 Outstanding Picture, NO dead pixels! |
| Review Date: March 9, 2010 |
| Reviewer: J. Ide, Claremont, California U.S.A. |
I have to preface this review with the fact that in September of 2008 I purchased a Toshiba 52RV530U flat panel TV online for $1500.00 and the minute I fired it up after unpacking it I noticed some black dots on the screen (which I later found out are called 'dead pixels'). Well the problem was not corrected until TWO MONTHS later after TWO panel replacements! (that is after Toshiba referred me to one of their local authorized repair shops). Needless to say I was not happy about this dead pixel problem for such an expensive TV (subsequently I found that this is not an uncommon problem for many other brand name LCD flat panel HDTVs).
Anyway forward fast to February 2010 when my Toshiba (just over a year old and of course just past it's one year warranty) started developing vertical colored lines on the right half of the screen! Well after all the trouble I went through with this Toshiba TV I chose not to even spend a further dime on it since it was out of warranty anyway. So on March 1st 2010 I found this Sony KDL-52VE5 on Amazon for $1294.97 and I couldn't be happier (I'm not sure why they've gone up in price over the past week since they're being discontinued).
First off....NO DEAD PIXELS! I have to say, that was the issue I was worried most about having to deal with after my first experience with the inferior Toshiba product.......Sony really pulls through with this top quality HDTV. Better picture (outstanding picture quality when you switch it to 'vivid' mode, that's honestly about all you'll need to right out of the box), better color (very accurate as well), comprehensive & economical features (I love the fact it turns off by itself and fires back up when I re-enter the room) and I even gave it 5 stars for sound as the sound bar is clearly superior to the Toshiba I had grown accustom to the past year--and yes I do have it hooked up to a surround sound system with a sub but I find out of laziness I use the TVs sound bar more often than not and it's quite adequate. The main thing you'll be missing from the TVs indigenous sound is the bass response, but Sony's sound bar is great otherwise.
Oh and of course I purchased the 3 year warranty from SquareTrade for $149.99 this time around just to be safe....all in all it still cost me less than my faulty Toshiba......So in closing, if you're thinking about purchasing an HDTV, let your mind rest at ease and just go with Sony....after all the price & tech spec. comparisons I made before my initial purchase of an HDTV (which turned out to be a nightmare of an experience after settling with a lesser brand), I WISH I would have just followed my first instincts and went with the Sony right out of the gate.....even though it was more expensive at the time. Peace of mind is worth SO MUCH more than the difference in price you might save with an inferior brand. |
Very happy with decision to buy it!
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| Review Date: January 27, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Blaine, Massachussetts |
I don't know that I can add anything to the review from a tech point of view but felt I should least mention my pleasure with the purchase. I had my choice narrowed down to three LCD's but when I found I could get $1,100 off in various discounts I bought the Sony the week before Thanksgiving. It took a couple of days to learn just what to change or shut off to give me what I feel is a fantastic high def picture. As mentioned in other reviews I did shut off the light sensor and when set on Vivid mode it gives that bright picture that you see the LCD's set on in stores. It's almost a little to bright for me but my wife likes that setting. I also shut off the presence sensor. I did download the firmware update and loaded it in but I don't know how necessary it was, I wasn't experiencing any problems.
I should probably mention that I wanted this strictly for watching TV and movies. I have no desire to connect a computer to it or watch streaming videos. I did make sure that it had the additional inputs for various devices I might need to connect: composite, component, S-video..ect.
I couldn't be more pleased with the picture that I get on the hd channels. I read in one review that they were also pleased with the quality of non high def channels. I don't really care for the picture I get on the non hd channels. I use Comcast for my cable. I don't know what their source is. I have this set connected to my surround system and everything is working fine and sounds like I'm in a theater when watching TV. I had to do a bit of tweaking when I connected my Blu Ray player to everything but that has nothing to do with this. The only problem is I'm a bit spoiled now and usually don't watch the TV without the sound system. When I don't have the sound system on I have the TV speakers set to TruSurround and it sounds fine.
My only complaint would be the little operating instruction booklet that comes with the set. It is as basic as you get it! Two weeks ago I bought a $259. 22" LCD and got a booklet 5 times as thick. You will need to go the Sony site for any in depth detail or understanding of what some function does. You will learn more about adjusting your picture from reading the reviews here than from your booklet.
To wrap it up, I have had this LCD for over two months now and I couldn't be happier with the picture and the "price" I paid for it. This LCD truly shows what HD TV is. Sometimes I just stand a few feet away taking in all the details that I never saw before getting this TV. |
This is a nice TV
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| Review Date: January 3, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Wade A. Hathaway, New York City |
After doing what seemed to be more research than I put into my master's thesis, I came up with a short list of LCDs. Finally I compared this tv in store against the vizio 55in 'led', a panasonic plasma, a Sharp and another Sony. All were in comparable price/feature range. Doing a little tweaking in the store I got a good picture easily with the KDL52 VE5 and I liked the energy saving features (HCFL, sensors, ability to completely turn off power). After getting the unit home, a couple of days worth of tweaking provided a really nice picture. The contrast is good. No or very little motion blur. I have not seen any of dark scene blue tint reported in CNET's review. I have a nice Panasonic DVD burner with HDMI and upscaling and my DVDs look great. We play Wii and everyone loves the graphics. We watch tv through a digital cable box with HDMI, and even non-digital channels look good. My wife even watches a pay channel from Russia and even with its conversion from Russian Pal/Seacam (whatever their color standard is now) and being standard definition it looks good.
Yes the sound is not great but we have a relatively small LR and it is fine. I use the TrueSurround setting and it is more than satisfactory. When I want bigger sound (certain DVDs or Concerts) I use our stereo system sound.
So now after having the tv for a few weeks I have absolutely no buyers remorse and I would readily recommend the unit to others. |
Excellent TV Set
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| Review Date: December 3, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Nicholas Saretzky, |
I bought this after a 32" Samsung stopped working with certain HDMI sources. I still love Samsung, but after that one mysteriously stopped working I decided I'd try something new. And I'm glad I did. The 52" size is really perfect for my room. It's definitely a large set, but not so large that images feel overly stretched across its surface.
Initially I was very disappointed with the image quality. The issue is that when the light sensor is turned on, the backlight slider can be set to full power, but you're only experiencing a fraction of this set's incredible brightness. Although the brightness sensor seems like a great feature, I found that overall it was too aggressive in reducing brightness, so I have to recommend that it be turned off. Ironically, it works better in well-lit rooms than dark. Once you have full control over the backlighting, this set really shines. The contrast is excellent (my camera has a contrast ratio of 2000:1, and it couldn't capture this TV's image fully). So I can believe that it has the 5000:1 on-screen contrast that Sony claims.
Personally, I don't like my image tampered with. The low setting of motionflow is okay, but the high setting is really comical and only good if you crave that look of sped up footage. The contrast enhancer I also don't find necessary, since the image has great contrast natively. However, I do like that you can create multiple image settings for each input. For example, I can quickly toggle between a game setting and a movie setting when using my PS3.
Sound quality is fair. Nothing to write home about. I certainly don't use TV speakers with an image this good, and don't recommend anyone else does either.
The energy saving features and setup of this set are really excellent. My surge protector monitors current, and this tv usually uses only 0.4 amps (~50 watts). It's mainly dependent on the backlight brightness, but even so, this is one very efficient product. I was worried that the unique backlight would tinge the color, but as far as I can tell, it's spot-on. The motion sensing really does work. I leave it set to 30 minutes and it hasn't shut off on me yet, which is good. Sony doesn't mention this much on their website, but it's also heat-sensing, which could explain it's sensitivity. I sit 13 feet away, and it detects my motion with little difficulty.
The worst part about the TV is either the remote, or the fact that the inputs are on the side. If you end up swapping inputs a lot, I suppose it's nice, but otherwise I feel it's a poor design decision. Depending on the heft of your wires, and your seating angle, you could be looking at HDMI cables out the side of your otherwise beautiful tv set. The remote is very basic. Compared to the older V-series Bravias, this TV actually has the less fancy interface (the XMB went hand in hand with a nicer remote for the 4100 series). That said, I don't feel affected by either. If the decision to drop a pointlessly shiny interface and fancier remote keeps the price down, I'm all for it. I use a Fios or universal remote almost exclusively, so I don't miss it. And since I don't use the TV to tune my programming, the XMB would be a waste. That said, this interface is fine, very logical and doesn't hide settings too deep (except motion flow). No frills, but won't disappoint either.
I wish Sony had included a little more detail in their manual, but I doubt most people even read those anymore, so I'm just nit picking. The stand is pretty good, although Sony recommends you anchor down the TV to the wall, which might be a good idea. Shame the stand doesn't swivel, as I have two common sitting positions in my room. Oh well. The important thing is that the image quality on this TV is superb, there are no oversights that ruin the usability or connectivity of the TV, it's very energy efficient, and it looks good even when off. I fully recommend this TV if you like the V-series, and are interested in saving some energy. |
AWESOME!
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| Review Date: December 2, 2009 |
| Reviewer: K. Mottus, Wyoming, Michigan United States |
I just got it yesterday and as soon I took it out of the box I was happy with my purchase.
The picture and colors are awesome, I don't know what else to ask. Before that TV, I purchased one of the LG 55 inch tv-s.
I was deeply disappointed. Coloring was so dull.. that it just made me feel really sad about my purchase. I'm more picky then my husband about quality about electronics, but even he was not happy. We did return it and we decided to go with our first choice( Sony) anyway. So, if you put together great picture and colors, easiness of use and quality you can not go wrong with Sony! A big PLUS is also the energy savings. Energy usage is below Energy star 3.0 qualifications. Plus Motion Sensor ( turns off the tv when no one is detected moving for certain period of time). Yesterday after working 5 hours straight, the tv was not even a little warm! Go Sony ECO! Didn't give 5 stars for sound because if you would like to have full experience with your tv you would want to have Home Theatre system. But if you are not that picky, you'll be fine with that.
End credits: LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! |
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