Good television, one glaring mistake

Sony does a nice job with their XBR2. This is their newest rear projection television and is 1080p, but beware when you purchase it: the stores will be showing a "regular" television program on the other TVs, but strangely, this television will be showing something else, and it will look incredibly superior. Why? Because even HD shows do not come in 1080p, so Sony provides the retailer with a DVD to play over and over in this particular model, and this DVD is of course recorded at 1080p. But, this is not what you will see when you watch television at home, except for BluRay movies if you have such a player. OK, someday 1080p will exist, but it's not a given.

The picture is outstanding. Takes a little long to warm up when you first turn it on, which admittedly can be annoying. It does have "Twin View", aka picture in picture. It has "advanced iris" which automatically adjusts brightness of the screen, though I typically like things brighter than most. Picture quality is very good and rivals that of any LCD out there. There is a cable card slot if you so desire. Great pro to this set is that there are 3 (three) HDMI ports, which is very convenient. Sound quality from the speakers is not bad, but given their awful location and appearance, it better be. TV also allows you to connect your PC, but I've had troubles getting it to use the whole screen so this may not be possible.

Problems: although it comes with a spare lamp bulb, it is because these generally do not last as long as other bulbs. So, it's great they include a spare bulb, but you'll use it earlier than other brands.

BONEHEAD marketing mistake of the year: goes to Sony for making such a high quality television, but with big fat huge "dumbo ears" as speakers on the SIDE, which, in this 60 inch model, CANNOT BE REMOVED. THEY CAN ONLY BE REMOVED IN THE 70 INCH MODEL. I have found salesmen from all walks of life say, "hey, don't worry buddy, you got a home theatre system? Just remove the speakers." Uh...no. I returned mine and avoided a restocking fee because of the misinformation I was given about the "removable" speakers. I won a few bets with salesmen (ok, I just made them look silly) when I tell them, "show me how to remove the speakers in the 60 inch model." Speaking of "Dumbo," that's how they feel when they realize it cannot be done, unless you have a hacksaw, but that method is not described in the manual. If you like the Dumbo ears, fine, but check with your spouse, and also, understand it not only looks funny to 4 out of 5 people, but also takes up a lot more space.