OK, just thought I'd give you my initial impressions on the Sony KV32FX66 TV. I found everyone elses very handy in making my purchase decision...

TV:

Picture: Really good overall. Sharp with vibrant colours, I've always been a fan of Sony tubes and Wega/Trinitron technology. Minor niggles would be slight pin cushioning in corners but better than most 32" flat screens I ve seen. May play around with the service menu. Contrary to some posts the motion blurring on sport is much better than past experiences (Philips/Sharp) on 100Hz TVs. One odd thing is that I prefer the PAL output of my Sky Digibox to the RGB output which seems to have more anomolies - for example around areas of intense movement (a person running - not blurring just a slight blockiness) - I think this is purely down to Sky encoding because it isn't at all apparent on terrestrial TV. Maybe someone can elaborate. PiP works really well. Doesn't have a second tuner but I'd never use it if it did. Just use Sky (on AV1) and terrestrial mix. 9/10

Sound: Well wasn't expecting too much as it's only Virtual Dolby so it pretty much meets my expectations. Good enough but nothing exceptional. Treble is clear and bass doesn't break up. Lacks the puch and stage of a surround sound setup.
(edit - As far as the sound goes I may have not done it justice. My other half watches a lot of MTV and she has been raving on about how great the sound is compared to the previous set (a Philips). I guess I'm comparing it to my old Sharp that had surround sound and a big old sub. It's an unfair comparison... ) 7/10

Aesthetics: Really like the design more now it is "in situ". Thought is was pretty good in the shop but looks much better and well pleased. The open design cabinet is sturdy and has good quality sandblasted glass shelves. Also a nice cable routing slot down the rear to keep things tidy. Top stuff. 9/10

Remote: The remote is well laid out and well balanced. Major plus is the ability to program it to function other brand VCR/DVD. Can now use the Philips VCR remote upstairs on the VidiSender. 10/10

Other: Definitely have a buzzing from the rear of the TV. It is not too bad and sounds like it is coming from the power unit. It may settle down and I'm possibly being picky anyway. I'll see what it is like over the next week. Interested in other owners experience of this and if they have taken any action.

John Lewis:

First purchase from them.

On the plus side you get a free five year warranty. They also price matched to £899.

On the minus side. They promised a £100 discount over the telephone on a Sony DVD player. I made a special trip down to Cribbs Causeway to make a choice. They failed to deliver on their promises. Apparently the assisstant said they do not allow special offers in conjunction with a price match. This sounds like rubbish, but I didn't have any means of backing this view up. Anyone else know if this is correct?
(Update: I spoke to their Customers Services person who was extremely helpful and sorted me out the discount. So well done to JL!).
Also, they didn't have the TV for pick up (after making a call to ensure it was there before setting off). I ended up waiting ages and making trips to and fro to the pick up area before finally speaking to a manager to get it sorted and then driving to their warehouse to pick it up.

It was worth all the hassle for the warranty though, and I have to say the manager was really good in sorting the whereabouts of the TV out.

John Lewis: 6/10

[NicktheNorse]

i did the exact same thing today though i could only get a pricematch to £995 with cabinet and saturday delivery/setup service....


cant wait

MadAxeMan

The TV sounds great, can't wait to get one myself. How long did you have to wait between ordering and actually getting your hands on it?

Also, who did you get JL to pricematch with? I tried to get them to match with Krish AV just before New Year, but they came up with their usual lame excuses.

I definately want the 32FX66 with a 5year guarantee, but don't want to pay a stupid price...

Cheers

Jamez

They price matched to Premier AV. I live about half way between Brum/Bristol so I dunno if that made any odds to their decision.

Have to say they are great to deal with on the phone, but their in store assistant sucked. The manager got them jumping to it pretty quick though, so fair play to him.

5 year guarantee was worth the hassle as well, especially as I just had an 20 month old Sharp die on me out of warranty. Not getting bitten twice.

[Mark Spanner]

By the sounds of things it's the luck of the draw!

I bought a KV32FX66 yesterday from JL Norwich. Went into the store.
Great service - the poor girl in there rang round all the 6 shops in the country I gave her!
They matched on KrishAV at £849, so I think it's the luck of the draw.

Thanks Mad for your opinion - the 300 notes I've just saved at JL I'm gonna get a cheap surround system (Sony) which will be better than Virtual Dolby!

I hope I don't get the infamous buzzing but not too worrried as I'm sure the my Xbox fan will drown that out!!

jamez - I'm picking mine up from the store next saturday but that is choice; by the looks of things I could get it after about 3 days. Obviously JL Norwich get a delivery Tue/Wed so not too long to wait.

[TommyP]

Originally posted by mdou

jamez - I'm picking mine up from the store next saturday

Take at least a couple of mates - they weight a ton!

(Mine took about 3weeks to come from JL but that was just before Xmas)

It's true, its heavy and very lop sided. The front of the set weighs about double the rear (unsurprisingly).
I live in the Cotswold on a cliff face (OK, slight exagerration, but not much). Getting it up to the house was a killer with two of us. Very steep steps and about thirty of them.
Its not too bad on the flat though.
It does only just fit through a standard door opening. The box touches on both sides. As a last resort you can get it out of the box and there is a nice touch where the front of the box folds right to the floor.

The picture and styling is looking better and better.

Only thing I will attempt to do is go into the service menu and try and drop the picture vertically a centimetre or two.
The pin cushioning really isn't that bad compared to other sets (in fact it is good) and from past experience on PC monitors I'll think I'll leave that well alone. Can't get too anal.

As far as the sound goes I may have not done it justice. My other half watches a lot of MTV and she has been raving on about how great the sound is compared to the previous set (a Philips). I guess I'm comparing it to my old Sharp that had surround sound and a big old sub. It's an unfair comparison... ..I will edit my initial review.

Just Received my new KV32FX66.
Bought from webelectricals.co.uk for £899 (free Delivery) no 5 yr warranty but I get an extra year from purchasing on my Barclaycard.
I have noticed that the unit is actually a European version. This is no hassle to me as all the settings seem to be that same as the UK version. As for other peoples concerns over earthing, all TV’s in Europe come with double insulation and CE marking thus no earth pin is required on the plug, therefore the two pin plug conversion is fine.
I have heard mention the service mode. Please can you post how to get into this menu option. Also how do you program up the remote for use on other systems I could not find these options in the manual. (thanks)
Looking at both stand types the open type is much better that the glass front. (Glad I chose the open type)

Overall the TV is great.

Steve - can you hear buzzing from the rear right of the set?

To enter service mode:

1) Turn TV onto stand by.
2) Press the i+ button
3) Press 5
4) Press vol+
5) Press the TV button (text off button)

You will then see a screen with TT-- in the top right corner. Now press the menu button and you will get the service menu. Mess at your own risk.

I just dropped my picture 4 notches vertically (34-30). Now centered just peachy. Cool.

To program the remote for VCR/DVD:

1) Press the main selector button on the remote to get it to either VCR or DVD
2) Before the green light goes out press and hold the yellow button for six seconds until the green light starts flashing.
3) Whilst the light is flashing enter the three digit code for your VCR/DVD brand.
4) All three lights will light simultaneously.

I'm guessing you may not have the code list. It should have come with your manual...

Popular codes are:
VCR:
PHILIPS: 311,312,313,316,317,318,358,359
PANASONIC: 321,323
All other codes are in the range 301 - 361 so try them and see.
DVD codes are 001-028 so again try and see.

[Rookies]

How easy is it to tune this tv? As it dont appear to have one button auto tune or setup like a few sony does

[Rookies]

also on this set am i able to switch from 100 hz to 50 hz like you can on the fq80

It does auto-tune from startup.
Don't believe it will revert to 50hz.

Mad,
Thanks for the info.
To your question, Yes I do hear a buzzing from the right hand side. I can only hear it when the volume is on very low. I must admint my VCR makes more noise when its playing.
I have tried to take a look through the vents. It may be some sort of thyrister buzz for the CRT, but i'm not sure.
From other posts I think I may have a good set as the sound isn't that bad. I have read reports where the buzz is very loud.

I think I may email sony direct and see what response they give.

Bye the way before I go into the service mode, what does it actually give the rights to do do. Anything special?

Thanks

[HowieC]

I've had the back off a few of these and the buzz comes from the scan coils, and is bound to vary from set to set. I've not yet heard a loud one.

HowieC: Is it anything that is easily fixable? I.E is it worth calling an engineer to? I'm very happy with the picture etc and wouldn't want anything upset back there.

Steve: Visit http://www.kv32tweak.freeuk.com/ and it'll give you a general idea. I used it to drop the picture a cm or two. Now perfectly aligned