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Date: 2008-12-09 Great TV for the Price, with Picture Adjustments included. After my previous 42" Plasma went out on me after only 2 years of working, I decided I was done with Plasma and wanted an LCD. I play alot of games and wanted to use the tv as a monitor. LCD is the best choice for this. I new I didn't need the top of the line TV, just something that would work and work well. I finally decided on a Sony. I bought it from a local store for a good price, took it home and easily set it up. Upon checking the menu I found it very easy to use and I like how it is off set, not right in the middle of the screen. It makes picture adjustments alot easier. The Remote is descent, I'm not remote crazy, so as long as it does what I need it to I don't really care. I had 2 major problems,however. First up, I couldn't get the optical out to work for the life of me. I tried everything and I'm a fairly tech savy guy. The second thing is clouding/Panel inconsistencies. This was a huge problem. I had two cloudy patches on the panel when watching TV at night. Whenever there was a dark scene the cloudy patches stuck out like a sore thumb. It was driving me crazy. After talking to Sony tech support (which wasn't bad, but not great) they said I needed a repair. Well, the TV was only 1 day old, so I simply packed everything up and returned for a brand new TV. After setting everything up AGAIN, I fired it up praying this panel wasn't as bad. The answer: it was great. NO clouding, NO inconsistencies. I still haven't tried out the optical out though. But this second TV is GREAT. Don't be put off by the "low" contrast ratio of 2500:1. It has darker blacks then any other LCD I looked at in this price range. The color's are nice with a descent amount of options to adjust the picture. Not as many as a Samsung or the next level up Sony's, but enough for me. HD is great. A few times I've noticed some slight pixelation, but I think it's my cable provider not the TV, because I don't notice anything when using the xbox360. The sound is great. I've read alot of reviews about these new TV's skimping on the speakers, but not on this one. Very good sound. Standard Definition I would rate as Good. Nothing special, I don't think it "enhances" it at all, so it's going to be a little grainy depending on your signal. Overall, very happy with this TV. **Pro's: Excellent HD picture Sound Menu (if you like a simplistic menu) 3x HDMI **CON's: Some panels have clouding. Turn on the TV to an empty input, turn up the backlight all the way and turn the lights off in your room. If you can see "cloudy" patches on your panel - RETURN IT FOR A NEW ONE. Doesn't have as many Picture adjustments as a Samsung. Doesn't enhance Standard Def. Optical out ONLY works with the TV tuner!!! That sucks. What a waste. Overall: Great TV for the price range. Picture Settings: Here is just what I have. It is at least someplace to start with! BACKLIGHT: 7 PICTURE: 72 BRIGHTNESS: 63 COLOR: 61 HUE: 0 COLOR TEMP: NEUTRAL SHARPNESS: 2 NOISE REDUCTION: High (your preference, I can't tell a difference) Then just fine tune to your liking! ****UPDATE***** Also, for all you videophiles who are disappointed with the lack of picture adjustment, there is a way to access more options in the Service Menu. To access the Service Menu, with your TV on press this on the remote: left,right,mute,center button, mute, menu Before you change anything, I would write it all down. I'm still tweaking, but here is something to try: Backlight:7 Picture: 94 Brightness: 55 Color: 52 Hue: 0 Color Temp: neutral Sharpness: 2 Noise Reduction: high (or whatever) In the service menu: R Gain: 163 G Gain: 149 B Gain: 113 R Offset: 98 G Offset: 106 B Offset: 105 Date: 2008-12-09 Great TV! Great picture, great sound. A solid TV! The HD picture and DVDs are outstanding. The standard definition quality varies by channel. Some are very good--as good as my old CRT. Some are not as good, but even the worst aren't objectionable. The TV takes 8-10 seconds to display video after being powered on. I don't turn it on and off freqently so that's not a big deal. Sometimes when changing channels between standard definition and high definition there can be a 2 or 3 second delay. I compared the S Series and the W Series side-by-side at Circuit City and could not see much difference. I decided to save a few hundred dollars and in my opinion got a great TV that does not disappoint. Pros: * Great HD picture/good standard def picture. * Good sound. * The menu and setup are intuitive Cons: * Takes 8-10 seconds to display video when turned on (not a big deal). * Can take 2-3 seconds to display picture when swithing between channels of different resolutions (from 480i to 1080i) Note about shipping: I did not factor shipping into my product rating, but FYI, I had no problems with the white glove shipping by CEVA. If you track the order it can be a little frustrating. They don't update as frequently as UPS and the routing seems odd. BUT, they scheduled delivery for the day Amazon estimated (a little over 1 week). I called and asked if I could pick it up instead and they were very polite and accomodating. Date: 2008-12-05 Bigger, Heavier, but better I received my Sony Bravia S-Series KDL-46S4100 within 4 days including a weekend. I was surprised I would get it this early since I got standard shipping and was expecting it a week later. Don't worry the delivery guy calls you to make sure you are home. Since I work 9 to 5, I asked them to deliver after 6 and they got here by 7. Anyway, the TV is HUGE. I am replacing a 32 inch Westinghouse LCD HDTV for my family room and I love the size of this Sony. What I noticed immediately was that I needed to buy a new TV stand to hold the size and weight of the new one. The sound quality is amazing especially when hooking it up to sony bravia home theater system. As for the picture quality- It is really nice. I sit about 8 feet away and can still notice some graininess on some channels though- regular and a few HDTV channels. I might need to play with the picture settings though. The remote is basic and simple but its OK for whatever controls you need since most people will be using their cable provider's remote anyway. Overall, I am very happy with the purchase especially since I got a great deal from amazon! Date: 2008-11-13 Very happy with our purchase. Everything works and I am very happy with the TV. It might have something to do with my inputs but the image in not quiet as crisp as the ones in the stores. The menu is very simplistic and straight forward, which makes tweaking the image some what limited. Still, though everything is working nicely. No problems for the first 4 months. Date: 2008-10-06 Money well spent The TV arrived as promised. The TV itself is outstanding - awesome picture quality, sounds is great, 180 degree viewing angle, more than enough connection ports and most of all, easy to use remote. I highly recommend this HDTV to everyone!
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