Customer Reviews

Sony Bravia L-Series KDL-32L4000 32-Inch 720p LCD HDTV

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

This is my first venture in the HDTV era. I patiently waited for years waiting for price drops. LCD HDTV's have finally become affordable and something rare... Sony has come out with an affortable decent size HDTV. This tv is sharp both aesthetically and the picture. I never saw this tv in person so I had no idea the bottom was clear plastic. It looks like solid silver in the pictures but it is clear in fact. It makes it look that much better. The sound is not great but HDTV's are meant to be paired with entertainment speakers. There are two HDMI slots and tons of component slots. The TV is solid in short. I paired the TV with a sony upconverter (Which I will review as well), and that did wonders to my DVD collection. The picture was not near HD quality but it was without a doubt better than ever before. It did improve the picture and the colors are vivid and bright. I have standard expanded cable service and plugged the cable in before turning on the tv for the first time. When I turned on the tv it automatically searched for chanels and to my astonishment, found 30 digital channels and all local chanels in HD! Straight out of the cable! No box necessary! This made me think cable companies are ripping people off renting out HD boxes. My cable company (Cox) has told me and advertised the HD channels can only be accessed through their special HD box. This is true if you want MTV and 12 other cable channels in HD but not local channels. Needless to say, It was a very pleasant surprise as I don't have to pay 17 bucks a month extra to see HD content.
The second HDMI cable was used by my PS3. I don't need to say anything else but I'm in heaven. Here is the best part, this tv is one of the cheapest on the market and it's a Sony! Morevoer, the shipping was free and no taxes! I checked the best buy website and found I would be paying 70 bucks more at my local store! Highly recommended.

WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR: Cheap-ish 32" widescreen with a flat-black cabinet for my bedroom. I already have a 32" Viewsonic in the other room. Although that was about $150 less, it shows. I wanted something one notch up. Plus, my experience with reliability and service was a nightmare with the Viewsonic.

WHAT I GOT: Let me start by saying I can't understand for the life of me why 90% of TVs today have glossy black cabinets. Isn't the last thing you want near or on your TV something shiny or reflective? Stupid fashion statement. Maybe it's just me, but I'm more busy looking at what's inside of the rectangle- not outside of it. So this pretty much narrowed it down to this TV alone. Amazon had a killer deal on the Samsung LN32A450 when I bought the Sony, and wherever you look it says the Samsung has a better picture. And when I saw the two at a store I would have to agree- just by a bit. But that shiny glossy cabinet was the deal breaker for me. Again- I just don't get it. The Sony is all I want it to be- and a little bit more. Very good picture, a cabinet that doesn't shout for attention, decent menus, logical input menu, etc. The channel switching is a tad slower than past Sony's I've owned, but still not nearly as slow as various Philips, Magnavoxs, Viewsonics, etc. that I've used. The unexpected bonus was after connecting it to my standard (not digital) Comcast cable, I noticed that I can pick up local HD channels. This is something I was not able to do with my Viewsonic. Perfect for the Olympics!!! Not ready for a bigger cable bill, my intention for this TV was just to watch DVDs in WS and the rest in 4:3. This was a nice surprise!

The bottom line is I doubt you will find a better TV all-around for this kind of money. Unless you're a hard core videophile who spends a lot of time with calibration discs and watching reference material looking for shadows and artifacts, you will not be disappointed with this set. And if you are, go ahead and spend 50% more you lucky guy/gal! And if you're considering lesser brand names to save $100 or so, I would say save up a bit and move one step up. You'll probably own the TV for another 6-8 years so think how little that is per year.

I recently purchased this item from another vendor.

Picture quality is very good to my eyes. The blacks are black, not washed out as on, say, a Westinghouse lvm37-w3. Sound from the built-in speakers is good, but nothing to compare with external amplified speakers. The built-in ATSC tuner does a great job.

Setting up the channel list was easy and took only a couple of minutes, but I do wish there were an obvious way to skip analog channels during setup. I don't have cable and didn't want to include any analog channels in the channel list. Since they were automatically identified, I had to manually hide them once channel setup was complete.

Of course, it will be easy to skip analog over-the-air channels after February 2009 :)

I wanted to set up a laptop with a TV tuner, for use as a DVR. It was easy to connect to the Sony. I'm using a MacBook, so for the video connection I used a Mini-DVI to DVI adapter connected to a DVI-D to HDMI cable. For audio I used a 3.5mm male to 2 RCA-type male audio y-cable. With the cables connected and the TV turned on, the MacBook recognized the display and automatically configured it to 1280x720 resolution, without so much as popping up a preference pane.

The owner's manual warns not to connect a PC to the HDMI ports, and to use the RGB IN port instead; I'm not sure why, or whether this is specific to PCs with VGA video-out ports. Given the MacBook's Mini-DVI video port, I guessed the warning didn't apply to it.

Pros:
* Very good picture quality
* Good ATSC tuner
* Plays well with computers

Cons:
* No obvious way to skip analog over-the-air channels during channel setup

I'll try to be succinct as possible, but I thought it might be helpful to compare the L and M series Sony Bravia televisions currently on the market, as they are similarly priced, and people may be wondering what differences are any may be worth the price or size difference/sacrifice.

I recently "tried" both the M series 26" Bravia and the L series 32", and ultimately chose to keep the L series. (Both were basically the same price.)

To make a long story short, the M series is a step up. There is a better control over picture display, display options, as well as a lot of convenient features like "live color" (I believe that's what it's called) which automatically adjusts colors to make flesh tones appear more accurate, and some kind of "smart sound" feature (which I'm not sure Sony's name for) which adjusts the level of the volume so commercials don't blast when you're watching a tv show--which is particularly helpful if you're an insomniac like me and other people are sleeping. It also has an ambient light sensor for the backlight, which is truly missed now that I have the L series. The sound is superior on the M series as well. The menus and layout are just better, on the M series. The L series it should be noted does not have a headphone jack--something most people don't use, but if you watch tv late at night or use speakers that utilize the RCA to miniplug (head phone jack) you are out of luck. (Though there is audio input for external RCA connected speakers.)

The L series seems to be calibrated differently visually and otherwise, but with some fiddling around I was able to get an accurate image (colors, sharpness, etc.) (For instance, I generally prefer warm on color temperature settings, but on the L series, it's too warm, so I go with neutral and adjust the hue manually.

I don't have the technical details for both tvs, but I do know they are both 720p and will output from inputs (like hdmi blu-ray players, etc.) in 1080i. response time, contrast ration, etc. seem to be comparable, though I don't have the exact technical specifications.

the other main difference is cosmetic, the M series is a piano black finish (popular nowadays) and the L series is a matte finish (which I personally prefer) and it should be noted that they space at the bottom as in the picture of the L series is indeed transluscent and that is also where you're indicator lights are.

these are just a few of my observations from trying both models out. ultimately, the M series is a step up and it's if it's similar in price, you may want to consider it. But if you prefer the larger screen size at a cheaper price (though prices fluctuate) and the matte finish of the exterior of the tv, i would say go with the L series.

I give the L series four stars, and the M series 5 stars, but they are both excellent choices.

***Edit: After spending more time with the L-series I am still very pleased, particularly getting great quality at a bargain price. (If you compare other brands in this price range, this Sony blows them out of the water, though for a comparable price, I think the Samsung 32" might surpass this one--though I generally prefer Sony. Do keep in mind that the L-series is the bargain model, M-series is still bargain, but the picture quality IS better, and the XBR and S-series (not sure if S-series is still being made) is better than that. For me, having the 32" screen versus the 26" was worth the sacrifice in image quality. It's true what they say, I've found, (they being consumer buying guides), often when faced between two sizes, the larger one is the one most people wish they'd bought once they get home with it. Both are excellent choices though.***

I went to look at this TV (and others) at the local Circuit City, and couple of things struck me. First, these TVs will look much larger in your home than in the stores. You need a big room for a big TV, unless maybe you have a dedicated theater room with nothing but AV equipment and a couch. This is not that kind of TV ... but it is a huge step up from your typical CRT (old style) TV.

Next, all these TVs look good, but the Sony's picture is wonderful - I received my TV just in time for baseball's All-Star game, and it was great. Setup is easy. The only downside might be that you will be disappointed in the appearance of any NTSC channels you still watch... partly due to the large screen and partly by comparison to HD channels.

Seems like the "white glove" delivery service varies by locale. For me, the driver clearly wanted to do as little as possible and get out. Delivery, but nothing more ... plus they require the usual 4 hour delivery window.

Amazon did have the cheapest price I found for this TV though, when you consider the sales tax. You can buy the TV locally for the same price, but you'll have to pay tax.

All in all, I'm very satisfied.

I recently purchased this Sony model for my sun room as my third and final high def set. Not only am I very satisfied with the picture and quality that Sony builds into their tvs, the set arrived before the actual date of delivery and was very easy to set up with my Direct TV system. Sony has a reputation for building quality products and this tv model is no exception. Color and texture of picture is stunning, bright and vivid. My only issues and they are minor relates to the fifteen second delay (blank screen) I get when I first turn on the set. The other issue (again a minor one) is the sound is average at best but acceptable.

Overall, I am very pleased with this purchase and would recommend it to anyone who is considering 32" HDTV for a reasonable price. 720 vs. 1080, I do not see any discernible difference in the picture comparisons between the two.Hence, my suggestion is to go with the 720 with the much lower pricetag.

I was in the market for upgrading the last of the CRT televisions in the house. For a viewing distance of about 12 feet, I needed something relatively big enough for that distance, that had HD capability, was inexpensive and reliable.

Other flatscreen TVs around the house that I own include a Panasonic Viera 50" Plasma 85 Series, Sony 37" Plasma, Sony 32" Bravia LCD.

SETUP:
The television is relatively light and I was able to connect the base to the television and lift it upon the stand without too much effort. 3 phillips screws were all that was necessary.

After initializing the television for language, the autoprogram feature for channels worked relatively quickly picking up about 66 analog and 111 digital channels.

USE:
The remote is a no frills highly functional remote with standard buttons. The menu system is clear and intuitive. The buttons of the remote are large and it is easy to read, for a farsighted person like myself.

IMAGE QUALITY:
Standard definition and high definition picture quality are excellent for the price. You can choose Custom, Vivid or Standard settings (I chose Vivid). 720p resolution is great for a TV of this size. 1080p does not play a part in resolution until you get up to 46".

SOUND QUALITY:
With the external speakers, I thought that the sound would have been above average. However, I think this is where the price point reveals itself. Sacrifice sound for everything, else. This is definitely not a deal breaker, you can always opt for an external speaker system or run the TV with a receiver or speaker - if this is your primary TV.

PRACTICAL ISSUES:
2 HDMI inputs allow for a cable box and Blu-ray player. Component input for HDTV is another option.

VERDICT:
Overall, this is a nice value for a television that will be primarily for the guests - or when I want to get away from the crowd in the house. Just keep in mind, the sound is just average in quality.

I recently got my Sony KDL-32L4000, The Amazon price was great, It saved me sales tax and time and gas to pick one up locally. The delivery by CEVA was prompt and on the due date. The Sony was taken out of the box and pluged in by the delivery man. Later I promgramed and did some set up. Using an old roof antenna I started to get up wards of 50 chanels most all chanels broadcast in one HD chanel so I get superb reception on those, The Sony upped my Converter box chanel count from 26 to 48 with the new Sony. The converter box I had gave a pretty poor picture with lots of fade out. This new Sony is like seeing TV for the first time, the picture is great!! So far my only quibble is that the menu info is a little small so it's hard to do programing.

The LCD seems to work well and keep up with fast action, the picture is great, the sound quailty is good. As time goes along and I do some more set up it will only get better. If this TV lives up to the Sony quality reputation, I will enjoy this tv for a long , long time. It's better to upgrade to an LCD than get the converter as the old tube TVs don't seem to take the HD signals very well.

I love my Sony!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No balony!!!! Amazon was great TOO!!!!!

I love the look of the set it has a good picture and sound quality.
It is a good price for the money. However I have noticed that it will give off a large static noises and popping sounds when over heated. This scares me.

Update, the TV worked only two years, what a rip off! Shame on you SONY!

My first flat panel after years of projector and tube tv. I LOVE the simplicity of set and AMAZING picture. It's perfect size for bedroom and sitting on dresser. I agree that it should have swivel base but fortunately I don't have to move it.. it's directly facing bed.

I bought it last nite and setup was so quick and easy. I attached an over-the-air antenna I bought for $30 and let the TV find the stations. This all happened very fast. Was very impressed with HDTV broadcasts.

Then plugged in cheapie DVD player and only had the standard video connector (didn't have component cables available) and was very surprised at how good the picture was.

It only has two HDMI but also two Video, two Component, and PC input.

I think the blacks are amazing for LCD and for the price really can't be beat.

Also like that it's all flat matte finish and glass.. no annoying reflections.

Time lapse from walking in door to laying in bed watching TV on a DVD was 20 minutes tops.

My dad has a more expensive set with a more complicated remote. I love this simple remote.. i guess a backlight would have been nice.. but it's so easy. My dads remote still has me guessing and hunting through way too many buttons.