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13 out of 13 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"Fantastic flat screen TV"
Pros: powerful engine, excellent picture quality
Cons: No USB port for future firmware upgrades
Summary: One year of research (and driving my wife nuts) I finally decided to take the plunge and bought this TV! My first reason was picture quality. Simply said, this Sony model is unbelievable. My second reason was style ? flat black with speakers on the bottom - slick. Third was technology ? 2 HDMI inputs, additional side inputs for ease of hooking up a camera and an 8 millisecond refresh rate, which is needed on a 40? LCD to keep up with fast moving scenes so that you don?t see pixels, and of course 1080i. Now, I have to say I currently do not have a Blueray DVD player, not do I see buying one in the future because I?m not the type of person who rents DVD movies. So, until Cable or Satellite starts broadcasting in 1080i, I know I?m tossing away $$$ buying the technology? for the time being. I figured for an extra $400 it was worth it to be prepared. Besides, this TV was $2999 at Best Buy I got it on a sale for $2500 (a weekend only sale). I bought it in NH, so I paid no sales tax. Woo hoo!
I have Comcast that delivers 720p and the DVR box converts the picture up to 1080i. No issues there, but I have to admit like everyone else, the standard channels are not that great, but they are viewable. I?ve seen other friends who bought cheaper LCD TVs and theirs is worse, so I suspect the Sony engine does a better job at converting the signals for standard TV ? either that or my cable signal strength is better because I live downtown. Oh, and with Comcast they don?t always show HD content on the HD channels ? they tricked me! So when watching CBS News on CBS HD, it is broadcast in standard definition. It actually does look better on the HD channel then when I switched over to the standard channel ? so at least that is a positive note. All of these above issues are more of a content providers issue since no one is broadcasting in 1080i yet. So you have to live with this on every Hi-Def TV you buy. We have Verizon fiber optics (FIOS) on our street and soon they are going to provide TV. Supposedly the quality is superior to cable. I will see for myself when we get it.
The other thing I am not crazy about was that I can not get audio out of the HDMI connection. I still do not know if this is an issue with Sony or the Comcast box. HDMI is suppose to carry both video and audio so you have less clutter with wires. No biggie, my TV is on a stand. I hooked up the audio cables and it?s fine with me? but if were hanging this on the wall I would not be so content as it would mean running more wires through the walls.
When you add up the pros and (not so many) cons, I feel I made the absolute right choice purchasing this model. Yes you pay more for the Sony name, but I have had 2 Sony laptops and a tube TV and have always had a great experience with them? until the technology changes and I have to upgrade again (like us all!).
I highly recommend this TV!
- 2 replies to this review
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Hi, You mentioned your HDMI from the Comcast box does not carry audio. Are you using a DVI to HDMI cable? DVI is video only, there is no audio part of DVI. So, If you hook a DVI to HDMI cable up.. you're only going to get the video part.
Comcast should really be on the ball and upgrade their boxes from DVI to HDMI!! -
Great review, I have to correct you though. 720p (progressive) and 1080i (interlaced) are already out and being displayed on hd channels. Some channels use 720p and some use 1080i. What isn't out yet is 1080p (progressive). Blu-ray uses 1080p or "Full-HD" as sony calls it.
