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Well I visited the show for the first time yesterday. It was very good, though it was more sound than vision. What HiFi? had a very impressive demonstration of the latest technology. I also particularly liked the new Solo 2.1 from Arcam. and Loewe's new Connect TV was impressive. I tried to visit the Sony stand but they didn't seem interested in visits from the public and kept their door firmly closed.

Look out for our review of the Loewe Connect TV in our May issue, out April 3rd...

Yes Sony had their door shut when I was there and had a guy standing outside...hmm....dissapointing. Anyhow, did you catch a glimpse of the big Denon powerhouse with TV and the mega-soundsystem? Pretty cool it was! I was also impressed with the Sim2 projector demo...a very tasty sound system that was!

[quote user="Hughes123"]Yes Sony had their door shut when I was there and had a guy standing outside...hmm....dissapointing. Anyhow, did you catch a glimpse of the big Denon powerhouse with TV and the mega-soundsystem? Pretty cool it was! I was also impressed with the Sim2 projector demo...a very tasty sound system that was![/quote]

Ah, Sony - what with them being almost impossible to get review products from AND  not making it easy to see them at this show, they are a incredibly frustrating company at times...

But hey ho - the Denon/B&W combo was indeed a barnstorming demo. More details here 

 

I've now ordered the Arcam Solo 2.1 with their two speakers and subwoofer system from Sevenoaks Sound and Vision (Tunbridge Wells branch), who were very helpful. I will be buying a new flat screen TV later in the year when the new thinner screens come out. I won't be buying a Sony TV - even if they get good reviews - I won't deal with companies who treat their customers with contempt.

[quote user="Clare Newsome"]

[quote user="Hughes123"]Yes Sony had their door shut when I was there and had a guy standing outside...hmm....dissapointing. Anyhow, did you catch a glimpse of the big Denon powerhouse with TV and the mega-soundsystem? Pretty cool it was! I was also impressed with the Sim2 projector demo...a very tasty sound system that was![/quote]

Ah, Sony - what with them being almost impossible to get review products from AND  not making it easy to see them at this show, they are a incredibly frustrating company at times...

But hey ho - the Denon/B&W combo was indeed a barnstorming demo. More details here 

 

[/quote] Time to stop buying Sony in my opinion then.

[quote user="JoelSim"]Time to stop buying Sony in my opinion then.
[/quote] ... and time to stop reviewing and giving star ratings to Sony then. :-)

You have to feel a bit sorry for the guys actually doing the Sony dem, however - for a number of reasons, the company had got a room far too small to demonstrate the Blu-ray system to the number of people who wanted to see it, and definitely far too small for a company the size of Sony.

Then there was the news of last week, which made even more people want to see what the victors in the format war were showing.

As a result, the room was absolutely rammed throughout the show, and the people staffing it made the sensible safety call to close the door some of the time to prevent it becoming uncomfortable or even dangerous. It just seems that reason wasn't communicated to people too well.

I don't feel sorry for them - I was treated badly. I was asked to wait five minutes - after ten minutes someone came out and said "they had important people in there". and I had to wait another 15 minutes. I felt like a second class citizen. So stuff it Sony!

 Oh right - well that is very bad. Point taken.

[quote user="Derekc"]I don't feel sorry for them - I was treated badly. I was asked to wait five minutes - after ten minutes someone came out and said "they had important people in there". and I had to wait another 15 minutes. I felt like a second class citizen. So stuff it Sony![/quote]

Yeah, I pretty much got the same treatment from Sony on the Friday.

Its a shame really, as I used to be a big fan of the Sony brand, but their customer service skills have plummeted recently.

sony is good or no???

i think its good,but...

It's probably going to seem like I have a vendetta against sony. In truth my employment was fairly pleasant save the sometimes questionable sales tactics preached by the head. This is just an assessment based on my rather involved experience with the last few year's products...

I came in when things were already in a bit of a spin products-wise and it just got worse. Customer service has also nose-dived into the ground according to some of the old-timers I worked with. The sony of yore is gone. They used to cater to the quality at all costs market back in the eighties delivering bulletproof reliable machines with good customer service and performance to match it all. Now the company's gone to chunks, making (actually not even making so much as outsourcing) low-cost high-volume equipment that may as well be Lucky-Goldstar and coasting on a well-earned 25 year pedigree that no longer applies. During my tenure I watched the list of Sony products I would actually buy dwindle down to it's current position: none.



I'll say this though; the Alpha series are very nice and I will consider them once the lens variety widens and the accessory set fills out. And the PS3 is ofcourse, the golden boy.