Customer Reviews

Sony BRAVIA EX 400 Series 40-Inch LCD TV, Black

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I have to say, I really like this TV. My previous LCD was a Samsung 32" 720p - and this set blows it away in almost every aspect. I think I paid around $550 for the Samsung a little over a year ago, so I jumped at the chance to upgrade to the EX400.

Pros: The ambient light sensor works terrific.
- 4 HDMI inputs! Plug away my friends.
- Bravia Sync feature works great with my Sony home theater system.
- PS3 games have never looked better. I played Killzone 2 right after I setup the TV and my jaw was open for about 10 minutes straight.
- It only has a 60Hz refresh rate, but I've yet to see any blur while watching sports.
- DVD's look fairly crisp as well, considering I have a cheap DVD up-converter.
- It's a Sony! I'm sure some ppl have had bad experiences with Sony, but I've had nothing but luck. To each his own I guess.

Cons: The remote is junk. It looks cheap and it isn't very functional.
- The grey panel on the front. I had a bigger problem with the online picture of the set than I do in person. It doesn't look THAT bad - but it still throws off the continuity of the black perimeter. Strange call by Sony.
- Calibration is frustrating. There are so many different picture settings you'll probably struggle to find the perfect setup. I used the DVD THX Optimizer (found it on one of my Star Wars movies) and it helped a lot. (I posted them on [...])
- If you're using an antenna instead of cable/satellite you'll find that channel surfing is a bit slow. This is kind of a nitpick, but the channels take a little longer to load on this set.
- No swivel? I knew this set didn't have it before I bought it - but it would still be nice.

For around $600 you can have full 1080p AND a 40" screen. Great TV - great deal.

Very happy. Sharp picture. Easy to use. Not an electronic-phile but I do my homework and was hesitant to buy a Sony. From what I read Sony was living on its laurels. But this TV seems to give great bang for the buck (and my wife wanted a Sony). I do not miss 120HZ or LED. The picture is not blurry when watching sports or action movies to my eye or anyone else in my family (of course all we watch is curling) (just kidding). Picture is bright, too. Easy set-up. It has a pre-set for home (rather than store), which has been fine by all of us. $599 for 40" 1080p. Pretty Sweet.

It took me three months to pay for this, actually had it on layaway at my local Sears for that long. Originally I was going to go for two others TVs before this one until a gentleman who works there, went by the name of Peter, directed me towards this TV. As soon as I saw it, and saw the picture clarity in comparison to the Sharp Aquos as well as other TVs of similar size and specs, I knew this was the TV for me. Most of the other TVs looked washed out compared to this thing, so it was no contest.

Anyway, I finally got this thing home, eventually set it up on a wall mount I got off of here for cheap, and it's been a fantastic TV. Much, MUCH improved over my old standard-def TV, which was given to a friend afterward BTW. The picture quality is superb, the colours are rich and vibrant, no motion blur, no slowdown, no lag, none of the problems that apparently seems to plague most TVs with the 60Hz specs. Even standard-def cable looks fantastic on this beast, and that's saying something right there. I don't think you'll be disappointed with this as a sports game TV at all if you want to primarily use it for that. However, the real star of the show is gaming. Especially with HDMI cables, which is a must, fortunately you can get them for crazy cheap nowadays.

As one other reviewer said, games have never looked better. Like him, I sat there for at least 5 - 10 minutes drooling after booting up Killzone 2 on my PS3. I was absolutely amazed at how good everything looked, and that's just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Being able to read the text on Star Ocean: The Last Hope International and not having everything blur on me or having my eyes hurt for that matter, when using the classic Anime look of that game was astounding to say the least. Super Street Fighter IV, which is fast and frantic, ran without missing a single beat. Then there was Forza Motorsport 3 on the 360? Jaw-dropping to say the least. Same with Mass Effect, was amazing to see the text on screen whereas before I simply could not do so only downer was the slowdown but I feel that was due to in-game programming as opposed to my TV as the slowdown has only happened with this game alone. While I am sure other HDTVs would do the same thing, could they do so with the same quality? I can answer with doubtful.

The only weak point is the sound, which is decent enough, it gets the job done but nothing more. There's nothing special about it, I'd say if you can, hook it up to a good surround sound speaker system. You'll most likely get better sound quality, and you'll be able to enjoy the fantastic picture quality this badboy has to offer. All in all, this is really a fantastic TV with so much bang for the buck that it's unreal. You won't be disappointed if you decide to get this badboy. I am so glad I did, I could not be happier as a gamer.

Sony has long been one of the better TV makers, going back to the Trinitron and later the WEGA. The Bravia series has remained high quality machines, boasting great pictures, not to mention some of the lowest repair rates in the industry. The 40EX400 lives up to that billing, sporting a terrific picture and some solid features at an astonishingly low price.

It's tough cutting through a lot of the mire -- LCD vs. LED vs. plasma, 60Hz vs. 120Hz -- but this TV will prove to be more than adequate for the vast majority of owners. The LCD image is eye-popping, with good contrast and vibrant images. (While there is no substitute for professional calibration, drawing from the calibration settings available from reviewers here and elsewhere will yield really rich color.) The screen diffuses glare very well, unlike the glass screens on some plasmas, so it is a good TV for those who deal with a lot of light.

Some people are liable to wonder if they should go for this 60Hz or "upgrade" to 120Hz, but for most functions this TV works just as well, and for a lot less cost. For one, virtually all TV (including sports) and video games both refresh at 30 or 60 frames per second, which is perfect for this TV, since 60Hz equates to 60 refreshes per second. Football and baseball alike look great on this TV, and video games run like silk. Gamers will also appreciate the brisk input response time, which makes playing first person shooters and other action games very satisfying; Sony clearly wanted to make sure their PS3 crowd would be at home in front of this TV. The one Achilles Heel of 60Hz TVs - 24fps Blu-ray movies - still run well on this set thanks to the Cinemotion "pulldown" technique, and only the most visually trained will notice any motion stutter.

The TV has a few other features worth noting. The system boasts a generous collection of inputs, including 4 HDMI inputs and a USB port for playing music and movies. The digital tuner works quite well, pulling in HD programming over the air with no trouble and even displaying the resolution of each channel. (It actually did better in this way than the vaunted Zenith DTT901 Digital TV Tuner Converter Box.) The calibration menus are very specific and allow for a lot of adjustments and customization, even allowing for different configurations across inputs.

Of course, no TV is perfect, and this one has a few drawbacks. There is no online connectivity, unlike a lot of other TVs out there today. The digital antenna tuner pulls signals fine and will offer descriptions of current programming, but it has no functionality to display upcoming programming, something even cheap digital converter boxes do. The sound is adequate but not extraordinary, although I wager most buyers will attach the set to a stereo or surround system. Last but not least is the infamous grey bar along the bottom of the TV paneling; to be honest, I hardly notice it anymore and it's not as bad in person as it might seem, but some may still question Sony's tastes and prefer a more unified black look.

Those nitpicks aside, it's really hard not to like this TV: at the time of this review the set goes for a little over six hundred bucks, which is extraordinary considering what a TV of these specs would have gone for just a few years back. It's not a top-end TV but it's a darn good one and for the vast majority of viewers, especially if they care less about the particularities of Blu-ray and more about TV/cable/satellite and video gaming. Highly recommended.

After my Sony 32" KDL32M4000 developed an interior vertical crack on the LCD (suddenly and without warning ... while it was hanging on the wall) I started looking for a new LCD begrudgingly (since the old was only 1.5 years old).

Suffice to say I am THRILLED with the replacement I choose; this EX400 40". The picture clarity is breathtaking (I'm connected here in NYC to TimeWarner Cable's HD cable and I have an Xbox360, Playstation3 and Sony 5.1 surround Home Theatre kit all connected via HDMI - effortlessly).

From the box to my wall this TV took all of 15 minutes to set up. It was that easy. There isn't a lot of tweeking of the picture, which is just fine with me!

The best part was the price I got from BestBuy. $575 (sale price $630 less $55 in coupons via their Reward Zone program). At this price, the choice was basically made for me. And I get to continue my love affair with Sony!

BUY THIS TV!

I owned this TV for the past 30 days. In general, I enjoy it (I mean: I have to enjoy sicne I paid 600 bucks). As I say in the title, I like the picture quality. But there are several cons that I must mention which annoy me quite a bit while watching TV:

1) the software/menu/settings design is user-unfriendly as someone else also mentioned;
2) there is no headphone output;
3) another thing that annoys me a lot is the time that it takes way too long to switch from one channel to the other;
4) the last and the most important con, i believe, is the extent of light reflection when the TV is put against light source (e.g., window).

In general, I believe this is a good TV for those who can deal with the aformentioned annoyances, because the picture quality is excellent. But for a TV brand with strong reputation, these cons shouldn't have been there to begin with.
Best of the luck for the potential buyers!

I had planned on getting a 32" tv for my bedroom, but when I did some research, it was just an $80 upgrade to a 40" tv. So I opted for the larger picture and am glad that I did. My last 40" tv was a bravia W series I got three years ago at twice the price! The picture appears the same to me on both televisions...beautiful. When I got it home and installed in the bedroom, however, I was disappointed by how hollow the sound was coming from the television. I tried the minimal settings to adjust it, but couldn't find one better. The problem may be that the speakers are on the bottom of the frame, so the sound is shooting down instead of forward. So I swapped it with the living room television which has better speakers that are facing forward. So now this television is hooked up to external speakers in the living room and I am very happy with it. It has a really nice power save feature which turns the television off after no activity from the remote for a set amount of time. 4 HDMI outputs are great. The PC interface is odd, however, for a mac computer. It has a VGA port in place of an HDMI port and only a female audio headphone jack input. A double male headphone jack cord is a hard cable to find. RCA inputs would have been nicer.

I have owned this TV since March 2010. It has been replaced once already by SONY under warranty replacement. I will give SONY proper credit, they replaced the old (read - broken) TV within 10 days with a brand new unit. The old one started to FREEZE and eventually would not turn on or off either using the remote or the onboard power switch. The software/user interface/programming on this TV is total crap; shoddy at best. SONY can do alot better job than this but they rushed this unit into production. The remote is cheap and feels cheap in your hands. My biggest beef is the sound quality - or lack thereof. If you do get this TV, you might as well order a surround sound system at the same time because you will not be happy with the sound from the onboard speakers. If I had to do it over again, I WOULD NOT buy this TV, but I could not tell you which I would choose. Best I can say is "keep looking".

This TV may only be a 60Hz LCD HD TV but you won't know it from the beautiful and fluid picture and motion you enjoy on this beauty! I have had this for almost a year now and have had no technical issues with it. It works like a clock!

The sound quality is truly exceptional from the built-in down-firing speakers and there are many adjustments including a multi-band equalizer and the simpler treble/bass controls, sound offset etc...

The sharpness is noticeably better than the Samsungs I had seen last May when I got this and is truly stunning. The picture really jumps out at you. It also has a very bright screen and an ambient light sensor if you desire to use it, which lowers and raises the screen brightness depending on how dark or bright it is in your TV room.

Highly recommended!

I have this TV now for about 1 month and am so far pleased with the purchase. This TV replaced a 42" plasma EDTV. This TV went into a bedroom with a 8 foot viewing distance. I would reccommend a larger set if your distance is greater than 8 feet. When I first got the TV home I mounted it to the provided TV Stand, but then ordered on Amazon a $30 tilting wall mount for it. This TV without the stand is very lightweight. I did match this with a Sony Blu Ray Player, and SOny 5.1 HDMI 1000 watt sound system. Note that when matching to other Sony products the other products are instantly recognized by the TV. For example, when I turn the TV on and then insert a disk in the Blu Ray player on the TV the mode is automatically switched to BD to view the movie. Note that 2 HDMI inputs are on the side of the unit, and 2 in the back. I also connected an XBox 360 to the TV and been having great performance with it. Note that the non-illuminated remote is a little un-intuitive/ergonomic to use. The mute button is very small, and I also have problems with the black dial you need to use for menu program operations. Also note that the TV sound is not very loud, but, since I am using a thousand watt sound system I can get the missing volume any time I want. The high definition viewing (720 I/P, 1080 I/P) is very good. Standard definition is problematic when viewing standard TV stations. Colors sometimes can be blotchy, and overall a little out of focus. But you can't blame that on the TV because when you switch to the HD TV Station and it's crystal clear! I experimented placing this TV in my living room but opted for a larger 47" lcd tv there instead. That is why I suggest not using it where your distance is greater than 8 feet. For the price, and my needs this TV was a great choice.