Sony KDF-E42A10 42-Inch LCD Rear Projection Television
Completely Happy, now if Comcast & HDDVD...
This was a major investment, $1600.00 is enough to make me paranoid just to own it. The downside is that the bulb assembly is $275 from Sony and eventually the bulb WILL need to be replaced.<br /><br />Haven't noticed any issues anyone else had, but I bought mine in Feb. '06 and I see most of the purchases here where in '05 not long after the model was released. Now, onto the specifics.<br /><br />I wanted the 50\\" but couldn't fit it in the space I had, so I settled on 42\\" but am still very happy. The TV is NOT out-of-the-box friendly, if you are not savvy have a tech set it up and set all your picture adjustments. It took me weeks and weeks and still six months later I am tweaking it out for best quality. Firstly, there are the basic controls, contrast, sharp, color, etc. but there is a Normal, Vivid and Custom settings on the main imputes (including HDMI)so listen close, go into custom and try all the settings with various images until you are happy, and read the manual!<br /><br />Now, how does it look? Well the 1080i I get from comcast is great, mostly, but that comcast has sheeting issues (you see those damned little square digital images when the screen gets busy) best viewed 10' -  18' from TV and looks great. Dead blacks, good whites (never quite pure, but the winter snow in Narnia & LOTR looks great!) I also have a 480p DVD player (can't wait for HD!) which looks better than standard Cable, not as good as HDTV but again, from about 12 feet away it's near flawless and I'm happy.<br /><br />The only thing is, when I have HDMI input from comcast I get no optical audio out to my receiver, but I believe this is a Comcast / Motorola (these boxes, suck) issue, not the TV.<br /><br />Take advantage of the three component inputs for your DVD, PS(2) and GameCube! Both look awesome on here! There is a setting to stretch the 4:3 image to 16:9 with a bit of clipping on top and bottom and a bit of stretching that makes the picture look almost perfect even though it wasn't actually a widescreen image. I use wireless controllers and play from 12' away and the games look crystal clear.<br /><br />Also, this is an LCD so interlaced and progressive scan look equally good. The TV doesn't have a flicker, it shows all lines at once by storing half in memory for 1/30 of a second and then showing all scan lines at once! It looks great.<br /><br />The downside? Regular cable sucks! We must have all HD and now! Regular channels don't fill the screen (of course) and tend to have a lot of digital sheeting.<br /><br />I love this TV but, get a spare light from Sony right away (it's easily changeable) and stick it over you closet! It could be 2 or 5 or 10 years, but if it blows you have no TV until they can ship a new one! Mines worked perfectly since the moment I plugged it in, so you get no complaints here.<br /><br />Also note, this TV has no burn in and no moving parts but for a cooling fan! Regular DLPs have a spinning wheel (or now three!!!) and can make a lot of noise or break down more easily.<br /><br />This TV is also so light one person can lift, and it can be mounted on a wall.h it wasn't actually a widescreen image. I use wireless controllers and play from 12' away and the games look crystal clear. <br /> <br />Also, this is an LCD so interlaced and progressive scan look equally good. The TV doesn't have a flicker, it shows all lines at once by storing half in memory for 1/30 of a second and then showing all scan lines at once! It looks great. <br /> <br />The downside? Regular cable sucks! We must have all HD and now! Regular channels don't fill the screen (of course) and tend to have a lot of digital sheeting.  <br /> <br />I love this TV but, get a spare light from Sony right away (it's easily changeable) and stick it over you closet! It could be 2 or 5 or 10 years, but if it blows you have no TV until they can ship a new one! Mines worked perfectly since the moment I plugged it in, so you get no complaints here. <br /> <br />Also note, this TV has no burn in and no moving parts but for a cooling fan! Regular DLPs have a spinning wheel (or now three!!!) and can make a lot of noise or break down more easily. <br /> <br />This TV is also so light one person can lift, and it can be mounted on a wall. <br />