After initial sticker shock at the big box store and a horrible experience with Fry's management, I…read morewas so happy to find Discount Merchant Electronics via Google. It is refreshing to see so many positive reviews and that the replacement bulb for my Sony Wega KDF-42we655 lamp was IN STOCK.
The price for the Philips OEM in housing was $50 cheaper than Fry's and over $100 cheaper than Best Buy (redirected to Buy.com). Although some people say they received their bulb in 24hrs, I had to call in after not receiving a tracking email.
It took about 20 min to get thru to an operator and another 10 min for him to find my order and update the status. Turns out they didn't ship it yet and he assured me it was going out today (2 days after initial purchase). I find it a little suspect that 10 min after the call I received an email from UPS with my tracking number.
I received the bulb a day later (total of 4 days) even though the DM warehouse is roughly 100 miles from my residence in California. The bulb is a Philips OEM and fit perfectly after install (10 min from box to picture on TV).
A warning...The directions are pretty vague and the YouTube videos are incorrect. If you have my model, there are a total of 4 screws (2 on each back edge) that need to be removed and 2 more screws that loosen but do not need to come out from the back. Removing the bottom front panel is a bit tricky as it feels like you're going to break the plastic, but careful pulls will allow the panel to "snap" out.
Unplug the TV, use latex gloves, and remove the old bulb housing with allen wrench supplied. Line up the new housing and make sure the bottom connection slides in with slight pressure (looks like 2 fuse plugs). Screw in the housing, replace the front panel, then screw in the 4 screws and tighten the 2 large screws. Plug in the TV and you will have a brand new picture!
They said this is an OEM Philips bulb so it should be good for 6000-10k hours roughly 5-7 years. I went with DM instead of Egghead (redirected again) because of the positive reviews. So far so good!!!