Customer Reviews

Sony KV 32FS100 - 32" WEGA CRT TV - silver

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Okay - first of all, I don't know I'd buy the TV from an on-line retailer, because, the sucker weighs 170 pounds (yeah, that's right ONE-SEVEN-ZERO). You better like wherever the heck you install it, unless you're superman - moving it is going to be like throwing your brother around the room...

But, once you get it where you want it - the picture, the sound, and the display are all pure SONY and excellent. I looked at alot of different 32" TV's before I bought this one. And yeah - with Sony you pay for the SONY brand-name... but, this TV is actually quite a bargain compared with others. In terms of picture quality, it is quite nice (I mean, without being HDTV - which is really unbelievably good). The "pan-and-scan" widescreen and the 16:9 compression are kind of neat features... If you watch alot of widescreen DVD's, this is a nice feature. Personally, I don't get all that bent out of shape by letterbox... but I know many do.

I have SONY primarily as my audio/video... so it integrates well with older SONY stuff. The box is big - 35 inches as I recall (the measurements are in the descript). It fills up an entertainment center nicely. I would really make sure that your entertainment center is rated for the weight. If you are using some "put together" furniture (usually made out of MDF or pressboard) it is going to collapse under the TV's weight. SONY makes a nice stand for this TV (I don't have it - but I've seen it)... you might want that stand.

When compared with Phillips(both the 4/3 and the widescreen), Toshiba, and JVC - this is probably the best in class. It looks great with Digital Cable (I have Comcast) and the component inputs are slick... makes the colors and the sharpness very vivid. SONY has a "digital enhancer" mode for various types of media (film, cable, etc.) I don't know if that really does much - seems to me to add artifacts to the screen so I don't use it... I leave it on VIVID myself...

Anyways... you won't be disappointed for the bucks....

I bought this TV to replace a 10 year old 27" Hitachi. I looked around at a bunch of other TV's ranging from 27" - 32" (including a 30" 16:9 format HDTV from Philips), and for the price this was the best. The picture is outstanding. I have digital cable coming through the S-Video input, and my DVD player through the Component Video input. Last night I watched "Signs" using the 16:9 Enhanced Mode (V-Compression) and I was floored. The picture is perfect. There is no need to spend the money on an HD set when for half the price you can get a picture as good as this. Even the Simulated Surround Sound is decent. I know that it is no substitute, but it will do until I can get a real thing. If I had to complain about something, I would ask for a button on the remote that switched to 16:9 mode instead of having to go thought the setup menu, but I can script a macro on my HT remote to do that.

If you are planning on getting this unit, I would also recommend the TV stand from Bush. It is made for this set, and is (in my opinion) better then the Sony stand. It is a little taller, so the TV sits at eye level (when in a couch) and has more storage space in the cabinet. It is also a few bucks less.

I was recently looking for a new TV for my living room. Nothing too fancy needed (I'm still holding off on HDTV), just a TV with good picture quality, sound, and performance. I found all that in this Sony 32" TV, plus it had a good-looking exterior that was stylish without overpowering. I've only had this TV about a month, but so far I LOVE it!

The pros:
-The picture quality is beautiful, crisp, and clear. The settings are easy to adjust, and there are even special picture settings that are appropriate for Sports or Movies. Nice touch.
-The sound quality is great! Big, bold sound, although it helped a lot when I configured my cable box to the optimal stereo volume level and used the TV remote for volume.
-The flat screen definitely reduces a lot of glare from external lights/sun. It also makes it look super-sleek and stylish!
-The price is really good for a TV of this size and quality! There is another Sony 32" flat-screen model exactly like this one, but it is at least $100 more expensive. Why? Because it has a picture-in-picture function. Unless you must have that feature, stick with this model and save yourself some money!

The cons:
-Warning: This TV is BIG. It weighs over 160 pounds, and you will not be able to lift this yourself. Also, since the speakers are on the sides of the TV, it makes it very wide. So wide, in fact, that my TV stand (designed to hold 36"-40" TVs) has only and inch or two of space left to spare! Measure your space before you buy this!
(But hey, the width isn't such a bad thing. It kinda makes the TV look like a widescreen!)
-Also, when I had this TV delivered, at first it was a little green on the bottom of the screen, and lines that were supposed to be horizontal on the screen were a bit diagonal and tilted. Fortunately, the green vanished in an hour and the TV has a setup menu function to correct the tilting issue. But those experiences lead me to believe that this TV can get out-of-whack pretty easily if jostled or moved around too much.

Overall, this TV is amazing! Beautiful picture, great sound, and a nice exterior. This Sony shows that you don't have to pay outrageous prices for a really good quality TV. Enjoy!

This television may be more expensive than most of the other tvs in the 32" range but if you can manage to scrape up the extra cash, you won't be disappointed.

The best feature of this tv by far is the picture quality. DVD's look phenomenal on this set. I used to dread watching widescreen dvd's (which are unfortunately 99% of Blockbuster's selection) but now I enjoy watching them thanks to the 16:9 compression mode Sony offers. When turning on the 16:9 mode on the tv and setting widescreen mode on your dvd player, the tv compresses the image and adds more lines of resolution to the picture, which adds startling clarity to the picture of the dvd being played.

I should note a couple things about the 16:9 mode that I've learned from my experiences with the tv. First and foremost, the 16:9 mode is only meant for widescreen dvds. If you try to use 16:9 mode on a full screen dvd the picture will look squashed and not true to life. The other caveat is that 16:9 mode literally compresses the image and you'll lose about 2" inches in your total viewing area. For my eyes, the trade-off is totally worth it. Gladiator and Pitch Black are a couple of my favorite dvd's that are beautiful with 16:9 mode on.

My satellite channels look better than ever on this tv. Very sharp images and vivid colors for most channels, even with my subpar signal.

As far as videogames go, my x-box games look excellent. I've been playing some of my older games again just to admire the picture this tv puts out. Rainbow Six 3 was a good test for this set. On most of other tv's I played Rainbow Six 3 on during our system link sessions the small in-game text looked blurry and almost unreadable. Not so with the Sony, very sharp and totally readable. Forgive me for the obscure example but for those who do own the game, they'll identify with what I'm saying.

Sound is better than most 32" tvs out there but like most tv speakers the bass isn't anything to brag about. If you're looking to add some boom to this tv a home theater system would be a must. Still, I believe the sound is more than adequate for the casual viewer.

As others have already mentioned this tv is quite heavy. My brother and I practically broke our backs lugging this beast up the stairs to my living room. The picture we seen after hooking it up was ample reward for our struggle though, lol.

I should note this tv is flatscreen and is a very nice feature if you have any light sources that could cause possible glare. I've no problems whatsoever with glare on this set.

In conclusion this tv, though expensive, is worth every penny. Some say that with Sony you're only paying for the name, not so, in my humble opinion. I've closely studied the picture on several sets and it's hard to compete with Sony quality. As I mentioned before if you're in the market for a 32" and can somehow manage to get the cash to buy this relatively expensive tv, by all means do it. I love this set. It always a good feeling to know your hard earned cash went towards something you can fully enjoy for years to come.

If you're on a tight budget (I totally understand) and can't swing the price tag for this tv there is another 32" set I would recommend as a good substitute. The Toshiba 32A43 is an excellent set and gives a great amount of "bang for your buck". The picture quality is quite good, the screen almost flat, and images are quite sharp as well. Consumer reports rated it number one in it's class of 32" tube tvs based on overall performance/price. I have this set in my bedroom and have been quite happy with it. The picture quality doesn't beat out this Sony and it doesn't have 16:9 mode but then again the Toshiba set is $200 cheaper. You can't go wrong with the Tosiba 32A43 if you need a good tv for a modest amount of money.

This is the bottom line WEGA for the 32 inch series. I bought it as I was looking for a better picture for my DVD's and such but I wasn't ready for opt for an HD TV. I have been more impressed with this TV and it's features than I thought I was going to be. It looks better in my house than it did in the store!!!! I first tried a Sanyo Flat Screen 32 inch and it went back to [my local store] the next day (What was I thinking). I then purchased the Sony for $100 more and This is my TV now. It's staying here. I love the Presets for Movie, Standard, Vivid and Sports Etc... and you can tinker with them and easily set it back to It's default setting. I've discovered that you don't always use the preset for what you are doing. Some movies need a standard setting and some TV programs need Vivid, etc... but it all depends on the original signal and filming, formatting etc... That's why you can change it but it's a wonderful flat screen surpassed only by the Sony HD 32 inch which is superb but too much $$$$ for me right now. The only thing I would complain about is that there is no way to have the Closed Captioning turn on automatically when you mute the TV, but, it is the easiest to turn out of any TV I've used so far so I guess it's a mute point (Pun Intended). Still completely worth the money and the best TV I've ever owned.

I picked this one up at Best Buy on sale for $663 a few days ago and Wow,What an amazing picture it has! You simply wont
find a better looking 32" TV(as far as standard / non hdtv sets go) ,The first time I played LOTR The Two Towers DVD with 16:9 Enhanced mode enabled I was nearly speechless,with this enabled the scanlines virtualy disappear wich makes the picture twice as vibrant and even more detailed (Just be sure you also set your DVD Player to 16:9 aspect as well),Videogames and even my lowly analog Cablebox also look great on this TV,It's got an easy to use remote control and nice on screen menus, The only weakness I found is the sound quality from the built in speakers,a minor issue if you have a stereo / home theater setup tho, Highly recommended.

I'm very pleased to have this TV in my living room home theater system. The picture is clear and has vibrant colors. The TV's 32" size makes for comfortable viewing of DVDs or for playing Playstation 2 games (even those that have 2 player split screen modes). Those looking for a home theater receiver to go with this TV should also check out the Yamaha YHT-100 Home Theater in a box. Right after I unpacked the TV and hooked it up to the Yamaha YHT-100, I loaded the "Finding Nemo" DVD and enjoyed watching it. This TV is excellent.

After looking at several TVs (and enduring many a nauseating sales pitch) I settled on the Sony. It only has one S-video port, but I can hook my DVD up to the component and run my digital cable through the S-video. The picture is outstanding, and the whole thing was very easy to setup and use. The set weighs a ton, though, so get some help when you are moving this thing around. The remote is easy to understand, though it doesn't have controls for some of the features my digital cable provider offers. The sound is great, too...

Hi everyone! My names Josh and I'm 18 years old. I was in the market for a TV to have in my room. I knew I didn't want a HDTV since I didn't watch DVD's or TV enough to care. Also, hardly any TV shows use HDTV. Why spend the money on something you won't really use? I knew I wanted a really high quality TV that wasent HDTV. I seen this Sony and I have read the reviews and everything. I seen it in person and talked with the people at Best Buy. I have had the TV for a few days now and I absolutely love it! For those of you who have complained about no closed captioning with mute on, just turn the volume down and have CC on.

I love the features and the fact that the TV has component inputs. I bought the Monster Cable Monster Game component cables for my Playstation 2. When I got it rung up the Best Buy employee asked me if I ever played a game on a nice TV like this while the component cables were on. I told him no, and he said wait till I play my games or watch DVD's, I'm gonna love it. Well he was right!

The only problem I have had with this TV is the weight. Trust me, if your taking it upstairs, it will stay up there and get sold with the house. I got the 4 year plan for $99 which I'm glad I got since it was recommended by other customers who have bought this TV. I was soaked after taking this TV up like 17 step. It's a workout!

In the end, if your in the market for a non HDTV, get a Sony FD Trinitron WEGA TV, you can't go wrong! Also spring and get yourself some component cables for your video game system or DVD player, it's worth it! I'm even considering a Monster Cable surge protector since it cleans even more distortion for better audio/video.

My 26" (square screen) Toshiba TV died, so I needed to score another one. As a professional, but with some disability and pretty much retired, I was elated to learn that an old friend of mine would help me with the cost of same. Although I have some electronics background, I came to see that I wasn't at all current on the new (HD/Flat Panel) technology, so I took a week to learn and to gaze at some sets at a big-name store (Frys, Burbank, Calif.).

My conclusions? (Based on my experience in the store, speaking to a few friends and store associates, and poking around online):

Plasma type--amazing picture quality, but radically pricey. LCD--Somewhat disappointng(picture just OK); AND, HD sets are a complete waste of money, unless you're gonna spring for HD cable/satellite or Blu-ray. I witnessed this first-hand: My neighbor has a real beauty of a Samsung 42" (not yet on the DirecTV HD upgrade, as they want $200 for the box upgrade). The picture quality is very much lackluster, in fact, inferior to what I enjoyed on my Toshiba (though he was out $800!). Huh? Talk about disappoining!!

As I was not ready to spring for the HD upgrade, I poked around to see what might be available in a superior (if not outstanding) picture in an older, used set. My solution? This Sony model KV-32FS100.

The Downside: Heftier than the Toshiba, and pretty massive in size (yikes!). It is pretty much a miracle my buddy and I did not end up with hernias and low back pain. I was able to recruit two of my neighbors on "this end" of the job, luckily.

The Upside: This must've been the "top end" of television before the advent of the flat-panel sets. Incredible picture quality, better than any I've recently viewed, with the exception of the very pricey plasma models. Simply outstanding.

If you have the room for it, and can spring for a couple hundred dollars (say via your local Craigslist), this is the way to go. Just be ready to hire a couple of friends, or count on borrowing the company forklift to transport this monster home. ;) It's gonna work for me, but it did take some rearranging of the furniture. This set is a champ!!
Oh, though I plan to use my sound system, the internal sound system is pretty good, and features stereo and Dolby. Yesterday, I watched the American western classic "Cheyenne Autumn" and kept marveling at the natural vistas of sky, desert and buttes, and the general clarity of different scenes. As a strong film-fan, I feel like I've died and gone to heaven! This is like the Cadillac of "pre-HD" television. And, I still have a few bucks left in my bank account!