Sony or Pioneer, pls help me choose?

[admin_exported]

Hi all,

This is the first time I've done this on any web site but I really need you're advice before buying my new TV?

Now the Sony back lighting issues have been resolved, and if money was no object, can you pls advise which TV to buy from the following?

E.g.

1. SONY 46Z5500

2. SONY 52Z5500

3. PIONEER KRP 500A (I've been offered a new one for £2.8k)

4. Or should I wait for the 46 or 52 inch replacement for the SONY 40 ZX1 coming soon (now available in USA).

Cheers

Steve

 

[Anonymous]

the backlight issues have been resolved ??

9 out of ten people would say get the kuro anyway ... okay maybe 10 out of ten ...

 

[bigboss]

It's a no-brainer. If you're able to buy the KRP 500A, buy it. It's easily the best TV ever made. Check its reviews online, it's a unanimous verdict.

http://whathifi.com/Review/Pioneer-KRP-500A/

 

[Pindi]

Go for the Kuro!!

 

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't even contemplate a Sony LCD over a Plasma screen. Go for the Pioneer KRP-500

 

[The_Lhc]

although £2.8k is a lot for the 500, that's nearly 600 money.

 

[TheHomeCinemaCentre]

500a everytime

 

[Anonymous]

I am in a similar situation - PLEASE help as i would like to place order today or latest tomorrow.

I am considering getting the Sony KDL-46X5400 OR the Pioneer LX5090.

The Sony LCD can be had for £1599 NEW with 3 years warranty & the Pioneer (Ex-dem) for £1900 with 5 years warranty.

If the screens are wall mounted i will have a viewing room distance of about 11ft(3.5m).

Family & I mainly do SD viewing with Sky+ & do not plan to spend more on SKYHD. So SD viewing quality is important.

I personally love watching films in HD & have a small blu-ray collection growing incl. Blade runner, Gladiator, Kingdom Of Heaven, Pulp Fiction, Monsters Inc.. These are viewed with a PS3 & the room is not overly bright. I also intend to us a HTPC in near future.

I like the idea of buying the Sony because it seems a bargain at offer price (NEW), slimmer design, LCD good for occasional PS3 gaming, its feature rich compared to Pioneer.. more HDMI, DLNA etc. Not sure if this set has serious motion issues or CLOUDING ?

Also the other day i took my copy of BBC's Planet Earth to a friends & we watched it using his PS3 on a Sony 40w5500. I was blown away by the clarity & detail. Picture had amazing depth & seemed 3D like. This is what got me thinking about a Sony & also taking plunge & upgrading to HD TV.

On the other hand the Pioneer is the crown holder & proven to be the king of blacks & motion even though it is going to be exdemo & more expensive. I have seen demos running on it in a show room floor where there was more lighting.Picture looked very natural from what i can recall. i wish i could have tested same Blu-Ray. In the back of my mind i get a feeling that maybe the Pioneer is getting little outdated compared to the x4500 & i should be jumping on the LED bandwagon.

I have also been told that the Sony is on special promotion offer at the present price & will be back to £2999 in near future.

Can anyone back the salesmen's statement ? Or is is being phased out ?

Taking the deals on offer & my needs can someone please advise me ASAP which one to go for ?

PLEASE ADVISE BEFORE WIFE CHANGES HER MIND

 

[professorhat]

Well, if you're looking for someone else's opinion, I'd go for the Pioneer every day of the week and twice on Sunday (in fact I did just recently!). However, I prefer the picture on plasma sets - this is purely my opinion based on what I've seen in demos I've done, I'm sure others disagree.

Trouble is, you're buying this for you, not me. Assuming you've seen them both in action, it looks from your post above like you're edging towards the Sony so this suggests this is probably the best one for you...

EDIT - though you make a good point on the Sony clouding issue. Are you able to get a cast iron guarantee from the retailer that if you see clouding on your Sony, you'll be able to return it for a no quibble replacement / refund? If not, I'd be very careful before buying, even at that bargain price.

 

[Pindi]

I would deifintely say the Kuro.

You need to compare them side to side though, only then you will know what's right for you.

The Kuro is 4 inches bigger!

 

[Deleted member 2457]

sgrant01@gmail.com:

Hi all,

This is the first time I've done this on any web site but I really need you're advice before buying my new TV?

Now the Sony back lighting issues have been resolved, and if money was no object, can you pls advise which TV to buy from the following?

E.g.

1. SONY 46Z5500

2. SONY 52Z5500

3. PIONEER KRP 500A (I've been offered a new one for £2.8k)

4. Or should I wait for the 46 or 52 inch replacement for the SONY 40 ZX1 coming soon (now available in USA).

Cheers

Steve

Pioneer everyday of the week.

 

[matthewpiano]

There are no plans at present to replace the X4500 range in the UK. Its a fabulous TV and was one of the first to use a full LED RGB backlight with local dimming capability, but IMO the Z5500 (which, of course, uses more conventional backlight technology) now runs it very close indeed for picture performance. The X4500's main edge is in the sound department. Another set to look at is the Z4500. There are still some about and its sound is substantially better than the Z5500, although its picture isn't quite up to the standards of the newer set.

I don't agree that the Sony Vs Pioneer thing is a no brainer at all. Both are excellent and a lot of it is down to personal preference. Personally I'm not a fan of plasmas at all. I can fully appreciate why people rave about the Kuro sets but I wouldn't buy one personally. I'd rather have a Z5500 (with or without my staff discount).

 

[Anonymous]

I've had my current 25 inch Sony CRT TV for 13 years and the picture is still excellent and hasn't had any problems...

I've been looking in the shops and reading the whathifi magazine for the last 4 years waiting for LCD and Plasma to be as good as my Sony CRT TV with freeview and have refused to pay good money until they are, and wasn't happy with the ZX1 when I did my test in the Sony shop!

My only concern is if the replacement ZX1 comes out in the next 3 months and it is better than the Pioneer which I think may happen, then it would be my heart ruling my head to get a new TV for Xmas and I'd always regret it!

The USA ZX1 replacement looks more beautiful as well as much thinner that the Pioneer and will have wireless and less cables as well!

 

[Sorreltiger]

The Pioneer will undoubtedly produce a better SD picture than the Sony - it has the best upscaling of any TV on the market. Be wary of assessing its picture on a brightly lit shop floor. If you can't see it in a 'home' type room at a specialist dealer, you're wasting your time. Ultimately, it's your choice, but I'd say 'Feel the force' of the combined opinions of just about anyone who has reviewed TVs in the last two years. Oh, and make sure you Google the best settings to achieve the optimum picture.

 

[matthewpiano]

Where have you seen/heard of a USA replacement for the ZX1? What is the model number?

Its not something we are aware of and not something I can find reference to on the American site. Note that the model number for the KDL-40ZX1 is different in the USA but it is the same TV.

 

[Anonymous]

If you are a fan of the Sony CRT picture and panny or pioneer will be more to your liking as plasma is a more natural image.

The Sony LCD I've seen are poor on SD material.

 

[Anonymous]

No probs...luckily I kept the shortcuts..!

This is the 46 inch on the USA Sony site...

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665981653

These are other blogs on the ZX1 replacement ...
Links removed for House Rules violation - MODS

Hope that's OK?

Don't they look stunning and worth spending £2.8k on!

 

[matthewpiano]

Thanks. Looks exciting. As I say we've not been pre-warned of it by Sony UK yet but I hope they do bring it in to the UK. I think we'd sell a few of those.

I wasn't a huge fan of the ZX1. The picture quality wasn't as good as the standard W5500/W5710, never mind the Z5500, and the 1080i limit on the wireless streaming put a lot of customers off. However, the finish was beautiful and the design very timeless.

I can't wait to see the new one if/when we get it over here.

Thanks for sharing. I'd completely missed that one.

 

[Anonymous]

I agree with all your comments, that's why I want to wait a little longer to see them, however in 3 months the Pioneer will have gone!

 

[professorhat]

sgrant01@gmail.com:I've been looking in the shops and reading the whathifi magazine for the last 4 years waiting for LCD and Plasma to be as good as my Sony CRT TV with freeview and have refused to pay good money until they are

Until HD broadcasts are the norm, you're unlikely to see any HDTV come out with a picture as good as a standard def TV for Freeview. My Pioneer 5090 is good with Freeview, but it's not a patch on my old Panasonic Quintrix 32" CRT. It's very simple, the CRT was designed to display a PAL picture, these new TVs are designed to display 1080p. Even with the best upscaling, a PAL picture on a 1080p display will never look as good as a PAL picture on a standard def CRT TV I'm afraid.

However, watching Blu-Ray's on it is absolutely magnificent and when broadcast TV catches up (or if you subscribe to Sky HD), you'll then reap the benefits of your new TV.

 

[Pindi]

I 100% agree with the professor. It annoys me how people want modern TVs to perform as good as or better on SD than CRTs, it won't happen! It's like saying you want a Ferrari 458 to be as good as a Mercedes S320CDi going slow, it won't, it's made for speed! Just like HDTVs are made for HD!

 

[Deleted member 2457]

I think my philips lcd does perform even better with SD than CRTs, I think it's just an illusion in people's mind's they don't but as soon as you get used to it, you will never turn back.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone for you valuable feedback.

As suspected seems there is overwhelming support for the Pioneer - the set that i also preferred to start off with.

The only thing holding me to buy it is the price point my budget was around
£1200 & stretchable to £1500.

I will have to buy a stand as well
which is at least another £200.

I was secretly hoping someone
would offer me a strong case to go for the Sony - telling me its
extremly close to the Pioneer in picture quality & a great buy at
its new lowered price point. Now it looks like i need to find some
more cash from somewhere before as i really don't want to compromise if
everyone here is outright telling me Pioneer is the way to go - even
though its exdem & at a higher price. Hmmm.. what to do now....

Would i be correct to assume that Pioneer & Sony will be pretty much same for viewing Blu-Rays - possibly Sony better ?

And Pioneer more better than the Sony for SD material ?

Or does Pioneer take both crowns ?

@matthewpiano
- Are you saying that in your opinion the newer Z5500 would be a better buy than the X4500 ?

 

[Pindi]

Pioneer takes both crowns, it's sublime with Blu-ray.

 

[D.J.KRIME]

archy121:

Thanks everyone for you valuable feedback.

As suspected seems there is overwhelming support for the Pioneer - the set that i also preferred to start off with.

The only thing holding me to buy it is the price point my budget was around £1200 & stretchable to £1500.

I will have to buy a stand as well which is at least another £200.

Taking you current avalible budget into account I personally would strongly recomend considering the Samsung PS-50B850. It's a fantastic Plasma and has the same sexy looks of the Samsung LED range being ultra thin yet is easily avalible for under £1200.