Customer Reviews

Sony Bravia KLV-S26A10 26-Inch LCD HD-Ready Flat Panel Television

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I bought this system last week before they started calling it "Bravia". I have standard (not HD) cable.

The picture is absolutely gorgeous right of the box! I have not felt any urge at all to try to tweak the color balance. It does come with three "picture mode" options (vivid, standard, pro) which I did change from the default setting.

The Sony switches channels very quickly making channel hopping convenient, and the remote has a Jump button to quickly go between two channels.

My initial plan was to place this near my computer and use it as a second monitor during commericals, however switching between video inputs is rather slow so I gave up on that idea. You have to either cycle forward through all 6 external inputs, or use the WEGA Gate (on-screen menus) to go directly to the input -- both approaches are somewhat awkward.

It would have been extremely nice to get around the video input switching awkwardness if you could just open a second window to view/swap another external input, but there is no support for that.

Not mentioned in the product description is that the box also contains 5-foot VGA cable for hooking into a computer and a coax cable for standard CATV use.

I am always reading reviews on Amazon, and finding that there are a lot of reviews that have numerous people voting them helpful that simply prove to be way off. Now I am always a little more critical when reading reviews on Amazon as a result since the person rating the item may have never had a similar product to compare it too, etc. As a result I thought it would help for people to know a little background about my experience with televisions as to know that this is not my first lcd or similar style tv: I currently own 2 Plasma Television sets (a 42" Panasonic Viera Plasma (TERRIFIC TV) and a 42" Zenith Plasma) and 3 lcd Television sets, as well as, 2 LCD monitors. I have set up all the televisions on my own, and have a very detailed background in this as a result.

I set up the Sony 26" Bravia Wega LCD TV for the first time 3 days ago. One of the first things I noticed upon watching my first broadcast via normal DirectTv was that the images appeared very grainy and pixelated. I proceeded to adjust the set using a dvd disc specifically for this. After the settings were completed, the color was great, however, there were even more noticeable pixelation of the images, and several very clear horizontal lines would appear spuratically through the TV broadcast and / or DVD movies about once every 5 seconds when viewed up to 4-5 FEET AWAY. I further went to notice that the images would stretch and then compress in 3 thick vertical bars in 3 equally spaced areas of the TV!! This was noticeable to me and others at any distance, but only occured approximately once or twice every 45 minutes or so.

Overall I felt this TV portrayed an image of lesser quality than my cheapiest LCD, my 20" Syntax Olevia. Perhaps Sony forgot this was a $1500 TV that was suppose to be HD. Yes, HD works, but if you try to have it on a desk or anywhere where you would view it within 4-5 feet, both in HD or Standard, this TV picture quality is abhorant. I have never had a TV that was suppose to be an HD TV have so many HUGE FLAWS when viewed within 4-5 feet. Of course most TVs there is always some line noise, pixelation, etc., but at the level portrayed by this unit, Sony SHOULD RECALL THIS UNIT. The new model replacing this Sony 26" is nearly perfect, but I feel as though Sony ripped its loyal customers off by charging such an outrageous price for Television that is well below the normal Sony quailty that I have grown to know and love. Honestly, shame on you Sony, Shame on you.

Pluses:
Excellent picture quality especially with 4:3 non hdtv sources (i.e. basic cable)
Plentiful inputs
Choice of picture settings including the pro mode which is quite faithful to the signal
Nice looking monitor - no problem displaying it - its small footprint is an added plus
hdtv looks great
Minuses:
No built in hdtv tuner
Slightly more expensive than the competition

For my situation, this medium screen LCD HDTV has been an excellent choice. Picture is crystal clear, sound is excellent and has some "surround" characteristics even without the home theater turned on.
The set has multiple inputs for several combinations of video devices. I currently run a VCR (still have some old tapes I don't want to trash), a DVD (standard but will accommodate HD-DVD), and a digital cable box. One caution with many cable providers - I run the cable box through the HDMI input even though my provider doesn't support this method. I have had only one problem with the HDMI image and unplugging the cable box for 10 seconds allowed it to reset itself to show an HDMI digital image again. ALL cable companies are compatible with component video inputs. This television has one component video input, so running a DVD and a cable box to it simultaneously will require an adaptor if that is your situation. In my case that hasn't been necessary to this point, but it wouldn't be a problem if need be, since I wouldn't be watching a DVD and a digital broadcast simultaneously anyway. Again - this is because of the cable provider, not the television. Some may choose this option anyway because HDMI cable is pretty expensive at this point. Overall, I'm very pleased with this television. It also fit very nicely in my somewhat small entertainment center because the speakers are on the bottom, not the sides.

We just bought this TV and are quite impressed. Picture clarity and color are absolutely wonderful, especially for an LCD. Even old video tapes take on a whole new life when viewed with this television. It's also very good looking itself. I really like the light sensor that detects ambient light and adjusts picture brightness. We have this TV set up next to a large, south facing picture window and the picture is remarkably clear and not washed out even on the brightest sunny days.

I bought this TV based upon my trust of the Sony brand and the very good rating it got in Consumer Reports. I haven't bought a new TV in 14 years so I was pretty excited about my new purchase. When I hooked it up to my DirectTV (non-HD), I was crest fallen. The picture was horrible. My wife's cheapo old-school Sanyo is way more pleasing to watch. The imperfections in the picture are so blatant that you have to sit 10 feet back to not be constantly annoyed by them. My advice is not to be tempted by any close-out deals on this TV as they try to clear it out for the new model.

I purchased and have watched the KLVS26A10 for 6 months and have adjusted and modified all I can and it simply is not a good product. It is inconceivable that Sony would put out a bad product like this...there should be a recall of it. The facts: The picture is not good for live/recorded shots of people...there is little definition or depth of facial characteristics. Every person appears like they have pancake make-up--like the image has been air-brushed of all definition. For me, these situations make up 50% of what I look at. I was so trusting of Sony, that I assumed I was at fault and either had the wrong cables, cable connections or couldn't tune it properly. All the best cables and fine tuning the color/image/light balance is of no avail. I was taken by the Sony name and by Crutchfield's claim...and I quote from their catalog "...Bravia is...a guarantee from Sony that you'll enjoy years of supurb picture quality...." Enough said

I had never purchased such an expensive TV as the KLVS26A10 in my life, but I thought by buying the SONY brand I would be paying for and getting quality. In two years, the picture became so dark that it was difficult to view. I called tech support, but nothing would fix it. I called customer relations and got nowhere. The authorized service dealer was in another city, close to an hour away. I decided it wasn't worth the hassle of driving that far, leaving the set for an estimate, and driving back to pick it up, so I gave the set away. No use throwing good money after bad. I wrote a letter to SONY describing my frustration and displeasure. I received a phone call about my letter from SONY national customer relations. The rep wanted to know with whom I spoke. I told him I would look for my notes. I spent 20 minutes looking, called him back with the names, and discovered he knew all along who they were--they were in my record (his file) the whole time. He even told me the date and corrected one of the names. If I was upset before all this, I was really upset after this charade. I asked to speak to a supervisor, left a message, but never heard back. I called Public Relations, left a message, but never heard back. That was about a week ago. I would not recommend this brand of television to anyone. Buyer beware.

I have owned the 26" Bravia for about a year and the only con is the price. I paid $1000 for it. The picture is high quality and the features are great. I'm only disappointed that had I looked around a little more I could have got a bigger TV for less, though I probably would have sacrificed some quality. I am sorry for those who have written such negative reviews, the only thing I can think is that they did not hook it up right or they got a faulty product, because I know mine works wonderfully and I would recommend it to anyone who is willing to pay a little extra for high quality.

very good tv, easy to connect with the computer and good for games, ideal for small rooms.