Sony KD-34XBR960 CRT or Dell W4200 Plasma?

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

snow wrote:
> I am wondering if anyone has compared these two HDTV's, and any opinions on
> which has best overall picture. The Sony is a large and heavy 34" CRT, but
> reviews are top notch, while the Dell is much more compact but with a bigger
> 42" screen. Reviews suggest the picture is very good, but with some usual
> issues with Plasma screens like darker images tending to green. I will be
> sitting about 8 feet from the TV. I have narrowed it down to these 2
> choices. Leaning towards the Sony for its refinement over the years, but
> still the Dell has the new Plasma technology. I want a great picture...so
> size is less important that picture. I have a 15' by 10' living room.

The Dell plasmas had a lot of problems when they introduced last year
- very high return rate for defective units or units that failed pretty
quickly. I have not followed the postings on the Dell - in part because
the avsforum threads went away as I think people on avsforum.com stopped
buying the Dells - so they may have improved.

If you are looking to get an HD TV, there is no substitute for the
bigger screen so long as it has good picture quality. For the more
affordable plasmas, I would strongly recommend Panasonic, with the
latest models Samsungs and LGs as pretty good. Pioneer is also very
good, but sells at a premium. With the recent round of price cuts for
the big 3 plasma brands, you can get a 42" HD plasma at $3K list and
should be able to get them less than that. The Dells had a big price
advantage last year, but that has gone away as everyone has cut prices.

Just make sure that you have HD and digital TV channels available
before you get the plasma because the analog SD channels don't look very
good on a big digital display. The Sony CRT will be better on analog SD
channels, but it weighs 200 lbs and is only 34".

Alan F
For the record, who has a Panasonic TH-42PHD7UY commercial plasma and
is quite satisfied with it.

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

Tam/WB2TT wrote:

>"afiggatt" <afiggatt@adelphia.net> wrote in message
>news:TsidncpmZem_iofeRVn-2Q@adelphia.com...
>
>
>>snow wrote:
>>
>>
>>>I am wondering if anyone has compared these two HDTV's, and any opinions
>>>on
>>>which has best overall picture. The Sony is a large and heavy 34" CRT,
>>>but
>>>reviews are top notch, while the Dell is much more compact but with a
>>>bigger
>>>42" screen. Reviews suggest the picture is very good, but with some usual
>>>issues with Plasma screens like darker images tending to green. I will be
>>>sitting about 8 feet from the TV. I have narrowed it down to these 2
>>>choices. Leaning towards the Sony for its refinement over the years, but
>>>still the Dell has the new Plasma technology. I want a great picture...so
>>>size is less important that picture. I have a 15' by 10' living room.
>>>
>>>
>

I didn't even consider a plasma set. I still believe the CRT gives the
best picture.
The reviews on the Sony were so glowing and I was replacing a 19 year
old 32"
SD Sony that had been, and still is, a great tv. The 34" is fine for
me, but my
room is only 16x24. I love the picture on the 960 and highly recommend it.
.....Fred