Sony KDP-65XBRII

[AA Doug]

I just "took the plunge" and bought a Sony KDP-65XBRII that was a "open item" from a local Circuit City.. yes I did buy the extended warranty knowing darn well that it's probably been run through the mill as they say. At this point I'm pretty happy with it but I am wondering if anyone else has this same model and if so what do they think of it? What problems or quality issues should I watch out for? I've been on the phone with Sony's tech support trying to get Sony's "S-Link" working with all my other Sony components and will be having them make a service call since it is non functional. Does anyone know of anything available that works with Sony's "I-Link" ports? From what I can tell it's BASICALLY a firewire port but uses some Sony proprietary interface or something. Sony said that "at this time there isn't ANYTHING it can be used for". It sounds to me like a "white elephant" type of technology that they've possibly dropped the ball on. Does anyone know if the current crop of Sony 65" HD monitors have equal to or better picture quality than this model does? I was told by the salesman that being that this is the XBR model it's "the best Sony has" but I'm wondering why they no longer manufacture XBR 65" TV anymore. Thanks in advance! GREAT WEBSITE GUYS!! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!

Doug Becker
Pleasant Praire (Kenosha) WI

[AA Doug]

Just wanted to add to my previous post to include the specs for my antenna and stuff....

[jlegge]

With the exception of tubes, Sony has turned it's XBR name to the LCD and plasma end of it's lineup. They no longer make a 32" XBR in tubes either. XBR for Sony has always represented the cutting edge technologies to go hand in hand with the best of the best recognition. 2001 brought the end of it's RPTV XBR lineup as it was, again, concentrating more on the LCD and plasma technologies.

[jlegge]

The iLink ports can be used in conjunction with the Mitsubishi HS-HD2000U to view high definition movies that have been recorded. I was unable, however, to get the VCR to record in high definition but I also only was to play with that sort of setup for minimal time. It could possibly do so. Also, you can possibly pipe your Sony (maybe other brands?) digital camcorder into this input and have a digital connection to view your footage with.....

[johnmark]

Your best bet for information on the XBR2 is to go to AVSforum.com.  There is a lot of imformation on this set, I had one for a short time.  Just do a search and you will find it.

John