Heehee - and I thought I was the only one to have that kind of price luck.
But seriously folks, with the announcement of the new XBR4's and 5's, Sony did lower the MSRPs $200-300 on the XBR2/3's, depending on model. Yes I know - whoopie.
They are still probably among the most expensive mainstream sets for their panel sizes, but you can buy them a good bit cheaper - while you can still get 'em - from reputable discounters, especially if you don't mind taking a small gamble with an on-line purchase.
Sony flat panel prices have been dropping steadily for a few years now, along with other manufacturers. Geez, the 32XBR1 listed for $2,699.99 when it was first introduced only 2 years ago. The new 32XBR4 is $1,599.99 - and you'll be able to buy it for less than that at all but the most retail-retail outlets. I've only just started tracking Sony's 1080p flat panels, so I don't know if we'll see the same kind of steep pricing slope with them as with the 768 32XBR series. Thanks to competition it'll happen eventually, but perhaps later rather than sooner.
Of course, we don't know what the performance of the new models will be, but my eyes always seem to gravitate to the XBR panels when I do side by side comparisons. To my eyes, only the Samsungs have come close lately. Everybody's different though. And certainly there are much cheaper sets out there with acceptable pictures too.
If I have the coin, I'll usually pay the difference and get the XBR. At least a good lcd flat panel has a decent chance of a long lifespan over which to amortize the extra cost, unlike some of the other hd tech out there whose longterm reliability - or the reliability of the manufacturer in the case of off-brands - has yet to be proven.
Good grief - too much time on my hands today.
