XBR 970 or XBR 960?

I have read some posts about the Superfinepitch CRT Screen on the XBR 960. I found a local store that has one for $1500.00 out the door.

1) Do you guys think it's worth the $300.00 for the Superfinepitch CRT that the XBR 960 has over the XBR 970 for $1200?

2) Is it true that the XBR 970 CRT's are made Oversea's and the XBR 960's were made in the USA?


Thanks Kevin

get the 960. it's the best HDCRT. bar none!!

sony reps are claiming that the new model has a superfinepitch tube. but it is not in the specs. they are also saying there is a reason for not listing it. but i havnt read why. they make a point to point it out and highlight it in there features on one tv then not even mention it on a tv that is supposed to be the new model replaceing the older version. sound fishy to me. pay the extra cash. this new model is one of sonys little ploys that i cant stand. they love to take advantage of unsuspecting consumers.

At least one person who has actually seen the XBR970 in action has posted on this forum and has stated that the TV definitely doe NOT have the SFP picture tube. The OP should get the XBR960. It is worht the extra money.

definately not the superfine pitch screen on the new 970. saw it in a store last tuesday. disappointing!!!

The store owner there purchased 25 ea at a discount. BETTER HURRY and buy one. they will be history real soon.

it was a great tv. my parents bought one last xmas and I glue myself to the tv when I visit. Going there tomorrow to install an ota antenna...a Winegard HD7082P. The antenna directv installed is kinda LAME. When Im finished Im going to chill and awe at the great picture on that set.

If you can get your hands on one...grab it!!! Do not ask questions.

960...

Called Sony's technical support and they assure me that the XBR 970 has the same Superfinepitch CRT as the XBR 960. They claim the only difference between the two is the 960 has more inputs like the I - link , a smart card reader and an Optical Audio Output. (970 only has Digital Coax Audio output).

Went to ABC Warehouse and they had both TV's on the floor with the same supposed HD feed. The picture Quality did not look all that great on any of their TV's. When I mentioned it to the Salesperson he said it was because they only had one signal which was split like 100 times to supply Video to all the TV's. I could not tell the difference between the pictures on the 970 or the 960. I decided it wasn't worth the extra $400 they wanted for the XBR 960 and bought the XBR 970.

I did notice that the 970 said made in Mexico on a tag on the back of the TV. While the 960 said made in PA or Pennsylvania.

The Sony rep told me that the parts for the 970 and 960 are and were made in Texas, Pennsylvania and Mexico.

I have seen a XBR960 with a fantastic picture which must have had a high quality HD feed at Circuit City once. So I know what the TV is capable of.

Just my two cents for what it's worth.

It's been discussed at length before that Sony sales reps have been stating that the 970 has the same tube as the 960, but to anyone that has looked into this know that's not true. If you're happy with the 970 then great, but don't accept that it has the same tube as the 960...it doesn't.

The 970 does NOT have the superfine tube.

This was reinforced by the owner of our local store in conversation recently..."I would have bought more 960's but the average consumer will not notice the difference between the 2 tubes and mainly are concerned about price...it is pretty sad!

The 960 has a beautiful picture...no comparison to the 970.

2) Is it true that the XBR 970 CRT's are made Oversea's and the XBR 960's were made in the USA?


Thanks Kevin

My XBR960 says made in Mexico. So you could say they are made in North America just not in the US.

...So you could say they are made in North America just not in the US. For the 960s, used to be made in NA would be correct. :)

The 960 has firewire the 970 does not. You can record the HD stream and play it back onto your MAC over the firewire cable. Look for VirtualDVHS for more info. I think there may be a way to use it to record HD content to your Windows XP PC as well.

For the 960s, used to be made in NA would be correct. :)

I stand corrected. Since mine is the newer 960N they must have moved production to Mexico from the US where the 960s were manufactured.

My last Sony Wega was built in Mexico and I just sold it with zero problems in four years.

The TV before it was an XBR and it was built in Japan and lasted 18 years. I wish the XBR line was still built in Japan!

Just figured I would chime in since I just bought the 970. It is a great tv. It beats most 34 crt's hands down. My father has the 960 and even he says that my tv has a great picture. That being said, the 960 is on another planet. Even my dad is still blown away by its lifelike picture. The 960 is never going to be made after this year. I don't even know if it is being produced or if Sony is just selling what they already have. The 970 is better than any LCD I have ever seen. For me it was a toss up between that and the Aquos 32". Sorry for Aquos fans but HD does not make up for enough of current tv broadcast to justify suffering, yes suffering, through regular def channels on the LCD. Go with how much you really want to spend. If you buy the 970 you won't have a 960 sitting next to it to remind you that it has an inferior picture tube. Plus the 970 comes with a 2 year in home warranty. The 960 is for someone that only wants the best of the best. Sure I don't have a cable card, but my dad already sent his back because he really wanted the HD dvr. The other differences in features are only fluff.

...The 970 is better than any LCD I have ever seen. For me it was a toss up between that and the Aquos 32". Sorry for Aquos fans but HD does not make up for enough of current tv broadcast to justify suffering, yes suffering, through regular def channels on the LCD... Fair enough, but that's only an issue if one plans on watching SD channels. Many of us just use our HDTVs for HD viewing only in which case from what I've seen...LCDs from Sony perform better than the 970.

my old rca from 1975 had a better/smoother picture than the 970!

borromini I counldn't agree with you more. If all I had was HD to watch then I would be an LCD user. It is better hands down for high def. But I watch a lot of standanrd programming and I have an XBOX 360 so I liked the Crt better for that. I have a friend with the 360 and the Aquos and it ghosts a lot when there is quick animation. As far as it being worse than a 1975 tv, I dont really get the insult. Good for you. If you are that blind than why are you on a High Def forum? Really, use real facts to back up an opinion. I'm getting tired of blanket statements that have no bearing in conversation. I have a 69 Camaro that in my opinion kicks a 2006 Mustang's ass, but who cares. Apples and oranges people.

I have not had much experience viewing HD so far (no HD sources in my home, so I've only seen various HD feeds in stores) but I'm not so sure HD is necessarily better on an LCD than a CRT HDTV.

If the HD source is native 720p, then of course that's true. But if the HD source is native 1080i, then I think it should look better on a CRT HDTV.

Regarding super old analog curved-screen TVs, I think very highly of them also. They aren't deficient in any way for viewing SD...they are designed to display SD and only SD, and are usually built with all that one needs to view SD at full quality. Also, old tube TVs are usually built with better quality control I think, and they also tend to be deeper than modern tubes of equivalent screen size, therefore they can have better geometry and convergence. I like my 20" analog JVC tube very much, I still have it. The only reason I felt a need to replace it is that it sadly got too old and dark from aging. :(

I have not had much experience viewing HD so far (no HD sources in my home, so I've only seen various HD feeds in stores) but I'm not so sure HD is necessarily better on an LCD than a CRT HDTV. In general that may be true, but the last few posts were about specifically the 970 vs. one of Sony's own LCDs.

no personal digs intended...no criticisms in selection choices.

the space between the vertical aperture on the 970 tube is about as wide as the space in david letterman's front teeth as opposed to the 960 superfine tube.

the superfine tube is what made the xbr the fine xbr that it WAS.

I personally think the 960 is the better TV. I have seen them both side by side and its like comparing an Emerson to a Trinitron! :eek:

Even the regular pitch Sony CRTs still have about 800 lines of horizontal resolution right? That's nowhere near 1920, but that's still not bad. It's still just as good as any other CRT HDTV from any other company. Also, arguably since a CRT is analog in the horizontal direction, it can resolve more lines in the horizontal direction than it has pixels/slots/stripes. At the very least, they can be said to resolve 1920+ luminance intensity lines in the horizontal direction, ignoring color information.

I've seen some sources and sites say that a CRT can often be thought of as being able to resolve 1.5 to 2 times as many horizontal lines of resolution as it has stripes.

the fine pitch has 65% more stripes.

The nice thing about the 960 I really like is the firewire. You can record and play HD source to your PC or MAC with firewire. :yippee:

Went to Circuit City Saturday and was watching the Masters on a XBR970 and it didn't look that good. It was kind of grainy, not crisp. Went back Sunday and was watching a HD Pistons basketball game on the same TV and it looked fantastic. A salesman told me that the Masters was being broadcast on Comcast and wasn't HD. He also said that the signal was split to many other TV's. That probably explains the difference in picture quality I observed. Obviously, no surprise, the quality of the input can make or break the picture quality. I've noticed the quality of input feeds varies widely from store to store. In my area Ciruit City and Best Buy generally have better quality feeds, but not always. ABC Warehouse feeds are very poor, no TV'S look very good. I'm looking forward to getting my new XBR970 delievered in a couple weeks.

Wow thats odd...I guess Comcast in your area dont get CBSHD,cause we had the Masters in HD here and it was one of the better broadcast I've ever seen.

One Salesman said the Masters on Comcast wasn't in HD and the other said it was. Whatever it didn't look good at all. Thats why I think it's important to make sure the TV your looking at has a good quality input, before you make a judgement call.

I have the 960 and it did break and need a "new board" after the 1st year i owned it. the 2 year warrenty saved me a lot of money. In home service as well. they said $500. if it wasnt under warrenty.
mine was made in mexico

Was supposed to have XBR970 delievered today but was still having trouble deciding between XBR970 and Panasonic Plasma TH-42PX60U. Went to local TV Dealer to get a refund on XBR970. When I noticed they had put the XBR960 on clearance. After some bargaining got a brand new one in the box for $1070.00 out the door delievered. Pretty sweet deal!!! Yeah Baby!!!

high 5 kevin :yippee:

bet ya cant wait to get it out of the box.

Thanks Rick!!!

You're right I sure can't wait to open that box!!! It's really got me rushing to finish making the Entertainment Center I'm making for it. I'm just about done with the Woodworking. Now all I have to do is stain and put a couple coats of Polyurethene on it.

Thanks again for all your help.

I'm finally in the HD club. It's about time huh!

Kevin

My XBR960N worked for exactly 1 day before shutting off every 30 minutes. 3 Months later and 2 DZ boards later it is still not repaired. The good news is it will work fine for a long time when the house is below 74degrees. It still shuts off when it gets close to 80 degrees. I get the 4 blink error code and am still waiting for Sony service to properly repair my set. I found a temporary solution by setting a fan outside and blowing air across the Qbox (Small Linux PC inside the set). It has perfect PQ as far as I can tell. I just hope Sony eventually get's it repaired before the two year warranty runs out.

I have been researching HDTVs all day. I want a CRT HDTV because I think LCD tvs don't look very good compared to crts. Plus I am only looking to spend around 1200 and I want a bigger tv than 27 inch. You guys don't seem to like the KD-34XBR970 but that is the only one I have found that I can go out and buy somewhere that isn't an off brand. You all seem to favor the 960, are you talking about the SONY 34 Inch Super Fine Pitch(TM) XBR(R) Television KD-34XBR960? I am curious because this TV is 1100$ more than the one I am looking at and if it is the tv you are talking about then that is ok because it is out of my price range. Or are you talking about a different tv, one that I might be able to afford? I need a new tv regardless but I wonder if I should just buy an off brand like the 30 inch insignia hdtv from best buy for 600$ just to tide me over till LCDs drop some more and look better. Of course the insignia doesn't have an hdmi input so I wouldn't be able to also use the tv as a computer monitor like I was hoping to do with the 970. I will not need the tv for about a month and I am hoping it will go on sale in the meantime so I can save some money. I guess I am really just asking if I should buy the KD-34XBR970 or wait to buy and LCD? I have only seen LCDs at best buy, wal-mart, target, and compusa but they don't look nearly good enough to justify going 2000$+ into debt over. If any of you could weigh in I would appreciate it.


Ok I have read other threads here and seen that a Crt is not very good for a computer monitor.

http://www.refurbdepot.com/productdetails2.cfm?Product_ID=3160&refererid=cnet_shopper

I have no idea if this is a good idea but this LCD looks promising, and cheap for an LCD. What do you guys think of this one, refurbished and such?

You'll have to search around. But don't give up too qiuckly. I finally found a brand new 960 from Best Buy. Ask them to search all the stores in the area. Found a couple, the sales guy called and they said they had 1. I called couple days later they told me no. Checked with diff. store and sales guy found 1 brand new and they shipped it to the store closest to me. appox 1200. Not too bad, will pick up tomorrow and let you know if this is the best picture like i've read. Also i saw a couple display models just check around and see if you can't locate 960 if that is what you want.