Customer Reviews

Sony Bravia S-Series KDL-40S3000 40-Inch 720p LCD HDTV

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have had my Sony KDL-40S3000 set up for about a week now and could not be happier! Amazon.com had by far the best price around considering that you get free shipping and pay no tax, and trust me I surfed every online site and retail store for over a month before making my purchase.

I was about to go plasma with Samsung, until I saw it in store and hated the reflective black display and case as well as reading several poor customer reviews. This Sony set has a sexy matte black finish and the screen is clear and reflection free in any lighting! Sony TV's in my book are across the board the best blend of top technology, proven durability and quality as well as sleek cool looks. My family has always owned Sony TV's and have never had even one of them serviced, some still running are over 20 years old!

But back to my new KDL-40S3000..... It's a sure crowd pleaser in any home! As of now, there are no HD broadcast channels in the 1080p format, only 1080i which this TV with the native resolution of 720p displays vividly, so I would advise you to think about this if you are looking at some of Sony's 1080p models that cost a lot more. Along with the fact that because the majority of broadcast channels besides HD channels (1080i) on Digital cable and I believe even Satellite are still in the 480p format, a TV such as this one with 720p resolution will display a cleaner and sharper image than that of a 1080p model. Bottom line... unless you have a Blu-Ray or HD DVD player and want a barely noticeable sharper picture, Go With 720p, you will save money and not be sacrificing anything trust me!

As for features and sound quality, you will be overwhelmed with what Sony brings to the plate. The menu options and settings are extensive but yet fun with Sony's graphical onscreen display, but the picture right of the box is just as impressive. I am a big fan of surround sound systems, but so far I am completely satisfied with the KDL-40S3000's clear and projecting sound quality, and I seriously question the poor remarks from other reviews about this set being deficient in sound. The audio/video inputs and outputs of this set are numerous and the 2 HDMI hook-ups will meet the needs of most home users considering there are also 2 component connections and various other lower quality connections.

So in closing I would recommend the Sony KDL-40S3000 to any and everyone looking to get into the flat-panel market, hands-down!!! Yes, Sony may be a bit more money than comparable sized other brands, but you are paying for top notch quality, engineering, and styling and you will not regret a cent of it! Set your price range, determine the right size and viewing distance for your room and put Sony at the top of your list when shopping Amazon.com for the best price on your flat-panel TV! Good luck and I hope my review has helped. I know a flat-panel is a major purchase and it's worth the time and effort to write a review if you are truly impressed and satisfied to pass on a great experience to others!

Have had this set for 4 days now, and am very satisfied.
Pros
- Great picture quality. Spend hours researching and comparing sets in the store. Could not find a better 720p picture. The 10-bit panel and Live color creation system (new in the S series for 2007) render natural colors.
- Xcross navigation system really a breeze to setup and modify various settings
- Finish and styling is of very high quality. Dimensions very compact. I especially like the matte finish, which does not reflect anything.

Cons
- Only 2 HDMi inputs. Maybe be insufficient for some people.
- Pretty expensive (I feel its worth it, though). For those with a smaler budget, last year's model (S2010) is worth considering for its Picture Quality.

Overall, very pleased with the purchase so far. Bought it fresh off the shelf from a local store and was a little apprehensive about buying such a new, untested model.

Note: The 2007 Samsungs also have great PQ for a lower price, but have a "tearing" issue that has been reported by many, many dissatisfied users.

I bought it for 1279 with no tax or delivery charge which is about 200 cheaper than costco. Eagle delivery was very good. They called to set up the delivery and called 30 min. before coming. The delivery guy unpacked the box and helped me carry it upstairs. He waited for me to plug it in and turn it on before I signed for it. I expected the guy to just leave it downstairs so I was impressed.
I am glad I purchased this TV. I was concerned about SD picture quality because I only have basic analog cable. The review of S3000 series on Cnet was right on. It handles SD feeds pretty well especially 480P from dvds. The TV upscales to native 720P nicely. The QAM tuner works good. It picked up about 70 channels on the initial scan. I believe about half of it was digital but I am not sure. 720P and 1080i shows are nice. Use the wide zoom setting with auto zoom. This seems to work the best without making things too fat.
I only had this TV for a few days and so far I love it. I almost bought the 1080P set but those did not handle SD feeds well and 1080P is not necessary for 40 inches. If you have basic cable and watch mostly SD channels or regular dvds, get this TV. If you want a 50 inch or more TV and have HD service, get a 1080P set.
I saved about 500 from not buying a 1080P set and buying from Amazon.
I think I will use that to buy a PS3 or TivoHD. I am waiting for the DVD format war to be over. Oh and hey Tivo regarding your subscription fees? Bite me!

After reading reviews and consumer comments re 1080p vs. 720p, I decided to save 300 bucks and get the 720p. At this screen size, the picture is fantastic. Crisp, clear, smooth ... hypnotic even. No discernable motion lag (great for football), wide viewing angle (even when lying on the floor) and non-glossy, glare-reducing matte screen. And of course, rich Sony color.

I'm not a serious home theater guy, I just wanted a very good TV to replace my broken 27" set. I don't have a home theater audio system, but the TV's speakers provide very good sound. ... Although this is Sony's "value" line of HDTVs, it far surpasses my expectations.

Also got a Sony upscaling DVD player and it definitely makes the picture clearer. For a 720p TV, make sure you tweak the DVD player's settings to output to 720p (the factory default is 1080p). ... Bought an HDMI cable on Amazon for $5.06, including shipping (my brother paid $50 at a national chain store).

I was thinking about buying a lower priced model like Olevia but on visiting the store realized that the higher priced brands like Sony and Sharp and Samsung were simply better; the blacks and the colors were richer. What tilted the decision towards Sony was its clean matte black look. I think the glossy black look of almost all other brands is kind of distracting and will tire me out in no time. I chose not to go with 1080p resolution of the higher-priced Sony model because everybody thinks that you won't see the difference in a 40" screen.

White-globe shipping from Amazon was great and on time. The Eagle guys unpacked the set, placed it on my TV bench and turned it on for me to check it for dead pixels etc. I think this delivery service is great compared to most other online retailers, which use UPS or Fedex. (What is more, once you accept the box from the shipper you cannot return it to the retailer if the set turns out to be defective; you have to contact the manufacturer's customer service. So Amazon's system gave me some peace of mind.)

The picture on this TV is fantastic after some adjustments (for which you can find online advice with some googling). I have only checked it with an older Sony DVD player (SD) and a new Oppo 971HD upconverting player. The quality is noticeably better with the Oppo.

VHS tapes look bad; but still better than on my old 27" CRT TV.

Sound quality of the built-in speakers is fair but using an external sound system adds more fun to the experience. But I think it is too much to expect hifi sound from TV speakers, so I won't take away a star from my rating.

The short and sweet: This TV has a beautiful picture and excellent sound. HDTV off the air looks amazing! I was pleasantly surprised by how good a picture I can get with a simple antenna, it's fantastic. Your DVDs will also look great on this set. I use the component video inputs but plan to use the HDMI as soon as I get an upconverting DVD player (which is a good idea, I borrowed a friend's and the picture is better using the HDMI inputs).

It took a little while for my eyes to adjust to this screen, for a week or two I was getting headaches, but I think that's because it was so much bigger than my old TV that my eyes weren't accustomed to moving across such a big screen. More distance would have helped, but I have adapted anyway.

There are a few things you might like to know:

1. The remote control is nicely laid out and easy to hold and use. However, they placed the infra-red receiver below the screen, just a few inches above the table surface where it is most likely to be obstructed by objects (such as a center channel speaker or stereo components). This is a silly design, they should have put it above the screen where it's less likely to be blocked. As such, it's fairly picky. I have to reach my arm up and point the remote down at the bottom of the screen to get it to work. Most of my other remote controls are much less finicky.

2. The menu, though it has apparently won some obscure award, is a little strange. Rather than moving the selection up and down, it moves the list up and down, resulting in a slightly counter-intuitive behavior. Not a really difficult adaptation though, especially since once you have it set up it's rarely used.

3. The input selector works quite slowly. It takes a couple seconds to increment each step through the choices, which can be frustrating when I'm in a hurry.

4. There's no shiny trim on this TV so reflections are not a problem. Plus, there's no ugly silver plastic on this TV anywhere. Thank goodness they stopped that nonsense. Plus, this product is shaped like a TV not a space ship. IMO, a $1000+ television should not look like it was made by Fisher-Price. This one is elegant and classy looking, with a simple rectangular base--free of trendy shaped surfaces common to other models. It would look sharp in just about any environment.

5. Now that the silly BlueRay/HD-DVD war is over, there's a little part of me that wishes I had gotten the 1080 version of this TV. I don't plan to buy High Def DVDs any time soon, but now that there's only one format then the chances have improved quite a bit. I figured it would take at least another year before that debate was settled, but I was wrong. This is perhaps the only regret I have about my purchase, though I didn't really have the money for the 1080 model either, so I'm still fine with it.

* An important note about video cables. I am an electrical engineer and have twenty years experience working with communications systems of all kinds including radio stations, recording studios, cable tv and video systems, so you can trust my advice over the pipsqueak at the store:

Fancy premium cables and power conditioners are a COMPLETE HOAX. Do not fall prey to claims that your picture will look better or audio will sound better if you buy a $100 cable or some 'clean power' accessory. That cash would be WAY better spent on upgrading the equipment instead. Go on ebay or Amazon and buy cheap cables from a reputable brand (so that they'll at least be quality construction). You should not pay more than $15 for a 6' HDMI or component video cable. A standard surge suppressor is all you need to protect your equipment. And speaker cable larger than 12 ga is overkill in lengths under 100 feet. Your amplifier is not capable of generating enough current for larger wire to make a difference. Stores push exotic versions of these items aggressively because there's more profit in a $100 cable than there is in a $2000 TV. Do yourself a favor and buy some movies or an upconverting DVD player instead.

* A note about antennas: There's no such thing as an HD antenna. HD channels simply come in on UHF/VHF frequencies (and your TV transposes them to the decimal numbers like 2.1, 2.2, etc.) Therefore, all you need to receive HD signals is an antenna that has UHF and VHF capability, which includes most rabbit ears (look for a round loop or parallel elements oriented like a ladder) and multi-purpose roof antennas. Also, antenna amplifiers do not improve your picture unless you're using a splitter to share the antenna between multiple devices. If you are connecting the antenna directly to your input device and you're getting a fuzzy picture, amplifiers will only amplify the fuzz. Similar to listening on the radio--if you hear static, turning up the volume will only make the static louder, it will not improve reception. Spend your money on a bigger antenna instead.

Good luck shopping, I highly recommend this TV. It's terriffic.

I have had this set for a few days now and I'm totally enjoying it. My main reason for picking this set over other LCDs (Samsung's tearing and HDMI related issues and Sharp's banding) was because of the reliability of Sony. I would much rather buy a set that doesn't have documented issues than to buy something with the hope of it working properly. Once I got the TV out the box, hooked up, and also doing a little tweaking I was happy with the picture. Black levels looked pretty good for an LCD and with some tweaking, I'm sure I'll get them even better. SD looks pretty good on here and HDTV looks exceptional. I own the Wii, PS3, and Xbox 360 which are all hooked up the the set and also look great. If you are a gamer and are concerned about lag or pixelation while playing games, don't worry. I haven't seen any hints of either while playing. The only downer is if you play Xbox 360 through VGA, you don't have the ability to tweak color or hue and many other picture tweaks. Also, PIP with this set only works with the coax tuner. For instance, if you would like to use PIP to maybe see whats on TV while you wait for someone to start a game on Xbox Live, if your cable box is connected via HDMI or Component, it's a no go. Other than that, I love the set and definitely will be tweaking it as the next few weeks pass.

After much research and viewing the bewildering number of T.V.s at a local store we decided on the 40S3000 over the 40V3000. I have had it about a month now and have no regrets.

The 720p resolution was the one item that made me nervous but, reading numerous articles convinced me that with a 40" tv in our room (closest seat 7 feet) we wouldn't see higher resolution anyway. That seems to be proving true and all the high def content from Comcast looks incredibly crisp. Native 720p sport broadcasts are spectacular. The SD content also looks much, much better than I was anticipating.

This TV comes with a digital tuner and in the week before we got an HD cable box we were surprised that it found some 50 odd digital channels on top of the normal analog ones. Even stranger is that it seems Comcast sends pay-per-view over some of the upper end channels (e.g., 114.x)--entertaining to see what your neighbors are watching....

Anyway, if you are on the fence, save yourself $300 and skip the 1080p.

I was all set to buy this on-line, but then I did one last search and Circuit City had it on sale resulting in it being only $50 more with tax than online. That was well worth the piece of mind of seeing the box (not to mention the instant gratification) and taking it home myself. The unit comes really well packaged and easy to install. If you have someone else to help you lift it, I think that whole "white glove" service is a bit overrated. Do you really want some guy who spends all day delivering big boxes upacking your new toy less carefully than you would?

P.s. if you are upgrading your cable package, negotiate a little. Comcast threw in their sports package for free.

I had a 32 inch 4:3 HDTV made my Panasonic. It was a fine set. However, when I finally saved up the cash to buy a 360, I realized that it could only do 1080i, not 720p. This made any games I played in 'hi-def' stretched into a painfully thin bar in the middle of the screen. Tightening my belt and unleasing my wallet, I decided it was time to bite the bullet and upgrade.

I didn't intend to get a TV this large (I was looking at a 32 or maybe a 37 inch), but one look at the Sony changed my mind. Great specifications, cool matte finish.

WOW! I think that I had a grin on my face the entire day after setting this unit up in my media room. The picture is amazing. The colors were so bright and rich that I actually found myself clapping my hands in delight - when's the last time a piece of hardware made you do that?

Played through component cables on the xbox 360, the picture is.. phenomenal. Rich, clear, and text as sharp as on my PC monitor when set to 720p. NO ghosting or tearing visible, and believe me, I looked closely for such aberrations.

PS2 games, also via component, were slightly less wow-inducing, but still excellent. The stretch processor is quite good. You'll hardly notice you're viewing content originally intended for a 4:3 perspective.

PROS:
+ A veritable cornucopia of inputs - 2 HDMI, 2 component, PC, etc., etc. Plenty of grow room for future devices.
+ easy-to-use menu system - lots of things to adjust, and easy to find them.
+ remote is a good size and has well-labeled buttons.
+ fantastic color and sharpness
+ attractive TV - simple in its design, with no gaudy stickers/colors. The focus of a TV should be on the screen, not on a shiny black bezel or other stuff. Minimize everything but the screen and you have an ideal system.
+ not too heavy! One person can easily set this system up.
+ 40 inches = PERFECT size for many rooms! I imagine for many like me, with a pretty small media room (about 10' by 12') , a 37 seemed just a bit too small, and a 42 seemed too big.


CONS:

- blacks are still not as black as on a CRT. This is probably due to limitations of the technology.
- standard definition content is still a bit more jaggy than it was on my 32 inch CRT
- costs a bit more than other sets in this size range

All in all I'm happy as a clam with this TV. If you're on the fence about whether to save $200 or so with a 'generic', I'd recommend you tighten the ol' belt and splurge on one of these sets. I did, after much deliberation and consternation, and I'm glad that I made the decision to spend a bit more and get a high-quality 720p set instead of a mediocore 1080p set.

If you fight a constant glare problem, this is the perfect set.

Its been a little over two weeks and I am still amazed at the color.

Two things I would highly recommend: HDMI cables (no-brainer) & a DVD "up-converter" to take full advantage of your existing DVD collection while the industry is making up their mind about DVD-HD & Blu-Ray.

Ordering, shipping, product....all in all....a solid choice.