I'm considering getting a Sony 51" CRT Rear projection TV. I have been told it is worth paying a certified technician to come in and proffesionally configured/allign the t.v. the first time for the best quality picture. I have also heard this costs hundreds of dollars. Any comments?

Also I've purchased a Bravo D1 DVD player w/DVi out! Apparently it's great for DVi only and it plays mpeg-4!!

Well, I have a Bravo D1 (had actually. I'm returning it for a D2), and I had my Samsung HLN4365W DLP HDTV professionally calibrated by an ISF certified technician. You can find a technician in your area at:

http://www.imagingscience.com/isf-trained.cfm

I think it was worth it, but it did cost an arm and a leg. They calibrate individual inputs on your set. It cost me $275 to have my DVI input calibrated, and I had one component input also calibrated. Total -- $350. Yipes! Prices in your area may vary. I had (will have) my Bravo plugged into the DVI input, and my HDTV cable box plugged into the component input. IMHO, the calibration dramatically helped the HDTV picture from both sources. Ironically, I watch most of my non-high definition television on an S-video input. The NTSC television signal doesn't look very good on the calibrated component input, and I have some scaling options on the S-video input that are unavailable on the component input. Were I you, I spend the money.

And yes, I would only hook up the D1 to the DVI input of my TV. Hooked up that way, it shines.

Thanks for the info!

I don't see info on the D2 from the web site, what extra benefits does it offer?

As well, was the US or Canadian dollars, and how long did it take? What exactly do they do, and is it more than just fiddling with the switches?

I rear one review where the guy's sony started flickering and it took a couple of visits from a Sony technician and he did a LOT of recablirating and re-alligning of SOMETHING but now apparently it's gold.

if you are getting a new hdtv I would reccomend you include the ISF calibration as "part of the price" instead of a "additional expense"...Almost all TV's come out of the box uncalibrated and in "Torch" mode with brightness and contrast turned all the way up..this is so that when they are taken out of the box and displayed at a store...a Bright
TV "looks" better than a dim one but at the cost of accuracy and reducing the life of the TV

I'm not completely sure but I think a Sony repair tech is a little different from an ISF calibrator