My new Sony BRAVIA 55 inch KDL-55HX750 Full HD 3D TV

My old Sony 46 inch KLV-46W550A TV decided not to play nice anymore, just after 3 years I bought it. With the TV came with only 2-years warranty and I didn’t opt for extended warranty period, I can’t claim the warranty anymore.

If you look at the right had side of the photo (it is more visible if you view the photo in larger size by clicking on it), you will notice black lines appeared there.

So I went to Sony Service Center at KLCC inquiring about the cost of the repair, but they need to send the technician to my house.

I was really hoping that the issue is just related to the electronic circuit board which shouldn’t be that expansive to replace. My heart shattered to pieces when hearing the technician said that this is the LCD panel problem, and costs RM2800 to replace.

It looks pretty expansive to repair a really old LCD TV, although during the time that I bought this model, it’s quite a mid range one, with Full HD display and Motionflow (priced at RM7,999 when I bought it). So now, I got every good reason to start eyeing for an LED 3D TV.

At that point, NX720 series looks quite attractive, but after reading the review that this model has ghosting issue with 3D, as well as the Sony Bravia 2012 models will start selling in Malaysia in May 2012, I guess I need to hold my horse for a while.

On one very find evening (mid May, can’t remember the exact date), upon browsing Sony Malaysia website, I see that they have the 2012 line-up updated on the website already together with the price. And the one that I plan to get is the KDL-46HX855 model (priced at RM10,999). Why this one?

• X-Reality PRO Engine, for even more natural color production
• Motionflow XR 800. I’m a fan of Motionflow and have been enjoying the 100Hz one on my old KLV-46W550A
• Dynamic Edge LED with Local Dimming – where the backlight can be controlled by individual LED blocks, giving incredible contrast. Meaning you can see really deep black level in a very bright scene
• Monolithic Design
• OptiContrast Panel, where when turned off, the TV looks like a flat pieces of glass

The inside looks really nice, but the size is the same as what I was using previously – where looks like, I’m not upgrading my TV at all. Furthermore, when watching 3D movies, the screen will appear relatively small when enjoying normal movies, thus 55-inch looks more suitable for enjoying 3D movies.

Suddenly, I got attracted to the 55 inch model. But the 55 inch one of this series (KDL-55HX855) is priced at the whooping RM17,999. Way totally out of my budget.

So, to get the more affordable 55 inch TV, I have to compensate a few of the premium features. For this to happen, I have to settle for the HX750 series (also the new 2012 model). So the one I’m considering is KDL-55HX750 model (priced at RM9,999). Here are the features of this model

• X-Reality Engine (without the Pro compared to HX855 model)
• Motionflow XR 400 (compared to XR 800 in HX855 model)
• Dynamic Edge LED with Frame Dimming

I really give this a lot of thought, reading reviews from the internet and also watching both of the models in the showroom. The picture on the HX855 does appear richer, but almost unnoticable compared to HX750. Finally, I’m convinced to get the KDL-55HX750 instead of KDL-46HX855.

After that, I’ve been hopping from one chain store to another, looking for the best deal, where I happened to see this at Jusco Mid Valley.

This is a really good bargain. RM2k cheaper that what other stores are selling. When I showed this to my friend, he found it a bit weird, and they might be a mistake. I’m just hoping that he is wrong.

So on Sunday, May 20th, I pay Jusco mid valley a visit with RM8000 in my wallet. So I called the salesgirl, inquiry about the product, and she seems so happy that I decided to buy this. So I went to the counter, while the cashier is checking the stock in the inventory, when I hear there’s a little commotion there.

I started to feel uneasy. After a few phone calls, the cashier came to me and apologize that they put the wrong price on the tag, where the price is RM9,999. Darn! My friend is right after all. Well, I just said that I’m not going to get this, and the cashier keep apologizing to me about the mistake.

With a broken hearted, I went to Tropicana City Mall to visit Gamers Hideout there for PS3 games. Went to Best Denki after that and saw the 46 inch version of the TV that I would like to get is on display.

No 55 inch one where I asked the salesman there are they selling. After checking the inventory, they do have 55 inch version in the warehouse, and the price is RM9,499. That’s RM500 cheaper compared to getting it from Sony Center, Harvey Norman or Jusco.

Furthermore, it comes with 2+3 (total of 5 years) warranty FOC. You have to pay more than RM1k for the extended warranty at Harvey Norman. The extended warranty is something that I’m looking based on the experience that I had with my old LCD TV.

I found the price and the 5 years warranty is pretty good offer. And with RM8k in my pouch at the moment (from the failed purchase at Jusco), I just paid the deposit for RM7500, and the rest I will settle when it is delivered to my house.

Weekend is the most convenient time for me, so I set the delivery date to be today. So behold my new 55 inch 3D LED TV. And it comes with 2 pairs of free 3D glasses.

This new TV of mine will remains sealed in the box for quite sometimes I guess as at the moment, I’m in the midst of finding out contractor to do TV panel at my house. Below is something that I would like to do too.

Will definitely blog in the near future when my TV panel has completed, and my new TV has been hanged to the wall.