Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony Grand WEGA KF-42WE610 42-Inch HDTV-Ready LCD Rear Projection TV

I have had this TV for over 4 years and it still preforms like a brand new HDTV! What else do you expect from Sony?? I have been very happy with this TV and I would suggest it to anyone looking to buy a new or used one!!

I have this tv. Apparently the optical engine on this thing goes at the 2 year point. Sony is very aware of the problem. Lucky for me I spent 340 bucks for an extended warantee. I would suggest you do the same. The optical engine costs $1100 to fix. Depending on your timing of when the thing breaks you could be out a tv for a while since this part gets backordered all the time.

I do love the picture on this tv but BUY THE WARANTEE...

My husband anounced one day, we were going shopping for a new TV. (Although I was not aware there was a problem with the one we owned) After an hour of drooling in the plasma section we rounded the corner & both of us said, LOVE IT!! it had the best picture there. Now, a year and a half later, I am still amazed at the piture quality. It seems like you right there with the photograher! Every once in a while it powers on with a crazy screen but turn it off & wait 10 minutes or so & it is fine. (service stated it is like your computer-sometimes it mis-loads upon firing up) I would cetainly buy it again!! I have been happy with Sony products in the past but they out did themselves this time.

How can someone say great value for a $2500 television? Well, compared to comparably sized plasma and DLP sets, the 42WE610 is inexpensive.

Cutting to the chase - This set will appeal to you if:
-You desire a very bright screen (this set is BRIGHT!) which can perform even in daylight
-You would like a slim TV (much smaller than CRT, about a foot deep)
-You see rainbows on DLP sets
-You don't have $4000 or more for an HDTV plasma (not EDTV panels which are cheaper)

This set's cons are:
- a somewhat lackluster black level (which can be tweaked very effectively by either professional calibration or online research)
- sporadic reports of problems, which all seem to be resolved as of mid-2004.

Subjectively, I feel this set outperforms plasma screens, as the pixel structure is not as easy to see, and for the brightness levels achievable (wouldn't want to burn in that plasma!).

I also feel it outperforms DLP, because the picture is less noisy and there are no rainbow effects (trails of color on high contrast images caused by the viewer's perception of the color wheel which separates 1-chip DLP white light into colors). DLP has slightly better blacks, but they're very close. In my opinion, the Grand Wega generally produces a picture which is less noisy and more "film-like."

In summary, anyone would be pleased with this set's overall performance. I haven't regretted the purchase once in over a year.

I bought this kind LCD projection TV back oct. 2003. Less than 2 hours per day watching by average. It's lamp burned out last week and cost $200 to replace it by yourself. It is hard to open panel to reach the lamp box. Too expensive to maintain.