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General discussion

New Sony 3lcd Grand Wega. Out now! buy?

Jun 24, 2005 7:56AM PDT

Finally, the day I've been waiting for, well almost. For the past month or so, I've been studying and researching diligently. I was leaning towards the 55" Sony WF, then Samsung's new 67W series. Now, I'm back to Sony. I've seen the XS line, and they are by far the best and brightest I've seen, much better than the XBR (IMO). The new KDF-E55A20 or KDF-E50A10 models are what I've got my eyes on now. There aren't many drastic changes over the 2004 models, but the A10 series does include Cinema Black Pro, and "invisible" speakers on the bottom which slims down the set.
So far, only the KDF-E55A20 is out on Sonystyle. It's listed for less than the 55" WF, but should I wait longer for the 50 inch A10, or just wait a while till the A20 drops to the WF's low prices? I wanted a 55 inch model, but the slimmer 50 inch with better contrast control is really appealing, and I'm willing to sacrifice the extra inches. (Viewing distance is only about 10-12 feet)

The new model is HERE!
http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INT...ature-KDFE55A20

Any suggestions/comments?

Sony just seems like the best choice.
is there anyone that has it?

Discussion is locked

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Sony KDF-E55A20 vs KDF-55WF655
Jun 24, 2005 9:26PM PDT

I too have been anxiously waiting to get more info on the new A20 series once they come out. I saw the A20 on Sony's website and was puzzled by the price being slightly less than the 55WF655. This prompted a few questions in my mind.

1) I assume the A20 is the intended replacement for the WF, so it should have all the functionality plus a few new features (e.g. Cinema Black Pro, Wega Gate Menu), right?

2) Is the $3000 price tag on Sony's website accurate? Don't know why it's cheaper than the WF first. Second, I have also seen the A20 listed as available on a couple of other sellers for over $4000. Could we be getting a sweetheart deal from Sony right now, or is retail truly expected to be about $3000 on this model?

3) I assume the WF will continue to go down in price once the A20 is widely released. Is it worth getting what appear to be modest improvements in the A20, or should I save $500 bucks or so and get the WF from an online merchant?

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Compromise
Jun 26, 2005 1:09PM PDT

Well, if you actually look at the specs, you don't get the memory stick reader, you get one less S-Video and audio input. HOWEVER, I'm more than glad to give those up for the new features you mentioned and the lesser weight. Oh yeah, and it's cheaper too.(It's only going to get cheaper as more and more retailers get it in stock)

Sony's price is surely accurate.
They were pretty slow on updating the website, so I'm confident that they didn't make any pricing errors.

As for the other guys.
Most of those prices are preorder prices that were never changed. Frankly, they had it up while others didn't. Expect those prices to change once you see other retailers selling this set.

If you choose, you can save money now, but with a lesser retail price, the new models will surely challenge the prices of the old ones. It all depends on if and how long you are willing to wait. I know I'm really anxious to get one, but I'm waiting for the competition to grow between online merchants. Last week, Sony said that they would be distributing these sets, but VERY few places have them available, even some big electronics retailers. Once they begin to circulate, I'm in.

Just to let you know, I'm still leaning toward the 50 inch A10 for the aesthetics and size.

P.S.
The A20s reportedly don't have Cinema Black Pro.
Sony doesn't even mention it.
Take that into consideration.

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Price
Jun 29, 2005 5:16AM PDT

The A20 is slightly cheaper because there is no memory stick slot for digital pictures or mp3 audio, and there is no subwoofer. There are things added to the A20 that you mentioned but they cost less then the memory slot and subwoofer so the A20 is slightly cheaper and better for people that want a slightly better picture and aren't worried about the audio since most people probably have a surround sound system, or memory stick functions.

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I might go for the 50 inch.
Jun 30, 2005 6:00AM PDT

Yes.
I'm sad I'm sacrificing screen size, but how can you turn down such a sleek and saucy design? If they made a 55 or even 60 inch, I'd be all over that.

The prices of the A20's are coming down now that there are more places selling them. I'm just disappointed that the A10s aren't out, even though they were supposed to be.

Patience is a virtue.
Anxiety is a curse.

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current sales.
Jul 3, 2005 1:39PM PDT

The new ones are slow to ship and slow to be put on display.
The current models are getting more and more attractive. I doubt there will be a noticeable improvement in picture quality and the prices for the current models are flying south at hyperspeed.
Sony is really killing me with this waiting.

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a20 v. wf655
Jul 9, 2005 12:51AM PDT

I too am struggling with the decision of whether to save $$$ and buy the KDF55WF655 or the new KDFe55A20. Is there any difference in picture quality between these two???

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Sony KDF-E55A20 vs KDF-55WF655
Jul 12, 2005 3:13AM PDT

I was looking at these models just last week and wondering same question and found that the 55WF655 is more because it has a dual tuner Picture in Picture and the new E55A20 doesn't have Picture in Picture at all. So i went with the 55WF655 because of this not to mention I was able to get a better price since it is discontinued now.

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KDF-E50A10 and KDF-E55A20 out now
Jul 10, 2005 6:43AM PDT
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Dimensions are for the old set
Jul 10, 2005 3:12PM PDT

The dimensions are incorrect. They are for the old set. The new dimensions are 46 5/8 X 32 5/8 X 16 1/8

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kdf-e50a10
Jul 14, 2005 7:40AM PDT

You are correct those are the right dimensions; it took me about a month to get just that out of sony.Still waiting to get full specs, so I can go out and buy this damn tv.Any more info anybody has would be great.

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CRUTCHFIELD now has specs
Jul 16, 2005 9:25AM PDT

Crutchfield and others now have specs on their site.
SonyStyle is now also taking preorders and says the TVs should ship around July 20 if you order from them.

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The new 50" set
Jul 17, 2005 8:10AM PDT

When I looked at the 50WE655a couple months back, the cabinet was almost as big as the 55WF655, so I figured why not go for the bigger screen in the same size package. But the new 50A10 is 11" narrower, 5" shorter, and 3" shallower than the 55A20 (and thank you, Sony, for also making it black and not silver), and that's caused me to start the whole thought process over again. I'll miss the subwoofer but will enjoy being able to use the set as a PC monitor (which you can't do with the 55A20 or either of last years models).

Anybody have any experience dealing with B&H Photo in New York City? They were the lowest-price Sony authorized web retailer on the 55WF655 (and about $500 cheaper overall (after paying shipping and not paying sales tax)) and I expect they'll have great pricing on the 50A10 and 55A20 as well. I'd normally be more comfortable with Best Buy or Circuit City, but I figure 1) the set is going to arrive on a truck no matter who I buy it from, 2) unless the set is dead on arrival, any retailer is going to refer me to Sony factory service, and 3) my American Express card will give me an extra year of warranty (so two years total) and that gives me comfort.

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The new 50" set
Jul 17, 2005 8:14AM PDT

When I looked at the 50WE655a couple months back, the cabinet was almost as big as the 55WF655, so I figured why not go for the bigger screen in the same size package. But the new 50A10 is 11" narrower, 5" shorter, and 3" shallower than the 55A20 (and thank you, Sony, for also making it black and not silver), and that's caused me to start the whole thought process over again. I'll miss the subwoofer but will enjoy being able to use the set as a PC monitor (which you can't do with the 55A20 or either of last years models).

Anybody have any experience dealing with B&H Photo in New York City? They were the lowest-price Sony authorized web retailer on the 55WF655 (and about $500 cheaper overall (after paying shipping and not paying sales tax)) and I expect they'll have great pricing on the 50A10 and 55A20 as well. I'd normally be more comfortable with Best Buy or Circuit City, but I figure 1) the set is going to arrive on a truck no matter who I buy it from, 2) unless the set is dead on arrival, any retailer is going to refer me to Sony factory service, and 3) my American Express card will give me an extra year of warranty (so two years total) and that gives me comfort. B&H says they'll having pricing and delivery information by July 24 or so.

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kdf-e50a10>BHphoto
Jul 17, 2005 9:17AM PDT

I can tell you B&H Photo is great, I live in NYC just picked an av reciever also speakers dvd player and all were cheaper then all the other stores.Good luck I am also going to buy the same tv from them as well.