Customer Reviews

Sony Bravia KLV-S32A10 32-Inch LCD WEGA HD-Ready Flat Panel Television

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

After a month of reviewing 32" LCD's I chose this model over the equivalent Sharp and I'm very pleased. This monitor's HD is awesome! It is also very good at displaying standard definition programming. The blacks are very deep and you can control the backlight to fine tune the picture. It has three 16:9 modes and four 4:3. The wide zoom works great for SD shows.

This monitor is hooked up to a DirecTV HD Tivo and works flawless with the HDMI cable. The sound from the internal speaker is very good and has three sound modes. Overall I'm very happy with the picture quality and the quality of the finish.

Very happy with my purchase. Started with Computer Reports (understand this product replaced #1 rated LCD TV). Went to local retailer dealer and reviewed other LCD TVs in the size category (I had a hurdle of having built ins in place for conventional 4:3 TV, so I was going to have to limit the size unless I wanted to spend $1000s to redo spaces to get a larger set). Liked the picture quality, reliability (you do get what you pay for sometimes), the HDMI connectibility.

Right now I have the Sony connected to a Dish 508 Satellite receiver (S connection) and a Toshiba HiDef HDMI DVD player. It works perfectly and is the best TV I have ever onwed. My plan is to upgrade components over time, starting with PlayStation 3 next year, and probably HiDef satellite in 2007.


I read a number of reviews online, and I think there is a divergence between those who want only the best and those that want very good to excellent. I place myself in the later category. My family watch roughly 1.30 hours of TV per day, and the set doesn't make the content any better. I still prefer seeing movies in a theatre on a really big screen. On the otherhand, the Sony represents a quantum leap over my last TV (Toshiba 27#) and so far, I'm very happy.

I was a bit worried buying this set from Amazon because it was by far the most expensive product I've purchased from Amazon. But the price, including the shipping, was substantially lower than what I could buy "at home," so I took the chance. All in all, I am pleased that I did so.

The Amazon experience was generally good. It's obviously very simple to order from Amazon's site. The shipper (Eagle) did not provide enough information; using Amazon's "where's my stuff" feature, I was told that the product was shipped but had no idea where it was in Eagle's system aside from an estimated delivery date of a Monday. However, on the preceeding Thursday, Eagle called to set up a delivery time on Friday. My wife had a somewhat restricted time during which she would be available, but Eagle accomodated her. She told me that the delivery person was pleasant and put the 45 pound or so package where she needed it. The package arrived in excellent shape, as did the TV when we opened it.

The TV itself is quite nice. While it does not include an HDMI cable (which can range in price from about $70 for one meter [Monster] to $23 for 6 feet [Startech]) nonetheless there were enough cables provided to hook it up to my HD cable box. (Yes, you do need a separate HD decoder for this TV, perhaps one reason why it's somewhat less expensive than other similar sized Sony TVs.) One aspect of the initial set up that I believe is not sufficently explained is that you must be sure to turn to the video input on the TV into which you have connected your cable (or satellite) BEFORE you do a "channel search." I did not realize this fact and so after I did a channel search I was very worried that all I saw was static. But, once I eventually clicked over from the video 1 input to the video 4 input (where I had connected my cable box) everything was fine.

The HD picture on the set is remarkable...but that is probably true of virtually all HD sets. The non-HD picture is also sharp. Compared to conventional, CRT TVs, I think the LCD picture is distinctly sharper. Indeed, at first it seemed somehow "too sharp." Initially I thought the picture on a conventional TV was, in some fashion, more life-like. But I am coming increasing to believe that this was an artifact of watching only CRT televisions until I purchased this set. As I watch more shows on the LCD screen, I am becoming more used to the picture and now find myself dissatisfied when I watch our conventional TV in the bedroom..

The WEGA feature simplifies setting up the set and is nice but let's face it: Once the TV is set up, you probably won't use this feature very often. I wish the set had more HDMI inputs (it has only one) so that I could hook up both my cable box and DVD player. I also wish it had a set of inputs on the front to ease setting up and taking down my kid's video games. The remote has a bunch of buttons, but it's more or less logically laid out and so works well.

Would I buy another TV from Amazon? Based on my experience, I think so. Amazon prices seem low enough compared to the local brick and mortar stores to more than adequately compensate for the delay from order to receipt of the TV. So my experience has been strongly positive.

I've been visually compare all LCD TVs in similar range in many showrooms.

I am very confidence to say that Sony Bravia does has the best picture quality among all competitors.

Visually I found no difference between Bravia S-series and V-series, both has great screen. However, V-series does look more sexy and goes with the furniture with the black finishing compare to the S-series with silver finishing.

What I amazed most is the over 178' viewing angle, regardless where you are viewing at, the colour remains sharp and you can hardly find any difference. Unlike other brands that claims the same 178' viewing angle, but the colour will still get slight distorted at great angle. But this will never happen in Bravia series. Just go to your nearest showroom and have a visual inspection.

I even visually compared with Sharp Aquos with Sony Bravia side by side. Bravia pictures are far superior. I must say that Bravia is the best.

If you are still can't decide between Plasma or LCD. I must say that settle for LCD. Plasma has too many cons rather than pros.
- LCD by nature is reflaction-free. Plasma has bad reflaction problem. This is important especially if your TV is near to window and other light source. It might effect your viewing pleasure

- LCD has greater lifespan.
- Plasma brightness degrades after some short period of time.
- Plasma has burn-in problem (ghost image)
- Plasma pictures flickers like any normal CRT TV. LCD is flicker free
- LCD has sharper picture
- LCD with a PC input, it is a giant LCD monitor for your computer whenever you are not watching TV.

LCD may have problem with:
- dead-pixel. (get those without by visual inspection. LCD with dead-pixel are rare these days anyway)
- slow refresh rate. (Visually you don't see any problem with Sony Bravia high quality LCD)

I'm not a TV aficionado. I'm probably an average viewer and most of the TV's don't have a drastic difference in picture to my novice eye. I'm delighted with this TV. It looks great. It has decent sound. The picture quality is vivid to my eye. It's easy to set up and the price seems reasonable for better quality. I don't believe I've seen anything in HD, but if I'm happy with it now, I suppose it could only get better in HD. Hope this helps.

The Sony KLV-S32A10 32" LCD is simply an exceptional television. I believe this TV offers superior performance, design, and features when compared with other comparable LCD TVs. Performance with HD and DVD sources is excellent, standard definition channels range from fair to good (as with most HDTVs). As I purchased this TV at a great price ($1500.00) and thus I believe it represents the best compromise between performance and price. The newer version--KDL-32S2000 (not available when I purchased my LCD) has incorporated some improvements (e.g. 2 component video inputs vice 1) and has received superior performance reviews on such sites as CR and CNET; subsequently I would recommend purchasing the newer model over the KLV-S32A10.

I did my research and went to the store expecting to come away with an LG, Hitachi, Samsung or even Polaroid, having been told that with Sony you are paying for the name. But the HD picture was simply the best out of 9 32" sets on display, including a more expensive Sony. No TV is perfect, and I think the sound on this set is merely average, and PIP would have been nice. But you will not go far wrong with this TV.

Someone else wrote that you get what you pay for. The price was better than what anyone else was offering (both on-line and brick and mortar). The picture when hooked up to a HD satellite receiver is wonderful! I'll never be able to look at regular TV the same way.

What a great television! The HD quality is just amazing. The color is rich and vibrant. Everytime people come over they just can't beleive how good this television is. And lets face it, half the reason you buy a HDTV is to make your friends and family jealous. The KLVS32A10 is no exception. I'm very happy, come on, it's a SONY!!! Buy it, you'll love it!

Ordered this TV on November 25. It was delivered on December 1. Easy to set up and I am an electronics novice. Beautiful picture. Exceeded my expectations. Saved $300+ compared to local Best Buy and Circuit City stores. Saved approximately $110 compared to Sam's Club but it was delivered to my door.