Customer Reviews

Sony Bravia KDL-32S2000 32-Inch Flat Panel LCD HDTV

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I purchased this set after a lot of research online and in various stores, and a lot of penny pinching. I am more than happy to own this set.

First off, it's refresh rate is perfect for fast motion items, such as sports and almost any videogame: there is no lag in what you're doing on the game pad and what you see on the screen. Many HD's have a "ghosting" effect where an image moving across screen leaves a bit of a trail in it's wake. This TV doesn't have that problem. I'm running an Xbox360 on it and the clarity and depth of the image is amazing. I have an HD cable box as well and nothing else comparable in this screen size and price that I saw in the stores, besides the Samsung, looked nearly this good The Samsung is high quality as well, but it's blacks didn't look as BLACK as the Sony. So I went with it for it's crispness and refresh rate. Also found that LCD HDTV's are expected to have a very long life before any picture degrading, the longest of any technology out right now.

Another reason LCD is impressive and worth your hard earned cash is because they don't get burn in with any regular use. This was VERY important to me as many videogames have a constant display (health bars, points, etc.) on the screen and I have seen friends with plasma tv's that were ruined after a couple of months of casually playing video games on them alongside dvds and tv. This was the number one reason I was holding off on stepping up to HD, and I'm glad I waited because it was worth it.

The HDMI input is AMAZING. I'm running that to my HD cable box. I can't wait for HDDVD players to come out, because after watching HD HBO and seeing a movie on it that I own in my DVD collection, well, let's just say my DVD player hasn't been getting much use since I brought this puppy home. I watch every single nature show on Discovery HD that I have time for, and when you see it yourself, you'll know what I'm talking about. BUT DVD's on a progressive dvd player still look great, just not as good as true HD, and that's not the TV's fault. Really though, DVD's and movies in HD over the cable box look better than seeing a movie in the theater.

I have a 6.1 surround home theater set up, all Sony components actually, and the experience is astounding. Late nights though, my roommate goes to bed and I only run sound through the tv's speakers and the sound is still very clear and has a good range. If you're not an audio buff, you will be more than happy just playing this straight out of the box. If you are an audio buff, you'll be impressed, and I'm sure you'll be able to bring it to life with your own setup.

Bottom line, if you want an HD NOW, this is the one to get in this size range. But you don't have to take my word for it!

After my 4-year old 32" Hitachi plasma set was toasted with some serious burn-in issues, I hit the books and the stores to see what was out there for a replacement set.

LCD TVs have come a long way, and panel sizes keep getting larger with each passing year. I decided on a direct-view LCD TV because of the aesthetics and good experience with a Sony KLV-23M1 23" LCD set I purchased last year.

The TV itself looks pretty slick and should blend in with any decor. The bezel surrounding the screen has been made thinner compared to previous sets and is now a charcoal/graphite color, which doesn't draw your eye's attention as much as some of Sony's prior bright silver-rimmed models. Along the bottom of the screen is a light blue/green frosted strip, which things like the IR sensor and Power light are embedded into.

Sony includes a little plastic clip that corrals all your cables towards the middle-back of the set, making for a cleaner appearance from the front. A nice touch is that you can turn the TV about 15 degrees to the left or right on its included pedestal. The on-TV control buttons have been moved to the top, allowing for a thinner and cleaner area below the display.

The speakers are along the bottom of the screen, and put out some decent sound on their own. The pseudo-surround effects, while no substitute for a proper 5.1 or 6.1 system, do a pretty good job of approximating a wider soundstage. Watching The Fifth Element while flipping between surround and stereo modes showed a marked difference with no impact on dialogue clarity.

Like other reviews have stated, standard-definition content is nothing special when viewed on this TV, and its quality brings out a lot of flaws in the image that I couldn't see on a regular tube TV. The set was most at home when I put HD content on it, like an Xbox 360, HD-DVD player, and over-the-air HD programming. Regarding the latter, the KDL-32S2000 has both NTSC and ATSC tuners, so you don't need an external box to get over-the-air HD signals. You'll have to tweak the picture settings to get the most out of the TV, the Vivid mode it defaults to is really bright and oversaturated, blowing out fine details and highlights in the picture. Calibration DVDs are inexpensive, I usually use either Digital Video Essentials or Avia.

I'm pretty sensitive to refresh rates, and some PSP games can make me nauseous due to that unit's well-documented poor-responding screen. The refresh rate on the KDL-32S2000's is great and I didn't notice blurring or color shifts at all.

I watch a lot of TV shows on DVD, and you'll get about the equivalent of a 27" square TV when you view 4:3 material on this set. There's a few zoom options you can use to stretch or crop the image to take up the entire display, but I like seeing the show as it was originally presented.

Physically, the remote control is pretty cut-down and cheap-looking and feeling compared to previous Sony remotes. However, the button layout is simple and Sony has simplified the TV's internal menus and sped up navigation, which makes for a more pleasant user experience. I especially appreciated the drop-down listing of all the TV's inputs, from which you can just scroll to and select the one you want.

Speaking of inputs, the KDL-32S2000 has a nice assortment, my only wish is for one additional HDMI input. The jacks on the component inputs are a tiny bit closer together than on my other TVs, and some Monster cables I had with big fat plugs had some trouble fitting in without rubbing on each other. This is more a cable problem than a TV problem, as all other cables I tried had sufficient clearance.

My set was made in Japan (20 years and no Japanese-made Sony electronics failures, knock on wood) and Sony's customer support was excellent when it arrived with a couple of dead pixels. A replacement arrived quickly and was flawless. Balancing nice design, quality construction, features, a surprisingly decent price, and the Sony brand name, this set is an appealing contender for your hard-earned dollar.

This is the fourth Sony television that I have owned. Currently, we have a 57 inch XBR CRT Rear Projector in the home theater room, a 36 Trinitron direct view CRT in the living room, and most recently the 32 inch Bravia (subject of this review) in the master bedroom. We also recently purchased a brand new Sony T9 Cybershot camera. I have also purchased three Sony camcorders over the years. The point of the aforementioned is that Sony has always delivered quality electronics and I have stayed with their products in return.

When I first purchased the 32 inch LCD Bravia everything worked very well and it appeared to be another fine product. After approximately 5 months of operation the television developed - for lack of better technical description - a pixel problem. A permanent dark splotchy image appeared on the left hand side of the screen. At first the image was hardly noticeable, but then intensified to the point that it could be readily seen in all video formats.

To be fair to Sony, this is the first problem that I have experience with a new product. When I called customer support, I was told to take the TV to an authorized service center, but since there are no service centers within 30 miles of my residence, Sony offered to replace the TV with a refurbished unit. I was not pleased that my relatively new TV was going to be replaced with such a unit, but since it carried the same warranty and Sony assured me that it would appear and work like new, I agreed to the exchange.

The first indication that something may be wrong is when the crew that delivered the refurbished unit told my wife that they have to come back many times to replace the units. True to their observations, I quickly experienced problems with the video input switching function, and was back on the phone with customer support. I was told to reset the TV by simply disconnecting the power and restarting it. This quick fix eliminated the problem, but now I am just waiting for it to reappear.

Not happy with the performance of the refurbished unit I requested Sony to go into their "A" stock (new versus refurbished) to replace my original Bravia. This request was rejected as I was told that the model has been discontinued - keep this in mind if you are thinking about purchasing this television.

I recently walked through Wal-Mart and looked at the new LCD's on display. Many less expensive sets had as good, if not better, picture then my Bravia. I am sure that Sony has also improved their LCD televisions, and will be lowering prices to hold their market share against the increasing competition. They are a good electronics company with superb engineering capabilities, but I think they have considerable room for improvement when addressing a defective product and an unhappy customer.

The Good: Great TV, the HD picture is amazing! I am slightly disappointed with the analog picture and the odd refresh "black out" when switching between HD channels and analog. This could be normal, but it is a little distracting. The HD picture makes up for any issues I have with the analog.


The Confusing: The manual leaves much to be desired and has little information. It took me several days of watching a sub-par picture to realize that I had to put the TV on the Video 6 input to get 1080i resolution. Video inputs 1-3 are for your computer, VCR, etc. Video input 4-5 for DVD, etc. and Video 6 for HDMI, which the manual does not clearly state.

Overall, I am very happy with this Sony HDTV!

Pros: Stunning HD picture, Nice design and styling, easy to set up and use, separate HD tuner if you just want to use an antennae instead of cable, easy to navigate onscreen menu to adjust settings. I like the remote because of its simplicity (others may not), but am using a universal Harmony remote to control all my devices (the Harmony remote is great).

Cons: Analog picture on the lower-end or non-digital channels is mediocre as other reviewers have stated. Keep in mind that the major networks offer hi def channels and all tv eventually will go digital. Sound is nothing special, but it really should be hooked up to an audio system to enjoy the ride.

If the analog picture was better, I would have given it 5 stars

We have several of the Sony Bravia TV's around our home. I have the 26" Bravia in my home office and its a very good TV. We are limited to an average cable signal strength and I've always known that our TV images could be better. We bumped up to the 32" Bravia to put in an exercise room hoping the "nicer" TV would give us reason to spend time exercising.

We had the option to buy from J&R or Amazon. Both offered the same price after shipping was accounted for but Amazon offered a full rebate on a wall mount. I've ordered from J&R several times and always had a great experience (even when I had a defective amp on one order, they handled it perfectly). I also know that J&R double boxes many of their orders... a definite plus.

But with the free wall mount (rebate), the Amazon deal seemed best. What a mistake that was. The tracking info they offered for the order was for a company called Eagle. But they offered no contact information for this company. Try typing "Eagle transportation" into Google and you get about 30 companies operating under that name. I had no way to figure exactly who was going to deliver the TV.

So I emailed Amazon about it. Three days later, they sent me a form letter saying that it was shipped by Eagle. That was no help at all. So I tried their phone support system which is a joke. You use the internet to enter your phone number and then the phone rings at your house instantly. It seemed cool at first. After a minute of listening to a recorded message, you are then told to hold while they find a customer support rep. I waited 10 minutes and gave up.

So I was pretty disappointed by now. I was heading out for a small vacation and didnt want to the TV to be returned because I was away. I emailed Amazon again to find out what I would need to do if I wanted to cancel the order. Three days later, they sent me an email saying they had canceled my order for me (despite the fact that I didnt ask for it to be cancelled).

Yesterday, I got a call from "Eagle" (better known as EGL transportation) saying they wanted to deliver the TV. At this point, I didnt know what to do. It had been 3 weeks since I ordred it. They delivered it (not double-boxed). The delivery guy bought it in and let me plug it in before I signed any papers just in case there was a problem. It checked out fine. Phew.

So I would never buy a TV from Amazon again. That's kind of a no-brainer. When you call J&R, you usually get through to a human immediately and they always seem to know the answer to your question. I love that!

Now about the TV. Most folks know that LCD TV's dont show cable signals very well. My 20" Sony LCD is too small to show any real issues. The 26" shows some issues but I'm 8 foot away from the TV and the issues aren't too obvious.

The 32" really shows some problems with a cable signal though. It would make sense that the blotchiness would be magnified more in a larger TV but I wasn't expecting it to be as bad as it is.

What's funny is that I also just had the new Sony KDS-60A2000 (to replace an KP53HS10) delivered to my house two days previously. This went in my family room. Again, it was hooked up to the same cable signal of only average strength. I have to say, the picture quality is astounding on this huge TV. It puts the Bravia LCD to shame. Its twice a large, but the picture quality is ten times better. I'd guess the technology in the LCoS TV by Sony is much more advanced than the LCD TV by Sony.

So this is just some food for thought. I searched the Amazon, CNET, and Consumer Reports reviews before I bought anything. I wrestled with the decisions to buy all of our TV's for many days. This is actually my first Amazon review but I thought my time and mistakes were something then a reader might find useful.

Best of luck with your decision.

Originally I was going to purchase a Sharp Aquous, but after seeing the Sony KDL32S2000 side-by-side with the Sharp, there was no question for me, I liked the Sony better. More vivid colors, and much better blacks. Amazon had a great price, with free shipping and no sales tax. TV arrived in great shape via UPS. I have cable and the analog and digital channels all look very, very good. Very pleased with TV. I now have two Sony HDTV's (the other is an SXRD), and am very pleased with both. Sure paid a premium price for both, but the visual difference was worth it. A nice surprise on this Sony KDL32S2000 was finding that it has NTSC (SD over the air), ATSC (HD over the air) and QAM (cable TV) tuners. The QAM tuner is not usually noted in most of the specs published, but it is in the manual, and definitely in this TV!

This TV looks great on all of the high definition channels. However, it will give you a headache watching all of the other channels. I decided to return the TV after 1 week of having it, and found out that Amazon will not accept returns on TV's under any condition when larger than 27 in. Sony will not make good on the return either. Read the Amazon fine print carefully, and make sure you look at this TV on an Analog and/or Digital channel (the vast majority of cable channels) in the store prior to commiting to its purchase. I'm stuck!

This is my second 32" LCD television in one month (returned the first one). Am writing this review because I read some really good ones on this site - both favourable as well as very unfavourable. So here it goes:

Rating: I have given 5 stars as all my expectations were met.

Purchase: From Amazon - Decision was easy because of the price. Shipping was free. Missed a free wall mount offer by just a couple of hours. Nearly $400 less than the Circuitcity price for the same model. At that time, even the other featured Amazon sellers were little more expensive than the Amazon itself. Purchase process was very easy. Got another $30 off as I applied for an Amazon card.

Shipping: Amazon ships via EAGLE on which there were very unfavourable remarks about the shipping time and process, BUT I DID NOT EXPERIENCE ANY OF IT. Arrived 10 days earlier than what Amazon said would be the earliest. Item reached me in 3 days from the time that Amazon actually shipped it. Kudos EAGLE. Excellent, smooth service. Amazon does not accept returns on bigger TVs, but lets you inspect and try the TV at the time of delivery before signing the receipt. If there should be any complaints, the shipper would take it back and a refund would be issued. But I took delivery of the TV from the shipper's warehouse itself as I didn't want to wait, and I knew there would be nothing wrong with the Sony from Amazon.

TV: Looks the best in its category. Remote looks, as mentioned by others, a little cheap, but functionality is excellent. And then you watch TV and not the remote, right? I had a Sharp 32" until now. The Sharp is very good, I have absolutely no complaints, but the Sony picture and sound feels probably 30-35% better in sharpness, clarity and overall quality. The TV is very user friendly and easy to operate. Analog channels may be a little better on regular CRT TVs but I, for one, have absolutely no complaints. HDTV is astounding. Input decks are easily accessible, particularly as the table top mount is swivel. PC connection is a breeze.

Service: 1 year in home warranty from Sony. Tech help through phone is excellent. No reason to doubt the other features. I also got a 2 year service plan from 'NEW'- Price is excellent, compared to Circuit city/BestBuy.


K

The Sony Bravia 32" is our first HD TV. We're simple people that hate dealing with alot of high-tech gadgets. No cable or dish, we aren't gamers. We just like watching what comes over the airwaves via my old rabbit ears antenna. We had an 18 year old VCR hooked up the old TV and decided to take the plunge and get a DVD as well.

The Bravia arrived and set-up was a breeze. I pulled it out of the box, plugged in the power cord and transferred the VCR cable from the old TV to this one. Turned it on, and it asked if I wanted to run the set-up program. I said, yes and after a few minutes for it to aquire my local channels I was enjoying HD quality. I now get digital reception of all the channels I was getting before, plus a few I didn't get on my analog TV. Most still broadcast in the old 4:3 format, but they still look better, more vivid colors. A local station is broadcasting the original "Star Trek", series, and while I've seen these episodes many times, I am amazed by the subtleness of the stage lighting on the sets and even the appearance of the Enterprise in space or orbiting a planet.

The DVD hookup was easy enough, and the images from the VCR even look good.

The two downsides, hardly worth mentioning, but I will, are: yea, the remote is a little cheap feeling in your hand, but not that bad; and the manual could have been written and formatted better, but someone else might easily disagree on that point.

Overall, a great purchase.