaper than the HT800V, anywhere! Otherwise, I don't really care for output power that much, the 800V has plenty to fill up even larger rooms.

Compared with some of the other models I looked at, these are its strengths:

* Compact, includes DVD, VCR and FM/AM Radio in one small unit.

* Plays a multitude of disc formats (incl. DVD-A, VCD, and Panasonic/Microsoft proprietary HighMAT discs). (Compare to the Zenith XBS344 and XBS245, which only play DVD Video and CD Audio).

* The sound quality and surround effects are, ahem, awesome. Now I just wish more DVDs (including children's, cartoons, etc) had surround sound.

A few things that did not quite appeal to me:

* No digital audio (5.1) input. (Unlike the Zenith, or the Philips LX3750W wireless theatre). This means that I cannot get surround sound input from my Comcast HDTV converter. (But who watches TV these days anyway?)

* With the DVD progressive scan enabled, thin lines, text, etc flicker a bit. It turns out that my Panasonic (CRT) HDTV in some ways does a better job of de-interlacing the standard (480i) signal (whether through component or composite cables) than the unit does, despite the D->A->D->A conversion.

* Operating the unit (+ the remote) is a bit cumbersome. For instance, to switch to the external sound input, you need to press the DVD/VCR toggle button to VCR mode, change to channel 2, then press CH- (channel down). This is only the sound - you also need to switch your TV to the appropriate input source. Basically, you need a good universal remote control - be sure to get one with plenty of macro capability, such as the One For All/RadioShack Kameleon. And because the DVD/VCR button is a toggle, you first need to press the FM/AM button, then DVD/VCR, after which it always comes back in VCR mode. (OTOH, if you don't have an external input source such as a digital cable box, you can get by quite easily using this unit's built-in TV tuner).

That said, with a good universal remote, this unit is a real, real good buy, especially considering Panasonic's attention to durability and quality. You will not be disappointed.

One thing to be aware of is that unlike most others, the subwoofer is the only speaker that is directly connected to the unit (via a 4m = ~13ft cable); the other speakers is wired to the subwoofer. The subwoofer requires external power.

This system blew them off. I really didn't expect the kind of performance out of such a small package. I immediately noticed an improved picture from the progressive scan DVD. The sound has good clarity and plenty of power -- people at the other end of the house can hear the sub.
What I like:
-Sleek silver design to the case and speakers
-Includes VHS & DVD/CD
-Nice big volume knob, not a push button
What I don't like:
-Remote is confusing, especially navigating a jillion tiny buttons in the dark.

The Panasonic SC-HT800V is an excellent value for the money. It delivers ample power to the speakers. There are more powerful units, but this unit fills the living room with clear sound. The speakers, subwoofer and main unit are easy to hook up, but I had to work at getting my TV to work properly with both the DVD and VCR outputs. I was able to attach a 5 disk CD player to the system after some fiddling. This unit is loaded with features and it takes time to learn how to use them effectively. I need to refer to the owner's manual frequently for the first few days of use. After the initial learning curve, I am able to enjoy this system. It works wonderfully.

I bought this card and was sorry I did. Out of the 5 games I had requiring 3D acceleration, it was only compatible with 2. Diamond is going away, so good luck getting tech support. I suggest you buy any other NDIVIA graphics card.

This card was TOP OF THE LINE when it came out a few years ago. It was a $275-$300 card when new and first out. It is still an excellent performer and a good all round card. It will NOT keep up with the NEW FX Nvidia cards or the ATI 9800's... but it is several years older and many dollars cheaper. I have installed this card in at least 50 computers I've built in the past with NO problem from any of them. (This card can be overclocked)
Although Diamond is gone the drivers etc. are available through Nvidia and from the company that now owns the old Diamond stuff... Just Do a Search on the Internet for all this. GREAT CARD!!

This video card is very great and for all systems. It is one of Dimond's last video cards. The card is very good even under Win2k and WinMe...

This gizmo has revolutionized my TV watching habits. No more surfing up and down the dial through 200 channels of drivel. Now I return home, even if I have been traveling for weeks at a time, and find a neatly cataloged selection of shows I really like to watch.

My only regret is that I didn't spend the extra $200 or so to get the 80-hour model. Forty hours is a lot, but you do use up a great deal of memory if you record primarily in the "high quality" mode as I do. Spending 30% more for twice the memory is a no-brainer.

Certain reviews I read of earlier versions of this product were a little ambiguous about the need for a Ethernet connection to the Internet. YOU ABSOLUTELY MUST HAVE AN ETHERNET CONNECTION. Without it you will not get halfway though the setup process.

Can you imagine? You're into a really good show, and suddenly your wife starts nagging you about something... the trash, the dog needs to go out, dinner is burning! :D So you hit PAUSE??? Yes! Pause on live TV! Okay, so this is no different than TIVO. What is though is the broadband connection that allows you to send shows over the internet to friends and family, along with the ability to send any type of video you've recorded on the DVR from say your camcorder (forget even trying DVD's... Macrovision won't allow you to do this, as it's enabled on this device: unless of course you buy one of those nice little devices on the net that disables it :D) You can store your own digital photos on this and display them as a slide show screensaver for when your unit is on pause. Going on vacation? Forgot to tell it to record the Drew Carey Show? Hop on the net from anywhere in the world and from www.myreplaytv.com you can program it to record!

Skips commercials (I hate that I pay for TV and have to watch advertising... it's like the networks are getting paid twice for the same thing! I DON'T GET PAID TWICE AT MY JOB!) The major networks are scared to hell of this ability, because it will fundamentally change the market for advertising on television... and they HATE UNPREDICATBILITY AND CHANGE! They want to TELL YOU HOW TO WATCH TV. Then want you to watch what they WANT YOU TO... WHEN THEY WANT YOU TO! Well, now... they can shove primetime right up their rears! Primetime in my house is WHEN I'M READY!

Also, if you buy multiple ReplayTV 4K's, you can network them together and stream shows back and forth from one room to another. www.avsforum.com has a replaytv and showstopper forum which contains a lot of info also on how to pull video files off of your replayTV and then use your CD Burner to write them as VCD's and/or DVD's (if you have a DVD burner) so you can watch them at a later date, without having to use up hard drive space on your computer or replaytv to store it!

If you don't have a TIVO and you were thinking about it... don't even bother. There's no reason you should buy anything other than Sonic Blues' ReplayTV 4K. The only hard decision is WHAT SIZE RECORDING TIME SHOULD I GET?

Nobody tells me what I'm going to do with television services I'm paying to watch. I'll watch them when I choose and commercial free!

If you want the next generation of personal video recorder today proceed to the checkout with a sweet ReplayTV 4040. They are the top of the line without a competitor in sight, but don't get me wrong, TiVo was great when it first came out (I was one of their first customers), unfortunately they have fallen woefully behind. My TiVo is at present unplugged and departing for auction shortly because I upgraded to one of these beauties.

Here is a quick summary of the features I am enjoying attributable to the upgrade.

ReplayTV benefits vs. TiVo

The only networked DVR on the market, which allows you to take advantage of your broadband and home network investment
Video sharing inside and outside the home
Commercial Advance® to watch recorded shows without commercials
QuickSkip™ makes it easy to jump over boring scenes
No monthly fees or any service fee
Highest capacity DVR on the market with up to 320 hours
480P progressive output to connect to the new SD and HD ready TV.
Digital optical output to connect to your audio/video receiver
Show Organizer™ to organize your programs based on genre, personal name, etc.
MyReplayTV.com to program recordings on your ReplayTV unit from the web
Digital photo slideshows on your TV.
Built-in screen saver to protect your projection TVs from screen burn-in.
Lets you pick the shows and themes you like. We don't fill your hard disk with shows we think you'll like.
Faster setup to allow you to enjoy your ReplayTV quickly after bringing it home
Familiar grid-based channel guide for easier navigation
Front panel buttons so you can still operate your DVR even if you lose your remote control

This television may be more expensive than most of the other tvs in the 32" range but if you can manage to scrape up the extra cash, you won't be disappointed.

The best feature of this tv by far is the picture quality. DVD's look phenomenal on this set. I used to dread watching widescreen dvd's (which are unfortunately 99% of Blockbuster's selection) but now I enjoy watching them thanks to the 16:9 compression mode Sony offers. When turning on the 16:9 mode on the tv and setting widescreen mode on your dvd player, the tv compresses the image and adds more lines of resolution to the picture, which adds startling clarity to the picture of the dvd being played.

I should note a couple things about the 16:9 mode that I've learned from my experiences with the tv. First and foremost, the 16:9 mode is only meant for widescreen dvds. If you try to use 16:9 mode on a full screen dvd the picture will look squashed and not true to life. The other caveat is that 16:9 mode literally compresses the image and you'll lose about 2" inches in your total viewing area. For my eyes, the trade-off is totally worth it. Gladiator and Pitch Black are a couple of my favorite dvd's that are beautiful with 16:9 mode on.

My satellite channels look better than ever on this tv. Very sharp images and vivid colors for most channels, even with my subpar signal.

As far as videogames go, my x-box games look excellent. I've been playing some of my older games again just to admire the picture this tv puts out. Rainbow Six 3 was a good test for this set. On most of other tv's I played Rainbow Six 3 on during our system link sessions the small in-game text looked blurry and almost unreadable. Not so with the Sony, very sharp and totally readable. Forgive me for the obscure example but for those who do own the game, they'll identify with what I'm saying.

Sound is better than most 32" tvs out there but like most tv speakers the bass isn't anything to brag about. If you're looking to add some boom to this tv a home theater system would be a must. Still, I believe the sound is more than adequate for the casual viewer.

As others have already mentioned this tv is quite heavy. My brother and I practically broke our backs lugging this beast up the stairs to my living room. The picture we seen after hooking it up was ample reward for our struggle though, lol.

I should note this tv is flatscreen and is a very nice feature if you have any light sources that could cause possible glare. I've no problems whatsoever with glare on this set.

In conclusion this tv, though expensive, is worth every penny. Some say that with Sony you're only paying for the name, not so, in my humble opinion. I've closely studied the picture on several sets and it's hard to compete with Sony quality. As I mentioned before if you're in the market for a 32" and can somehow manage to get the cash to buy this relatively expensive tv, by all means do it. I love this set. It always a good feeling to know your hard earned cash went towards something you can fully enjoy for years to come.

If you're on a tight budget (I totally understand) and can't swing the price tag for this tv there is another 32" set I would recommend as a good substitute. The Toshiba 32A43 is an excellent set and gives a great amount of "bang for your buck". The picture quality is quite good, the screen almost flat, and images are quite sharp as well. Consumer reports rated it number one in it's class of 32" tube tvs based on overall performance/price. I have this set in my bedroom and have been quite happy with it. The picture quality doesn't beat out this Sony and it doesn't have 16:9 mode but then again the Toshiba set is $200 cheaper. You can't go wrong with the Tosiba 32A43 if you need a good tv for a modest amount of money.

I was recently looking for a new TV for my living room. Nothing too fancy needed (I'm still holding off on HDTV), just a TV with good picture quality, sound, and performance. I found all that in this Sony 32" TV, plus it had a good-looking exterior that was stylish without overpowering. I've only had this TV about a month, but so far I LOVE it!

The pros:
-The picture quality is beautiful, crisp, and clear. The settings are easy to adjust, and there are even special picture settings that are appropriate for Sports or Movies. Nice touch.
-The sound quality is great! Big, bold sound, although it helped a lot when I configured my cable box to the optimal stereo volume level and used the TV remote for volume.
-The flat screen definitely reduces a lot of glare from external lights/sun. It also makes it look super-sleek and stylish!
-The price is really good for a TV of this size and quality! There is another Sony 32" flat-screen model exactly like this one, but it is at least $100 more expensive. Why? Because it has a picture-in-picture function. Unless you must have that feature, stick with this model and save yourself some money!

The cons:
-Warning: This TV is BIG. It weighs over 160 pounds, and you will not be able to lift this yourself. Also, since the speakers are on the sides of the TV, it makes it very wide. So wide, in fact, that my TV stand (designed to hold 36"-40" TVs) has only and inch or two of space left to spare! Measure your space before you buy this!
(But hey, the width isn't such a bad thing. It kinda makes the TV look like a widescreen!)
-Also, when I had this TV delivered, at first it was a little green on the bottom of the screen, and lines that were supposed to be horizontal on the screen were a bit diagonal and tilted. Fortunately, the green vanished in an hour and the TV has a setup menu function to correct the tilting issue. But those experiences lead me to believe that this TV can get out-of-whack pretty easily if jostled or moved around too much.

Overall, this TV is amazing! Beautiful picture, great sound, and a nice exterior. This Sony shows that you don't have to pay outrageous prices for a really good quality TV. Enjoy!

Hi everyone! My names Josh and I'm 18 years old. I was in the market for a TV to have in my room. I knew I didn't want a HDTV since I didn't watch DVD's or TV enough to care. Also, hardly any TV shows use HDTV. Why spend the money on something you won't really use? I knew I wanted a really high quality TV that wasent HDTV. I seen this Sony and I have read the reviews and everything. I seen it in person and talked with the people at Best Buy. I have had the TV for a few days now and I absolutely love it! For those of you who have complained about no closed captioning with mute on, just turn the volume down and have CC on.

I love the features and the fact that the TV has component inputs. I bought the Monster Cable Monster Game component cables for my Playstation 2. When I got it rung up the Best Buy employee asked me if I ever played a game on a nice TV like this while the component cables were on. I told him no, and he said wait till I play my games or watch DVD's, I'm gonna love it. Well he was right!

The only problem I have had with this TV is the weight. Trust me, if your taking it upstairs, it will stay up there and get sold with the house. I got the 4 year plan for $99 which I'm glad I got since it was recommended by other customers who have bought this TV. I was soaked after taking this TV up like 17 step. It's a workout!

In the end, if your in the market for a non HDTV, get a Sony FD Trinitron WEGA TV, you can't go wrong! Also spring and get yourself some component cables for your video game system or DVD player, it's worth it! I'm even considering a Monster Cable surge protector since it cleans even more distortion for better audio/video.