Sony KE-42TS2 42 in. HDTV-Ready TV

Pros: Beautiful picture, low power consumption, no-heat output, silent operation, easy to set up.
Cons: "regular" TV is a big disappointment, and HDTV broadcasts are still a few years away.

After drooling over these marvels down at my local Best Buy and Good Guys, I spent months trying to rationalize the cost. Sure, based on my experience with electronic equipment, I would spend an arm and a leg and then, as soon as I had the thing plugged...

Pros: Great HD picture, ease of use for my daughter, entertainment modes sports movie living room
Cons: Needs more component hookups. no one wants to use composite or S-video

I've owned this TV for over a year and the picture keeps getting better and better! The HDTV is incredible when
hooked up to Cablevisions HD converter box (Free with
monthly service)...The only draw back is not the TV itself....its the pixelation that occurs (artifacts)
when high speed seens are in effect. The AV mode when watching regular TV is outstanding.....most HD ready TV's
give you great HD but bad TV...this is definutely not the case. Only temporary drawback is that there is only one component hookup in the rear (could use at least 2) I was
able to get around this by buying a multi component box
by JVC.....remember the cable box must be patched in through component as well as DVD player to get the allaround
best out of your home theater.

I bought this basically on a whim. I wanted a new TV, and wanted to go big with HD in mind. I just did not have the space for some big projection unit. I only wanted to spend 3k. I was looking at Sampo and Samsung, and realized that both of them were ED, not HD. Also, neither had a built in tuner. Finally, I bit the bullet and went with the Sony. Basically, it is incredible when it plays DVDs! WOW! I have an awesome sound system (Dolby Digital, THX, etc...), and this plasma screen compliments my sound system nicely. Pumping in an analog cable signal is not perfect, but i'm not ready for an HDTV tuner yet. Just watch DVDs and you'll be VERY happy w/this unit.

I also waited for the 2nd generation of these TVs - and was it ever worth it. This is an incredible TV. It works great with DVDs and with my Playstation 2. It's a little pricey but I highly recommend it.

Sometimes it pays to wait. The original model 42TS1 displayed poor contrast with some banding and grayish blacks. That's all been fixed with this new model. Before buying in Nov 2002, I compared to numerous other plasmas including the high-contrast Panasonic sets. This one beats them all to deliver the sharpest and most realistic picture short of high-quality film cinema when viewing anamorphic DVD's. I plan to add HD from Dish Network and expect an even better picture. Built-in conversion even works nicely with video tapes. Tiny pixels (1024 x 1024) are invisible beyond about 6 feet giving a smooth natural picture. Surprisingly good crisp and clean mid- to high-range sound from the built-in speakers. There's a subwoofer output which is needed to really "feel" sounds such as impact tremors from the JPark T-Rex. Even has a stereo phone jack on the front.