Sony Grand WEGA KF-50WE610 50-Inch HDTV-Ready LCD Rear Projection TV
Pretty good - is this enough for a Sony?
First, let me state that this TV exhibits some well known (and expected) Sony qualities: it is easy to use, it physically looks good, the picture is good (it is what is supposed to be, even if the black is not that black), the sound is OK (nothing compared with a decent receiver and external speakers), the inputs and outputs work fine. Watching widescreen DVDs and HDTV is certainly a new experience.  However, after almost one year of owning one, it has become obvious that this TV has a number of irritating kinks:  - the projection lamp buzzes occasionally on startup, and sometimes the front LED flashes indicating that the lamp is bad. Not sure what causes this, humidity maybe?  - there are a number of dead pixels, and one cluster of dead pixels. The cluster is the most visible (always on bright green), but it is not bothering from regular TV watching distance.  - the set is not fully silent, there is constant background hum from the fan that cools the lamp.  - the closed captioning is useless in any mode than standard. Try to zoom the picture (to use the full screen) and the captioning is zoomed also, going partially out of the view.  - the response to remote commands is sloppy. Try to change channels and adjust the sound, and if you do not wait for the command to be executed, it is totally ignored (only the sound is adjusted).  This is a product that was obviously rushed to market, and as such, it does not reflect the expected Sony quality.