Sony A3000 tv reviews?

[MATTYBLU2]

does anyone know where i can get a review on this tv? i have checked a few websites and dont see where anyone has reviewed this tv yet. does anyone own one that can comment on it or if someone can steer me to a website with a good review on it that would be great

thanks

[bdrex28]

I've got one , the 60" and it's a fantastic TV.

what questions do you have?

[MATTYBLU2]

Originally Posted by bdrex28

I've got one , the 60" and it's a fantastic TV.

what questions do you have?

does it handle HDMI 1.3? do you have a BD player hooked up and if so how do the movies look on it?

have you had it calibrated? does it measure up to last years sony sxrd xbr2 model?

i am trying to decide between buy this and saving some money or buying a pioneer elite or panasonic plasma and spending more than i want to. i am wondering if this model will live up to providing me a great picture with HD programming, blu ray dvd's and SD dvd's and programming?

thanks for replying by the way

[bdrex28]

Originally Posted by MATTYBLU2

does it handle HDMI 1.3? do you have a BD player hooked up and if so how do the movies look on it?

have you had it calibrated? does it measure up to last years sony sxrd xbr2 model?

i am trying to decide between buy this and saving some money or buying a pioneer elite or panasonic plasma and spending more than i want to. i am wondering if this model will live up to providing me a great picture with HD programming, blu ray dvd's and SD dvd's and programming?

thanks for replying by the way

1. Yes, It's 1.3
2. Yes, I have a PS3 hooked up and it looks great as it's a 120hz television so it does the 1080p/24
3. No, haven't had it calibrated but I think I have tweaked my settings pretty good so far. Eventually I might get it professionally calibrated though.

My HD programming looks awesome, the SD content looks pretty good too. Believe it or not, I haven't even played a regular DVD on it yet.

My system:

60A3000
Scientific Atlantic 8240HDC cable box
PS3
Onkyo 805
Polk Audio RM6750 (looking to replace very soon)

I have all the components hooked up HDMI using 1.3a cables into the receiver then out to the tv.

My father has a 60XBR2 and I think my picture looks better as does he. My brother has the Mitsubishi 65733 and he thinks my tv looks better as well. He's in colorado so I haven't seen his but he's seen mine.

One thing that is fantastic is the onscreen menu for the tv, it's just like the Ps3 if you have one.

The viewing angles are very good as well.

By the way, if you buy this tv go to TechDepot at: http://www.techdepot.com/pro/product...0&HKeyword=KDS

And have Best Buy or another company match the price. It's $2113 there. I did this and they matched it because it's OfficeDepot and all Office Depot stores allow you to order from the Tech site in their store. So it's a local company. Best Buy matched it as Office Depot and it saved me nearly $600 as they had them for $2699

[MATTYBLU2]

Originally Posted by bdrex28

1. Yes, It's 1.3
2. Yes, I have a PS3 hooked up and it looks great as it's a 120hz television so it does the 1080p/24
3. No, haven't had it calibrated but I think I have tweaked my settings pretty good so far. Eventually I might get it professionally calibrated though.

My HD programming looks awesome, the SD content looks pretty good too. Believe it or not, I haven't even played a regular DVD on it yet.

My system:

60A3000
Scientific Atlantic 8240HDC cable box
PS3
Onkyo 805
Polk Audio RM6750 (looking to replace very soon)

I have all the components hooked up HDMI using 1.3a cables into the receiver then out to the tv.

My father has a 60XBR2 and I think my picture looks better as does he. My brother has the Mitsubishi 65733 and he thinks my tv looks better as well. He's in colorado so I haven't seen his but he's seen mine.

One thing that is fantastic is the onscreen menu for the tv, it's just like the Ps3 if you have one.

The viewing angles are very good as well.

By the way, if you buy this tv go to TechDepot at: http://www.techdepot.com/pro/product...0&HKeyword=KDS

And have Best Buy or another company match the price. It's $2113 there. I did this and they matched it because it's OfficeDepot and all Office Depot stores allow you to order from the Tech site in their store. So it's a local company. Best Buy matched it as Office Depot and it saved me nearly $600 as they had them for $2699

thanks for all that input. i may not have the money to upgrade to the tv i really want which is a 60" pioneer elite kuro ($7500) which is too steep for me now. but i was checking this model out at BB the other day and it looked pretty good. also that is a great price you got it for. so best buy had no problem matching the price for you? no attitude or nothing?

[bdrex28]

Originally Posted by MATTYBLU2

thanks for all that input. i may not have the money to upgrade to the tv i really want which is a 60" pioneer elite kuro ($7500) which is too steep for me now. but i was checking this model out at BB the other day and it looked pretty good. also that is a great price you got it for. so best buy had no problem matching the price for you? no attitude or nothing?

Best Buy had no problem at all.

Although I did a little pre-search. I went in there that morning and found a guy who was working in the tv department who was a nice kid but didn't seem overly intelligent. I assured he was in later in the day because I was going to borrow my dad's Yukon XL to take it home in. I have a CTS and didn't want to pay for shipping it to my house which is 3 miles away.

he said he'd be in. So after trading cars, I went back up there, found the kid told him I wanted the tv and pulled out my printout from Techdepot. I showed him it was OfficeDepot and he looked it up on the net. Then he did the price match and Officedepot is listed in BB's system. He called over a manager for the authorization code and she didn't even check anything, just put in her code and walked away.

Sale done.

Some people have had them add the shipping price onto the price match but they didn't do that for me.

Very easy and worth trying a few best buys as well as a CC if you can save that much money in my opinion.

[MATTYBLU2]

Originally Posted by bdrex28

Best Buy had no problem at all.

Although I did a little pre-search. I went in there that morning and found a guy who was working in the tv department who was a nice kid but didn't seem overly intelligent. I assured he was in later in the day because I was going to borrow my dad's Yukon XL to take it home in. I have a CTS and didn't want to pay for shipping it to my house which is 3 miles away.

he said he'd be in. So after trading cars, I went back up there, found the kid told him I wanted the tv and pulled out my printout from Techdepot. I showed him it was OfficeDepot and he looked it up on the net. Then he did the price match and Officedepot is listed in BB's system. He called over a manager for the authorization code and she didn't even check anything, just put in her code and walked away.

Sale done.

Some people have had them add the shipping price onto the price match but they didn't do that for me.

Very easy and worth trying a few best buys as well as a CC if you can save that much money in my opinion.

most certainly, you did a great job at saving some serious dough. i just hope they axcept that here in NH where i live. they are kinda anal at the stores over here and sometimes they give you a hard time about lowering prices. i guess i could always call and ask if they price match from office depot and see what they say?

so you really like this tv and it looks great playing blu ray movies? do you get the sound in 7.1. do you watch HD programming at all on regular tv, like csi in nd and football or something? does it look good on this tv? thanks again for your input and your tech depot tip, i appreciate it

[bdrex28]

Originally Posted by MATTYBLU2

most certainly, you did a great job at saving some serious dough. i just hope they axcept that here in NH where i live. they are kinda anal at the stores over here and sometimes they give you a hard time about lowering prices. i guess i could always call and ask if they price match from office depot and see what they say?

so you really like this tv and it looks great playing blu ray movies? do you get the sound in 7.1. do you watch HD programming at all on regular tv, like csi in nd and football or something? does it look good on this tv? thanks again for your input and your tech depot tip, i appreciate it

I mainly watch sports and blu-ray movies. Typically it's College Football and then NFL and Soccer. I do watch some golf and baseball though and basketball when it starts.


I don't have the 7.1 speaker setup as I'm using 5.1 although I'll be moving to 7.1 eventually.

I would say I watch 90% in HD and Blu-ray, the rest is SD content such as the EPL and other Soccer Leagues on Fox Soccer Channel.

I've been very happy with the picture on all the above. I honestly can't think of anything to complain about even if I tried.

[MATTYBLU2]

Originally Posted by bdrex28

I mainly watch sports and blu-ray movies. Typically it's College Football and then NFL and Soccer. I do watch some golf and baseball though and basketball when it starts.


I don't have the 7.1 speaker setup as I'm using 5.1 although I'll be moving to 7.1 eventually.

I would say I watch 90% in HD and Blu-ray, the rest is SD content such as the EPL and other Soccer Leagues on Fox Soccer Channel.

I've been very happy with the picture on all the above. I honestly can't think of anything to complain about even if I tried.

sounds good, thanks again for your input. i may just pull the trigger on this one if i cant afford a plasma right now.

oh i thought i would ask, how does the picture look if you are stting closer to the tv? does it pixel out on you. about how far do you sit to be in the sweet spot? the reason i ask is the one at BB was kinda pixely when i walked up to it about 5 or 6 feet away. i know my sony sxrd xbr1 here at home looks great at about 10 or 12 feet back where i sit and watch it. does your do the same or is this tv much better at producing the picture at a closer range? thanks again

[bdrex28]

Originally Posted by MATTYBLU2

sounds good, thanks again for your input. i may just pull the trigger on this one if i cant afford a plasma right now.

oh i thought i would ask, how does the picture look if you are stting closer to the tv? does it pixel out on you. about how far do you sit to be in the sweet spot? the reason i ask is the one at BB was kinda pixely when i walked up to it about 5 or 6 feet away. i know my sony sxrd xbr1 here at home looks great at about 10 or 12 feet back where i sit and watch it. does your do the same or is this tv much better at producing the picture at a closer range? thanks again

I sit about 14' or so away and it looks great. I've sat on the floor just checking it out at about 5' and it still looked fine although I wouldn't want to sit that close normally obviously. But I don't notice any pixelation.

My stand is about 19 1/2" tall and that works great as well.

[MATTYBLU2]

Originally Posted by bdrex28

I sit about 14' or so away and it looks great. I've sat on the floor just checking it out at about 5' and it still looked fine although I wouldn't want to sit that close normally obviously. But I don't notice any pixelation.

My stand is about 19 1/2" tall and that works great as well.

sounds great, thanks again for your help.

[dillycheeze]

i also just got the 60" last week.....its amazing.....i could immediately tell what 120Hz brought to the table...bdrex...have you tried watching a BD with the motion on high and cinemotion on auto 1....wow....the movement is unreal...but it seems a little much sometimes so im sticking with motion on standard using auto 1 cinemotion.....but to mattyblu - definitely a great tv....i replaced a 55" HD sony i had and it blows that away....i have a pic of it in my sig if u wanna see it in action

[bdrex28]

Originally Posted by dillycheeze

i also just got the 60" last week.....its amazing.....bdrex...have you tried watching a BD with the motion on high and cinemotion on auto 1....wow....the movement is unreal...but it seems a little much sometimes so im sticking with motion on standard using auto 1 cinemotion.....but to mattyblu - definitely a great tv....i replaced a 55" HD sony i had and it blows that away....i have a pic of it in my sig if u wanna see it in action

Yea, I've messed with all the settings like Cinemotion and such and to be honest, it seems better with them both off. the motion on the others almost seems unnatural like you said.

I do have mine on Warm1 as well with about 52 brightness. Took me a while to get used to as I usually watch it on cool but the warm 1 I like the best. I know alot of people use Warm2 though.

[ClaytonMG]

I just got mine last tuesday. I actually shut off all the Motion Enhancers, the Cinemotion and the Motion Naturalizer. Technically, from what I've read, for 1080/24p sources you shouldn't need them on. Also, if you run your Blu-Ray player at 1080i (if I run it through my reciever, I have to) the TV will automatically detect it as 1080/24p. I have no clue why/how, but it doesn't do it for anything other than Blu-Rays (not even HD-DVD, but that might be due to the fact that I am using the HD-A1). I am still trying to do research on it, but I used Avia (and the Sony test patterns) to set it up and I think that looks pretty good. This TV blows my last one away...

[GregBlu5]

I agree with everything positive said about these A3000 series TVs. And Sony itself dropped the price to $2199 for the 60-inch on their Style Web site. It is such an awesome TV that a friend is now going to sell his Mitsubishi HDTV and get the 70-inch when it comes out--he remarked that it looks better than any of the other Sony TVs we've seen in the Sony Style store here in Denver for the past year and more that we've both been looking.

I watch football, ESPN, regular and Blu-ray movies and they are all quite remarkable. Just finished watching FF and the Rise of the Silver Surfer and was completely amazed. I think it was a better overall experience than in the theater, sound, PQ and movie.

Also, I didn't even have to have a professional set it up. Out of the box and onto the stand, and fired it up--though I did adjust it from vivid, which I believe others on this site say ought to be avoided. Make sure you use HDMI cables whenever possible and it'll blow your socks off. My new Sony Blu-ray player has also added to the thorough enjoyment. Why pay so much more for a TV when this will likely, and entirely, satisfy?

I also have DirecTV, and it provides an amazing picture for the TV broadcasts, again using an HDMI cable from the receiver to the TV. (There are three HDMI inputs on the TV so you won't likely run out.)

You won't regret it. At $2699, I was incredibly pleased. At $2199, it's kind of a steal.

-Greg

[bdrex28]

Agree with all Greg said.

My father is going to get the 70" as well. It looks like it's now shipping in the early part of 2008. It's been delayed somewhat and I wonder if it's because of how well the 60" seems to be doing.

I didn't realize that Sonystyle dropped their price. That's pretty amazing and will of course help if you go to best buy I would think they would at least match Sony's price.

[MATTYBLU2]

Originally Posted by GregBlu5

I agree with everything positive said about these A3000 series TVs. And Sony itself dropped the price to $2199 for the 60-inch on their Style Web site. It is such an awesome TV that a friend is now going to sell his Mitsubishi HDTV and get the 70-inch when it comes out--he remarked that it looks better than any of the other Sony TVs we've seen in the Sony Style store here in Denver for the past year and more that we've both been looking.

I watch football, ESPN, regular and Blu-ray movies and they are all quite remarkable. Just finished watching FF and the Rise of the Silver Surfer and was completely amazed. I think it was a better overall experience than in the theater, sound, PQ and movie.

Also, I didn't even have to have a professional set it up. Out of the box and onto the stand, and fired it up--though I did adjust it from vivid, which I believe others on this site say ought to be avoided. Make sure you use HDMI cables whenever possible and it'll blow your socks off. My new Sony Blu-ray player has also added to the thorough enjoyment. Why pay so much more for a TV when this will likely, and entirely, satisfy?

I also have DirecTV, and it provides an amazing picture for the TV broadcasts, again using an HDMI cable from the receiver to the TV. (There are three HDMI inputs on the TV so you won't likely run out.)

You won't regret it. At $2699, I was incredibly pleased. At $2199, it's kind of a steal.

-Greg

Thanks for that input. that was more great info and more reasons for me to grab this tv. and now at a better price. thanks

[GregBlu5]

Originally Posted by bdrex28

Agree with all Greg said.

My father is going to get the 70" as well. It looks like it's now shipping in the early part of 2008. It's been delayed somewhat and I wonder if it's because of how well the 60" seems to be doing.

I didn't realize that Sonystyle dropped their price. That's pretty amazing and will of course help if you go to best buy I would think they would at least match Sony's price.

It seems, according to the store employee I spoke with, that the price drop just occurred online at the Sony Style store early yesterday, not long before I noticed it. I was sending the page link to a friend and that's when I noticed and was floored. The employee wasn't even aware that it had occurred when I went into the store in Denver to ask if they had any price guarantee (hey, if I could have gotten a $500 rebate or store credit for the price drop, I wasn't going to miss out on that; but the guy said Sony doesn't do that, even though I've only had the TV for two weeks now).

I've been also watching the first and second seasons of Smallville, and have been really impressed with how the Sony Blu-ray player and the A3000 combination upconvert these regular DVDs. It almost looks like full hi-def, so I can't wait until I get to watching season 6, which I bought in Blu.

-Greg

[MATTYBLU2]

Originally Posted by GregBlu5

It seems, according to the store employee I spoke with, that the price drop just occurred online at the Sony Style store early yesterday, not long before I noticed it. I was sending the page link to a friend and that's when I noticed and was floored. The employee wasn't even aware that it had occurred when I went into the store in Denver to ask if they had any price guarantee (hey, if I could have gotten a $500 rebate or store credit for the price drop, I wasn't going to miss out on that; but the guy said Sony doesn't do that, even though I've only had the TV for two weeks now).

I've been also watching the first and second seasons of Smallville, and have been really impressed with how the Sony Blu-ray player and the A3000 combination upconvert these regular DVDs. It almost looks like full hi-def, so I can't wait until I get to watching season 6, which I bought in Blu.

-Greg

wow that sucks that they would not do anything for you when you just bought it a few weeks earlier. i think i would have complained about that one. i mean $500 is a nice chuck of money. you could buy a player or more BD movies with that money. well since they just dropped the price i will be on the watch for sales to see if i can save even more. thanks again

[dillycheeze]

man, $2199....i got mine a week ago and thought i talked them into a deal at $2399.....think i can get some of that money back since it was so quick?