Customer Reviews

Sony Bravia SXRD KDS-55A3000 55-Inch 1080p Rear Projection HDTV

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Just bought the KDS-55A3000 at Best Buy a few days ago. I bought the Sony Blu-ray BDP-S300 a few months ago and loved the great sound and picture but I did not have full HD. So after much research I settled on the KDS-55A3000 to replace my older Sony 53". My first Blu-ray disk I tried with the KDS-55A3000 was Casino Royale. I sat at the edge of my seat through the whole thing. The level of color clarity and contrast is stunning. The action was very smooth and no detectable jitter of the frame was seen. The off air tuner found all my digital channels in the area.The screen geometry is consistent and the blacks are a true black. One thing I noticed after setting up the tv is that there is a fan in the back " It was so quiet, I did not hear it but saw the light from the projector and noticed the fan" so ventilation is going to be important. If you have a bright room, this could also be an issue. The picture does fade a bit in a brightly lit room. The software is well thought out and has more features that you will ever need. Great set-buy it!

First off, I've been a fan of Mitsubishi's in years past, never really gave Sony much thought, due to their cost vs. lack of features, in my opinion.

Well, in this case, giving this TV a shot was the best choice I've made TV wise in my life. The color on the set is AMAZING, with the native 1080p/24 and 120HZ motion, it is like you're shooting the movie yourself.

There are a total of 6 1080P inputs, including Component and PC-IN, which is rare for a TV of this price.

All in all, this is the first TV that I have legitimately no complaints with. I've only had the TV for about 1.5 days, but usually by then in TV's I've had prior, I'd already found something I didn't like about it, that I would simply put up with. This is the first TV that I can't find anything that I don't like about it.

Time will be the true test, but so far this is definitely a winner and I can't imagine finding anything with a better picture in this price range.

Enjoy!

I work in the broadcast/post production industry and see HD Video every day on high quality studio displays that are designed to accurately reproduce color and show imperfections and detail in signals.

When I started looking at displays for my own basement I looked for accurate color, clarity in motion for sports, a theater mode to make DVD movies look and feel like they do in the theater.

I looked at LCD, Plasma and Projection TV in my quest for a new TV. The Sony A series was a clear winner as it delivers and excellent picture, 120hz image processing and plenty of inputs.

No matter which size you choose, this series is a winner.

I did the research, bounced back and forth between LCD and Projection, DLP and SXRD, 46 inch and larger sets. My family really wanted the bigger set but I knew the cost of large LCDs were out of my price range. Once I agreed to look at 50-55 inch sets I knew I was going rear projection. I narrowed the list to Sony and Samsung. I really wanted the Samsung DLP because it sounded cool (millions of mirrors...), all the NFL hype, and I've had a couple of rebate problems with Sony products (and I usually do hold that against companies). I also liked the black glossy case of the Samsung TVs. But it ultimately came down to picture quality. What is the since of having something big if it doesn't deliver the best picture? I got the KDS 55A3000 without having seen it in person. Multiple website reviews were very complementary, and I have to say this is a GREAT TV. Shipping was a little crazy as it shipped from a location 20 minutes from my house, yet it took six days to get it (but it was delivered one day before the 'expected' delivery date). Didn't get any help with the setup from the delivery guys and I think in my case that was a good thing. Set up my NON-HD DVD Player and Receiver and watched "HEAT". Movie looked great. Don't worry about fan noise or color wheel distortion on this TV.

The Sony SCRD 55A3000 is perfect right out of the box! I almost bought a Bravia LCD, but this tv cost half as much and on HD content, it's hard to tell them apart. The delivery was with Eagle, not one problem, they carried it in and waited untill I hooked it up and turned it on. I really was leary of ordering online and getting delivered a beat-up box with damaged goods, but that was certainly not the case. I saved $540.00 with amazon. Best deal around!!!!

TV is excellent. View it in action at your high-end Audio Video Store, as they will have a local cable or satellite provider, not the canned stuff shown on all HD televisions in the big-box stores. Then you will see what you get at home.

Forget about what Amazon says about "Amazon's White Glove Delivery Service. We believe that your purchase deserves a special degree of handling and delivery. To achieve the highest customer satisfaction, we provide a white glove delivery service that is designed to ensure that your purchase arrives damage free and in a timely manner."

"At your home delivery experts will place the carton in a room of your choice on the ground floor, unpack the product, and remove all packing materials from the residence. If you find signs of damage to your product, simply refuse delivery, and you will receive a refund."

No so. The TV is well-packed by Sony, but my beef is with the Eagle delivery service. They were an hour past the four-hour window, first brought the wrong item, a sofa, from the truck on their too-small dolly. Then took the sofa back to their truck for the TV. When they got it down the driveway, instead of using the two handles SONY provided on the carton to carry it, they removed the TV outside, and may have incorrectly carried (which I found by reading the manual) the TV into the house. But only after I told them of the Amazon instruction. The delivery man showed me a *different* delivery ticket which did not say "2Man Inside Unpack Detrash." But this is on the one I signed after the delivery. I gave them a gratuity for moving our old TV to another location. Wished now that I had asked Eagle if I could have picked up the TV in my truck.

In summary, have a responsible person at home to make sure Eagle takes the SONY box inside by the handles, then removes the TV and places it on your stand, and follows the Sony instructions: "Place one hand in the hole on the lower portion of the rear cabinet while grasping the top with the other hand. Do not hold the by the pedestal or the front panel of the TV. Doing so may cause thes parts to break off."
Enjoy your Sony Bravia SXRD

If you want big screen HDTV, why to pay twice as much for "cool" Plasma or LCD (unless you absolutely *need* to mount it on the wall)?
Delivered by Eagle, no complains.

After doing a fair amount of research, I decided to buy a rear projection vs. plasma/LCD simply because I was not going to mount it on the wall. I also decided to go with Sony because I really liked my old one.

This is a fantastic TV. I don't get into all the tech details, but it met all my expectations and exceeded some. The picture is great, the sound is better than I thought it would be, plenty of inputs and the 1080p Blu-ray is amazing on this TV.

Finally, Amazon was a great way to buy. Great price, good delivery You can't go wrong with this TV- especially from Amazon

this tv is awesome!!! what more is there to say. from the moment i saw the picture on it @ a local retailer i knew right away this was to be my new tv. a few weeks later BAM there it was in my living room. 55" of pure zen!! there is nothing bad to say about this screen...the picture is insane, sony did great with this motionflow 120 htz technology. other manufacturers claim to have the same 120 htz technology, but none, i repeat none, can produce the type of image quality that this screen can, trust me i looked. they may be able to clean up the jitter effect of other screens, but none reproduce the image. movies seem to pop out @ you. i have both blu-ray(ps3) and hd dvd(xbox 360) players(they're the same as far as i'm concerned) and all i can say is WOW! whether movies or games, they all look great! not to metion directv hd. i'm a home theater installer and whenever i demo this out to my customers they get out the credit cards and say "i want one!" sony has really outdone themselves with this one. i'm already saving up for the flat panel kdl-52xbr5 for my gameroom, and a 40" for my bedroom. it's the flat panel versions of the same screen. i highly recommend this to anyone looking for there next tv. believe me and all the others that have already purchased this - look no further than these sony screens! you'd be foolish to. you won't be disappointed.

A great TV. Purchased in early January, I've only had it for about a month now, but have been nothing but pleased thus far. Picture clarity is fantastic, as is the color, and it's loaded with enough options to make any viewer happy. It's been said by some that the menu system is complicated, but any who have even the most basic understanding of modern-day tech navigation will have no problem at all. Plenty of inputs to accommodate most components.

I only have three complaints, and all of them are VERY minor. The first is that the TV lacks a USB input, so connecting a camera or memory stick for slideshow viewing is not possible. In its place is a PC input though, so one could easily play the show on a computer, or even burn a DVD of the photos to play in a DVD player.

The other two gripes are even more minor... the "mute" message stays on the screen at all times (when muted), which annoys me only b/c when watching a DVD I use only the 5.1 speakers, and it would be nice to just press mute rather than have to scroll the volume down every time. The other gripe is that the "TV" input cannot be removed from the input selection list, unlike all of the other inputs. I don't use the coax input at all since I have an HD cable box via HDMI, so I would like to get it off the top of the list. As I said, these are about as minor as one can get.

Just as a warning to any that aren't super informed about HDTV tech, this is a rear-projection system. That means four big things:

1) It will take a healthy 30 seconds to put a picture on the screen once turned on, and even then it will be dark for another 30-45 secs until the lamp warms up.

2) Since it does run off a lamp, which is estimated to last about 8,000 viewing hours, it will eventually need to be replaced, which will cost about $150-200 but can be easily done by the owner.

3) The TV is approx. 16" in depth, which means it CANNOT be wall-mounted, and needs to have a substantial base to sit on.

4) Since it is a projection system, viewing angles become very important. Viewers looking at the TV from extreme left or right angles will see a darkened, faded picture. An even more important consideration is vertical viewing angle. Unlike LCD or Plasma, this cannot be viewed from much below or above the set, lest you get the faded picture. Estimate the height your eyes are at when you watch TV, then plan your TV stand purchase accordingly to get the center of the screen as close to that height as possible.

Those points listed above are not complaints, as I was fully aware of those factors prior to purchase. I have listed them here to help describe the product in full.

All in all, a great machine that we've been very happy with. And really, a well-performing, 55" 1080p screen for this price is a bargain that's hard to beat.