I recently installed a SONY XBR-55850D and found that it utilizes an external brick style power supply [WTF, SONY!?!].

Can anyone verify whether the outgoing but still in stock XBR-??850C uses an external power supply?

TIA

No C's do not.

XBR:
55 850D, 49 800D, 55 930D and 65 930D have a power brick.
65, 75, 85 850D and 43 800D do not.

All D 1080p W series do have a brick.


(And we were told not to 'extend' the low voltage wire side after the brick)

MUST BE THINNER!

In the X850D, looks like the 65 and 75 might have internal power supplies.

As for the 55X850C, the spec sheet leads me to believe it has a standard AC input (while the 55X850D spec sheet indicates an AC adapter).

The only TVs worth selling are now no longer worth selling. Way to go Sony. Yet another instance of a manufacturer with their head firmly up their ass

Yeah. That's not a decision by Sony but rather it was the panel supplier. Sony has no choice but to go along with it and try to mitigate the whining.

The good news is in the case of PSU failure it's easier to replace them now.

You can probably expect to see this from all TV makers here in the next couple years.

Agreed.

They do need to take into consideration cord length, an in wall extension option, and a mounting location system on the back of the panel.

Not a deal killer, there's room at the top of the panel to mount it, but a little more thought into next year's design would be appreciated.

When has that ever happened? How many panels have you seen that advertise being the slimmest on the market and then have the inputs sticking straight out the back?

That is the typical dumba$$ response by some marketing rep, that doesn't know his body parts from a hole in the ground.
Of course you can extend the low voltage side of the PSU. You can even find easy adaptors today, so you don't even have to cut any wires.

But just Velcro'n the PSU to a recessed flat spot on the back of the TV, is the easiest route and makes it like any other TV install.
So the bigger question is: Why these TV manufacture idiots don't have a dedicated spot, molded on the back of the TV, for the PSU to just slide and lock in.

Because they are

Asked and answered.

I AMAZED a "sales engineer" at a CES booth by asking a logical question one day. The product was power strips. I asked why they didn't put the wallmount screwhead cutouts some logical distance apart.

In response to his blank look, I told him to pick up any one of his plastic power strips that had cutouts on the back so it could snap onto screws on the wall. He came up with something like 5 27/32" (it was an oddball dimension in metrical, too).

So, sez I, you're mounting this on the wall at the back of a rack, about a foot off the floor, leaning over and trying to lay out the holes using a tape measure or small rule. Wouldn't it be A LOT easier if they'd just space the holes 5 3/4" apart?

The issue had never occurred to him. Like TV manufacturers and SO MANY details of their products!

What would be even better, is a standard for the keyhole slots on the back of anything that used more than 1 hole.
Something like . . . . VESA!?!

So a power strip or surge protector would have mounting holes spaced at 200mm or even 300mm.
75mm or 100mm on small adaptors like: tiny cable box adaptors, HDMI extenders, DirecTV client boxes, etc.

Could you imagine the time we would save and all the cool universal mounting adaptors that could be made (like stacking adaptors), if the industry did this!

Easiest way to mount an AC strip, network switch, whatever....

Run a piece of white electrical tape up the side face of your spirit level.
Hold device against level, and use a pen to mark the screw holes on the tape
Place level on wall, level bubble, and mark or drill holes.
Fits the first time, and it's level.

Easier way is take a piece of scrap paper, hold it over the back and run your fingers over the holes. It will create an outline on the paper. Hold paper to wall, screw in marked spots to desired depth, tear paper away, mount item.

I'm curious how that's the case? How or even why does the panel supplier dictate or indeed care whether Sony's own designed chassis has an internal or external power adapter?

Daniel,
Maybe the manufacturer offered Sony a discount of 27 cents on the panel if Sony let the manufacturer make it with an integral power supply. Coulda been.

We are talking about Sony. I think any panel manufacturer on the planet, hell, maybe some from other worlds would be drooling at the opportunity to sign a deal with Sony to make their panels. If the panel manufacturer is dictating how the product is designed, than there is a serious issue in this case.