Customer Reviews

Sony BRAVIA BX 300 Series 22-Inch LCD TV, Black

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I purchased this unit from Sears but wish I had gotten it through Amazon given the price differential. I compared it in the store with other similar sized TVs and its picture was superior. Having had it for a few weeks I've drawn some conclusions pro and con:

Pro: very easy set up, audio better than others though speaker sound comes from behind the unit. Nice remote and other Sony remotes work with it. Bright and brilliant colors. Quick start up. The whole unit has a quality feel to it and its manual is simple and user friendly. It really isn't needed. Easy to make adjustments to picture size and color settings.

Cons: picture quality is 720mp. My 48" high end Sony LCD has much better defined skin tones and colors don't vary as much as this unit. Faces washed out in some settings unlike the higher end Sony that I have. I prefer speakers in the front. There is no contrast adjustment and it sorely needs it with some channels. Minor assembly for the base. "Favorites" are not as easy to use as my Samsung's or my high end Sony.

I primarily did this review b/c the one existing review brought the rating much lower than it should be. For the money this TV set is a good buy. It is also the best of the comparable TV's that I looked at. I should not have compared something this inexpensive to a $3400 top of the line 48" Sony.

After 15 years, I finally needed to replace my reliable old 15" analog TV. I'm not a huge television watcher but I am pretty picky about quality when I do watch. This is a good to very good television with some slight drawbacks, but not enough to take away a four star rating.

The good: The color balance is good and DVD playback is excellent quality. Adjustments are easy to access and I was able to finetune the set to get the color, contrast and tone that I wanted.

You can output sound to external speakers.

Sony includes a rear RF/coax cable connector, which not all sets do any more, so if you just want to plug in the coaxial cable from your cable company without getting a box, you can do that. You will lose certain functions though (no on screen info and loss of digital only stations).

The so-so: A 22" set is actually what used to be called a 16" to 17" diagonal when the TV picture is on "Normal." When the source is not a wide screen image (like a TV signal), and you select "wide-screen," or "zoom" the image will be blown up and you will get the "bigger" 22" wide picture, but it will look squashed and/or stretched and image quality degrades.

The remote is not well designed -- the input buttons force you to look at them and search for just the right place to push. In the case of input selection (going between a DVD and TV for instance) if you don't find your selection fast enough, the on-screen input selector goes away and you have to start over again...

There is a very loud "ding" when the set first comes on -- you can't rid of it and it's about twice as loud as the volume. Annoying.

Note that while DVD quality is very good to excellent, if you choose not to pay for HDMI cable and just have a standard cable box, your TV image quality decreases to "good. "

One other note: This set "outgassed" for about a week and half, giving off a slight burning plastic smell. After checking with Sony I learned this is not unusual for flat panels, though I wish they'd do it at the factory. It's not really a problem unless you're sensitive.

Overall, this is a good set and good quality. I'm pretty picky about image quality and it's is a very good image on "normal" and okay image on zoom, or "wide." I leave it on "normal" for all TV shows and change it over to "wide screen" when it's a DVD.

On the good:

* Great HD picture
* Great sound

On the bad:

* 11 seconds from the time I hit the ON button until I get a picture (that's way annoying)
* Takes too long to change channels.
* Awkwardly shaped remote control...has a weird curve that doesn't conform to your hand.
* Numbers, channel up/down and volume on the bottom of the remote make one-handed operation difficult
* Non-HD channels look no better than the 14-yo TV it replaced.

I was amazed at the rapid response to my order. The order was placed in mid-afternoon, and it was in the hands of the carrier by that evening. Can't say the same for UPS speed in delivery, but that was not any fault of Vann's. The Sony TV is a great piece of electronics, as expected. I'll never buy any other brand TV after unqualified success with several I've owned prior to this new one. Great job Sony and Vann's.

been a sony man ever since the 19 inch model 35?yrs ago-(1974?)-presently own 2 bravia 40 inch models(kdl40v5100)-(and previous models were many- i needed tv in kitchen replaced-(20 yr old 21 inch sony tube)-went cheap--got a 19 inch samsung--had a week-it wasnt a sony!soso picture but it wasnt a sony-(im particular--the samsung probably would be ok for the non discerning viewer--buy im not in that catagory- i can see the diff--took it back-got a 22 inch sony for 70 bucks more--NOW im happy--sharper and crisper picture--cant think of a better tv out there for the price and size--get it --you wont be sorry--hooked it up in the kitchen using an ACTIVE(plug in elect outlet)NOT passive hdmi splitter from cable box in liv room as box has only one hdmi output(VIEW hd-splitter from amazon))-if you connect cable to this tv using a splitter you will get all basic chans in hd--to get the higher ones in hd(via your cable box) you need the view splitter-(and switch the tv input from tv to hdmi)--and use the cable box to view the kit tv-superb pic-if you are a sony enthusiast--you cant compromise-you WILL take the other brand back!wife be dammed!! lol-good luck - been there a few times--and wifey said this time,after seeing the difference=--you did good!!! go for it--and by the way--ignore ALL sarahs remarks --she disses ALL sony products!!her comments are BIASED-evidently she has a hard on for sony where sony cant ever do good-lol

No matter how I try to adjust the picture, it is terrible. The manual is sketchy at best. I have tried this set with an analog connection and then switched to an HD digital HDMI, and the faces continually look look like something out of a fun house. It takes forever to boot up with an annoying frame around the screen. In fact, this is my second unit. The first was defective. Sony admits there might be something wrong this one, too but has only offered a refurbished unit. I've always bought Sony in the past. Won't buy anything Sony again.

I orginally purchased a 22" Sharp LED TV. LED TVs are very thin, but since they are so thin there is only room for tiny speakers. The sound was so bad I exchanged the Sharp for the 22" Sony BX300 LCD TV. The sound is much better. This is a nice TV. I have a 55" Sony in the Living Room and it's nice to have a similar remote and similar menu options. One thing I really like about Sony's is that you can choose the video input labels and also configure to skip the ones you don't use. Also you can turn off the sound it makes when you turn it on. One of the other reviews says that you can't turn that off.

This is a small tv, but it is the perfect size for a bedroom. Very high quality picture. Great budget buy.

I got this in the rush of Christmas and didn't even unpack it for several weeks- stupid me! When I finally got around to it, I couldn't get the color right and it wouldn't let me use an HDMI connection, which I found strange. When I finally called Sony, they said they would send me a refurbished one if I sent this one to them- I only had it on a couple of times and didn't think sounded too good. Well I fiddled around with it and got an HDMI on it and it worked fine, color great; however, when I turned it off and then back on the next day I was back to square one. I took it over to our Mountain house which has Dish and will see what happens next. I own 8 Sony's between our business and homes and this is the first time I've had a problem. I should have gone to Walmart and bought it, then I could have returned it to them. I'm just venting as I was the one that waited too long to deal with this. Lesson learned.

Don't buy this TV!!!!!!! You'll be happy for the first few months until the panel goes bad.
Our Bravia TV panel went bad in 14 months!!!! Repairs were quoted at $1600. Sony is not willing to back up their products! Check out the internet and talk to your local service repair people....there are LOTS of problems with Sony LCDs.