whoa have narrowed down my search for my startup HT and the finalists are these two.
samsung la32r71b and sony 32s200a
my questions are: which among them...
a. better in terms of broadcast/dvd video
I would only speak for the sony 32s200a because that's what I bought over the samsung la32r71b. For me, cable TV reception was better than expected. Of course it is nowhere near DVD quality but it's better than the Sony Wega 25" TV that it replaced. It seems the bravia engine helps in cleaning away the TV reception noise specially for scenes where there is not much motion.
As to DVD playback, I think it's as good as the Samsung.
b. sound quality
Consider the LCDTV's built-in speakers as insignificant, as if they put it there as an afterthought. However, the Sony's tuner has stereo decoding. I heard the Samsung's tuner is mono.
I got the DAV-DZ520K with the LCD and I would say it's worth choosing the Sony over the Samsung because of this HT system.
c. future proofing (can handle future technologies)
Both have HDMI. The Sony has really no PIP like Samsung's because you can only combine a moving picture inside a frozen captured picture.
The Sony HT system can play DIVX avi files up to 720 x 576 resolution. This even beats the Pioneer Divx players which can't play these files. However, the Sony DAV-DZ520K can't handle XVID files normally download via BitTorrent. I fixed it by using abcAVI Tag editor to patch the fourCC code to DIVX before burning them to CDs.
d. overall value for the buck.
Because of Sony's promo, you can get discount vouchers for buying other Sony's products like the home theater and a digicam. You get the most if you are paying in cash. If paying cash, the over-all value for the buck is better than Samsung's.
See this related thread:
http://pinoydvd.com/board/index.php?topic=52098.28