Customer Reviews

Sony Bravia S-Series KDL-40S2400 40-Inch Digital LCD HDTV

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

My wife and me did a lot of research before narrowing down on which HDTV to buy. We're both big fans of 24 and we really wanted to watch the next season on HD. I understand that there is a lot of technical jargon and debates revolving around HDTV (1080p vs 720p, Component vs HDMI, Plasma vs LCD etc etc). While all these are important things to consider, for us the #1 priority was the fundamental performance of the TV given the current available broadcast. That meant a primary focus on picture quality, sound and ease of use. All other bundled fancy features would have to be the next

We were looking for a TV in the 40" to 42" range and after many hours of research on the net, followed by visits to Best Buy,Circuit City and other stores in the neighborhood, we narrowed down to 3 models - the Sony Bravia S2400, the Sharp Aquos LC42D62 and the Samsung 4051/4092 series.

We discovered that the Sony stands out in terms of picture quality esp. color reproduction and is also quite good at the sound from it's in built speakers. The Sharp was almost as good but had to be dropped because of the price (to be fair to it, it is a 1080P model). At this point, personally I don't feel an investment in 1080P is worth it since there are very limited sources that provide video at this resolution. Between Sony and Samsung models that we were considering, we felt the Sony wins hands down for picture quality. I have read that both these manufacturers have their LCD screens sourced from the same factory, but there is definitely something about Sony that makes the images look very realistic with minimum distortion even at fairly close distances. Samsung is good too, but then a Sony is like.no.other :-)

Pros:
1) Excellent Picture with good contrast for an LCD. The blackness level is pretty good even compared to some Plasma's we looked at
2) Superior Sound (even at full volume with Surround turned on, the speakers performed very well)
3) Picture quality is quiet good even on SD as compared to other TVs we were looking at(although it may take a while to get used to the stretched images)
4) The Zoom/Full/Wide Zoom function is particularly good and also the TV has the Auto Zoom function which means it automatically detects and fills the screen for the SD 4:3 broadcast
5) A lot of picture/sound customization is possible and can be configured for each individual input (excellent feature)
6) And last but not the least, did I say that the TV looks very good?

Cons :
1) Only 1 HDMI input (not actually a limitation because you can always buy a HDMI switcher)
2) The remote looks very ordinary for the TV
3) No PIP (again IMHO not really a necessary feature)

Although I did not buy this TV directly through Amazon, I wanted to write a review to recommend this product to potential Amazon buyers. So anyone in a dilemma about buying this TV, I say go ahead and BUY IT

After a few months of research and going back and forth on when to purchase a HDTV, I decided on this model. The main reason being the price. $1500 direct from Amazon was too good to pass up.

Shipping was quite fast, especially considering the holiday season. The delivery company called two days before they arrived to setup a window of time. They arrived at the beginning of that window!

Setup was quite painless. I hooked it up to our analog cable and had channels programmed within a few minutes. Things look good there. The wide zoom on SDTV look OK, but it's still noticeable that it's stretched. DVD quality is great! I'm using a Toshiba DVD player that has HDMI out with upconvert functionality. I personally can't see much difference between 480p/720p/1080i.

However, over this weekend I plugged in a standard fare VHF/UHF powered antenna and did a search for digital channels. It found all the local channels here in Chicago except for CBS. This seems to be a typical issue in the area, though. I'm very happy with the HD picture quality with OTA programming. I watched today's Bears/Lions game on Fox and couldn't turn away. For Chicagoans, you will also need to check out WTTW-DT (PBS). They run HD programming all the time. Beautiful.

Like any digital signal, you may see blocky artifacts, but not often and you have to look for them. Most channels here are transmitting OTA in 720p or 1080i.

UPDATE 1/1/2007: After doing even more research online, I found out that Comcast here in Chicago broadcasts a number of channels digitally alongside analog. A search for digital channels landed me with almost 70 choices! Now, some were from "expanded" basic and did not have sound or were PPV frequencies that were not actually viewable, but it did find all my local channels in digital/HD format. The only downside is channel numbers are not in order. (108.2 = WGN/CW HD, 108.1 is ABC HD) But for me, it's worth it. I can get around the oddball channel numbers by labeling the ones I want and adding them to the "favorite digital channels" function of the TV. I only have to pay $11/month for analog in the rest of the house and HD for the living room. It's the QAM tuner that allows this TV to receive these channels.

Overall, this is a great purchase. Only one HDMI input may be a limitation later, but I'm not worried about it. It has enough inputs to keep me going. If Amazon keeps selling this TV at this price, they will have a hard time keeping them in stock.

Great picture. I finally got aronud to purchasing an HDMI cable for my DVD player and the picture is astounding.

Right out of the box this was a fantastic HDTV and I haven't had a single complaint about it yet. Found a great deal on Amazon with free shipping. Only has one HDMI input which is somewhat limiting other than that absolutely superb picture quality.

This is a super TV...The price from Amazon beats
all of the discount stores and even Sams Club.
Shipping from Eagle was very good. I am very satisfied.

I have no complaints about this Sony! The sound and picture are unbelievable. I love the Sony name and this flat screen does not disappoint!

After much searching and researching I decided on this set - I was very pleased to see Amazon listing it for hundreds less than anyone else and wnet ahead and made the purchase. I have been very pleased - the picture is really pretty fantastic when connected to an HD source.

Its a 1080i TV. I have owned it for 2 years now and I am most satisfied by the quaality of image and functionality of the product. No problems so far....touch wood!
I wish there were more HDMI inputs but then I have a sound receiver with multiple inputs so I don't have any problems.

I have owned this Sony TV since April 2007 and it has not given me any problems. This is my first flat panel tv. It has not given me any problems at all. I decided to get this TV from reading the past reviews on Amazon as well as reviews on other websites. I also was impressed with the Amazon White Glove shipping. TV came ahead of shipping time. Another reason for buying a Sony was that my old TV was a old 27" Tube type that lasted me for 20 years and never had any problems until my picture was getting weaker. Not to often does one get his money worth plus more these days.

Update: Just want to say item still works perfectly and never any problems with it. September 3, 2011.

I bought it two weeks ago. It's great, I am very happy with it.