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Thanks guys for the replies, I've also seen those while googling. The price seems quite excessive to me but I'll keep looking. I understand that in the US the remote is known as Harmony 720 and it doesn't have the colour buttons but I was hoping to get one with those buttons as I do use them as well. That may be an alternative for me or maybe something from the UK since the $AU is quite high at the moment it may be even cheaper.

I've had a look at ebay but there's none listed. I'll try and look some more. Thanks.

My harmony 785 has just died on me today and I'm now looking to get another one. Not interested really in the Harmony One which has touch screen due to having a toddler around who loves to play with remotes etc. Any ideas where I can get one as its hard to find them nowadays. Wonder if I can source them from overseas since I do have the charging dock etc from my old one.

I have the xtreamer from when it first started shipping so my unit came with the firmware 1.02 . Since I received the unit I've had no problems viewing my files from my laptop wirelessly connected to the unit. Some files are bigger than others but most of the time I don't have a problem watching via wireless. I have played files that are 2 GB in size and it played fine. I was happy with it as it played my movies fine as well as my music if I wanted with no problems. I recently went back to the xtreamer website again to check if it was worth it to upgrade the firmware and I saw there were many versions. So I tried upgrading to 2.0, then 2.01 and then 2.02. What I found was that the interface had additional features added but in the end I downgraded back to my 1.02 as I found that the movies took a lot longer to play. And the buffering seemed to take a lot longer. When there were movies that were split into 2 files on version 1.02 it immediately played the 2nd file without hesitation but with the versions 2.x I found that I had to wait a while before it played whereas before it used to be practically instant. So I decided that I liked it the way it was and I didn't really need all the other additional features since I hardly used it anyway. I'm quite happy with the wireless performance and I don't have to stick my external hard disk via USB into the slot which is just next to the free wireless dongle that I got which is quite a squeeze as well. I have played mkv, rmvb, avi, xvid and others so I have no complaints. Only thing is that I just recently tried to play an wmv movie file and it wouldn't. That's the only file that I've got that it doesn't play. Strange but true. So maybe it's worth it to try 1.02 as I'm extremely happy with that version. Hope this helps someone.

Drats, I missed this one. Was looking at getting one but was still researching on which would be the best buy. Anyone know where I can get one in Perth in the flesh ?

I have the 40x and after reading this topic I turned my lights off and switched to one of the AV channels to see if there was any issue. I'm happy to say that I don't see anything of the sort on mine. Is it likely to happen in the future if you don't see it now ? Anyway, my backlight is at 3 and brightness at 56. Don't have any visible leakage on the sides that I can see either so I'm quite happy with my set. Got mine one month ago.

I have the 40x series and I think the picture is great. SD and HD are good enough for me. Maybe I'm not as fussy as the more learned viewers of SD and HD but to me the picture is pretty good. I've tried to change the settings to suit my viewing pleasure and am still going at it but you really have to change the settings from the store to get a better picture. Connecting my laptop to the tv was a breeze didn't have to do much and the picture was really good although it was at a lower resolution so it didn't fit the whole screen but from what I saw I was pretty impressed. Well, hope this helps.

Paid for my 40x on Thur and delivered on Fri. Am very happy with it at the moment, though I am still fiddling with the settings. I've ordered the DVE disk and just using my normal non upscaling dvd players I still find the display to my liking. Am quite happy with my purchase.

I've read that the pioneers tend to have issues with burn-in even with the new 1080p model that's out now. So not sure if you would want to go that way. Also plasmas are reflective vs lcds which are not so just like myself, I'd have to steer towards lcds as I have a bright viewing area.

Actually I was not offered any other extended warranty except for the one from Sony. If he had offered me a "Bing Lee" warranty then I would have jumped at the chance to get it sooner. Having said all that, if anyone is interested in a group buy let me know. I've asked around when I went looking around so I have some prices that were quoted to me for 3 or more sets. PM me and we'll see how it goes from there. I'm looking at the 40" x series so the group buy would be specifically for this model. If not its ok as I have a good (individual) price given to me from somewhere else but I just have to wait til mid October for it. This is only for Perth, WA metropolitan areas or thereabouts I'd say.

Thanks was just there the other day and they gave me a price of $4999 plus $400 for extended warranty. Managed to get a better quote at HN Cannington for slightly less. The manager there quoted me $300 for extended warranty and $4999 for the x. But another salesperson quoted me $400 and $4900 for the X. But when I told him that I got quoted $300 from the manager then he said ok that should be alright then. So maybe you can get a better price at HN Cannington ? Worth giving a try I guess. I got an alright quote from Sony Central but the extended warranty which is with Sony itself costs a bomb. Cost about $600 or so. That's why I'm still looking around. If it was for about $300, I would've gotten one from them. I wonder if it really is worth the premium to get the warranty with sony itself ?

Which well known group of franchise stores are you talking about ? Can you divulge that information ? I'm on the lookout for a good priced 40" X series.

Saw it on display at sony central at murray st perth and I think I've pretty much made up my mind that this will be the one to get for me. Been dealying and delaying and I think this one is it I guess otherwise I'll never end up with anything. I must say that pictures on the net don't do it justice. Looked a lot better than what I saw on the net, quiet happy with the look actually. If there's a group buy being organised anywhere please let me know as I'm very interested in it.

That's good news. Anywhere else in Perth that has the DVE for rent ?

I would be interested in a group buy if I like what I see in the x series. I was very tempted to get the phillips 9831 in the group by organised here as well but just thought that I should really have a look at the x first before deciding on which one to buy. Please keep me posted if there is a potential group buy. Thanks.

Are these the x or v series ? I'm also interested in having a look at them. Put off getting the phllips 9831 in a group buy so I could have a look at the x series first before deciding to buy.

I saw the new S bravia at Myers at the city mall today while shopping around. Looks nicer than the older one though the pix wasn't that great. But I think its probably the setup in the store more than anything as they all looked like there were hooked up through a central splitter or whatcha might call it.

Is it possible to get an extende warranty to 5 years under this deal ? I saw a reference made to Phillips getting out of LCDs in another forum somewhere but I can't remember where. I'll have to think about this seriously as the sony's are supposed to be around the same price point but no doubt do not have the extras that the phillips does like memory card slot with divx playback and amibilights etc.

I would really love to have one but I also want to see the Sony x series before I make a decision. And I'm in Perth as well, will they deliver to Perth ? Its a great price by the way. I only have another question in regards to Phillips. I've heard that they are thinking of getting out of LCD tvs so if that's the case then how will support be and if true is it really worth it to buy one ?

What are the best prices for this model going around now ? Would love to know the best prices in Perth.

I was in JB Hi fi Cannington on Fri and saw the 42 inch teac there displayed for about $3700 or so I think. So if you bargain can probably get more discounted. Not sure I like the look of it though but the price is very appealing.

I've been reading the many pages here and as a customer its really appalling to hear about such attitude from HN-operative. As I myself go to HN to browse through the tv section to see what's new and what's good and may possibly in the very near future opt to buy a plasma or an lcd tv, it just makes me feel like going elsewhere rather than to go to HN to buy. As for CMJ's post, if it helps in getting attention to the higher ups in HN about their salespeople's attitudes and how it may be costing them potential sales then why not ?! Is it so bad that they take a good look at their salespeople's attitudes and someone who actually posted it in a forum for all the world to see ? Sometimes they sit in their office and just don't see what's out there. This may give them a wake up call in improving something, be it their salesperson's commissions or level of service. HN-operative complains about low pay or whatever commissions but what about the other customers that are not so knowledgeable that he's probably fleeced for a higher margin to get higher commissions ? Anyone having a go at CMJ thought about that ? What's wrong with getting the best price and good service at the same time ? You mean they both don't go hand in hand anymore ? Geez, you might as well get a robot to take your place and key in the sales. Less BS that way don't you think ? Customers are the lifeblood of the store and if no ones buys you don't even get paid your $14/hr salary and that's a fact. Treat them well and they will come back to you. I know I would. If I find a good saleperson I would probably stick with that person knowing that they would try to do their utmost to get me the best deal and give good service at the same time. If I know which store HNoperative is in, believe me that's the store I'm going to avoid. Definitely don't want anyone with that attitude 'trying' to help me out in my purchase of an item that's going to cost me a lot of money. This guy shouldn't be even working in retail. PERIOD !

Thanks for the feedback everyone, appreciate it. So if the plasma/lcd that I buy has an inbuilt HD tuner then is it still worth it to get an HD set top box with PVR functions ? Not sure if there's a big difference between the SD STB with PVR vs the HD one. Is it really worth the difference in price ? After figuring all this out, then I'm going to have to find the model that I really would like to fork out on. I really like the Sony bravia 40" 'V' series. Seems to jump out at me all the time when I'm in the stores. The price is the only thing that's keeping me from jumping in and taking the plunge. Trying to convince myself that its worth the money ....

Hey guys, Am new here but have been reading the forum quite a bit before posting. Was wondering about inbuilt HD tuners vs external HD set top boxes. I remember going into HN and talking to a salesman while looking at the LG plasma with inbuilt HD tuner. He mentioned that the problem with this plasma is that it can receive HD signals but is not able to output HD signals so if for example I wanted to record HD tv I would be better off getting a plasma without an inbuilt tuner and getting an external HD set top box. So my question is (more like questions) , is this really true and are there really no LCDs or plasmas out there that do output HD signals ? And if this is the case then I must have an external HD set top box to be able to record. And how do I go about recording HD tv ? Get a set top box with HDD and recording function ? Or use HTPC ? Also, if what the salesman says is true then why bother coming out with LCDs or plasmas that have inbuilt HD tuners and not be able to record the HD programs ? Isn't it better to get one without and just get an external set top box instead ? Anyone with experience with the above care to share their experience ? Thanks in advance.