33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
Awesome! Five stars, for sure.
I had been researching TV's for about a month or so. I knew I wanted an LCD in the 42"-50" range, backed by a trusted brand name, with if not cutting edge technology then at least most of the latest and greatest features on current high-end models. This because a TV is something I buy and use for many years, and I don't want my set to become obsolete two years from...
57 of 76 people found the following review helpful:
Great TV.....for 23 days.....then it completely choked
Were it not for my current problem, I would rate this TV a 4 or 5. I did exhaustive research on LCD televisions and made repeated trips to stores to compare picture quality and features. I gravitated to this particular set for its small footprint (bezel) around the screen, the exceptional picture quality and the Sony name. I have always known Sony TVs to be high...
This review is from: Sony Bravia Z-Series KDL-46Z4100/B 46-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV, Black (Electronics)
I had been researching TV's for about a month or so. I knew I wanted an LCD in the 42"-50" range, backed by a trusted brand name, with if not cutting edge technology then at least most of the latest and greatest features on current high-end models. This because a TV is something I buy and use for many years, and I don't want my set to become obsolete two years from purchase date. So after reading many product specifications, manufacturers' descriptions, reviews from other users and professional reviewers, and spending many hours walking through electronics stores and looking at displays, I picked the Sony Bravia KDL-46Z4100. The next closest contender was the KDL-46W4100. However, the Z series won out, although it was a couple of hundred dollars more expensive, for these reasons:
- Much better looking set (I'm talking about the physical TV here) with a very slim bezel and all-black design, as opposed to the two-tone black and silver of the W.
- 10 bit color processor, which gives far more on-screen colors. I didn't think this was a big deal, until I saw a W and Z series side by side in a store, and the display happened to show a sunset. The W had distinct bands of color, while the Z had a gradual change of color.
- DLNA. I don't use this option yet, but it's nice to know that I can if I want to. I have a PS3, which also has DLNA, and I use that to beam images/music/video from my computer to my TV. The reason I use the PS3 is because its DLNA capability is wireless, while the TV's is not. This is an important caveat for those to whom the TV's DLNA capability is important. There are ways to make it work wirelessly, like hooking up a bridge, but I have not tried that. However, just know that out of the box, the TV can't do wireless DLNA.
I also compared this TV with the XBR series, and found that it has almost all the features XBR has but for many hundreds of dollars less. I just didn't see any huge benefit in going for the XBR versus this model.
As for comparison with other brands: I did consider Samsung, LG, Sharp, and others, but only Samsung seemed to have products that could take on Sony's Bravias in terms of picture quality and features. However, in my humble opinion, Samsung shot themselves in the foot by putting glossy screens on their LCD's, thus defeating one of the primary purposes people are moving from plasma to LCD. This is something I read about and didn't think was a huge difference until I did a side-by-side comparison in the store. The Samsung ToC models reflected the image from the TV displays across the room. The Bravias did not. I have a living room with many windows, so this instantly killed the Samsung's chances.
As for this TV: I can't say enough good things about it. If you are a techno geek, there are enough settings and features to keep you busy playing with them and setting them for days. If you are not, and just want to take it out of the box and use it, then it works too because setup couldn't be simpler. Just set it where you want it, hook up the power, connect your DVD/STB/receiver/box etc, and it's good to go. You can tweak settings to your heart's content, but don't have to. I was amazed by the picture right out of the box. The first movie we watched was Wall-E on Blu Ray, and the picture just blew my mind. We also watched a few episodes of Lost, and there were various scenes where the picture almost looked 3-dimensional, like looking out a window. Just amazing colors. We actually paused the show a few times to admire the picture. :) Oh, and the surround sound speakers are pretty good too. I hooked up my USB flash drive directly into the TV, and played a few songs from there via the TV's speakers, and it sounded very crisp. I'm not an audiophile, but to my ears it sounded more than satisfactory.
Is the 120Hz a big deal? Here's something anecdotal (and the sample size is only one), but for what it's worth: I was standing in the store and looking at the display on this TV for a few minutes. Then I turned around and looked at another TV that was showing the same display but had a refresh rate of 60Hz. I instantly started getting a headache. This is not a definitive scientific test, but I thought I'd mention it.
Nice little touch: the TV stand has a screw-hole in the back to fix it to the unit it is sitting on, to prevent the TV from toppling over if pulled too hard. You don't have to use this, because the stand is sufficiently wide and deep to take the weight, but just good to have. I don't know if all such TV's come with stands that have this. I appreciated this because I have a 2-year old child at home. It will take two people to lift the TV and set it up, either on its stand or wall mount. The TV is light enough that I can lift it on my own, but I'd rather be cautious with an expensive electronic device. I'm also happy that the box fit on the back seat of my Maxima, otherwise I would have to hire a truck to bring it home.
Complaints: The remote is too large, and is a basic universal remote. It works just fine for this TV, and will also probably work fine with most other standard devices, but lacks the very important learning feature. I actually like the layout of buttons and the ergonomic design, just not the size and the lacking feature set. Also, the slim bezel around the TV is high-gloss, so it reflects light from other sources. Nitpicking here, but I wish it were matt.
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This review is from: Sony Bravia Z-Series KDL-46Z4100/B 46-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV, Black (Electronics)
Many folks are going for the samsung lcds because the blacks look blacker.
but those tv's have a glass screen that reflects everything. This tv is sharper than a xbr4 or xbr5 , those were last years models. the engine in this tv is equivalent to a xbr6. I replaced a great 50 inch sony sxrd
tv with this one. Sony's newer 52's didn't have all the features of this one. the s, v, and w's are fine tv's but they don't have deep color the new color standard that future discs will have. Nor do they have x.v. color which is here already and is used in digital photos. this one does. the w does have 24fps or film speed that words with a ps3 or blu ray player to show a movie in it's real speed. Of course this isn't a benefit for older dvd's as they are processed in a 2:3 rate anyways. that means that one frame is dropped for every 3 shown. but for blu ray this feature rocks. And like ALL lcds standard non hd tv looks ok but they don't put standard tv on in showrooms. so people take these tv's home and expect it to look like HD content. this is true for all lcds, plasmas , lcos , dlp's and the rest. But this tv shines with hd content and blu ray. However, I will miss the extra four inches of screen. but this tv is in many ways future proof for a while. the 120hz feature for motion and other features make it one of the best tv's made so far. The toshiba 540 and 550 series are comparible but this tv is the clearest of the new tv's. xbr 7's will come soon but they will be much more expensive. the jump in size from 46" to 52" is also a substantial jump in price. So I can live with a 46" tv with this quality. This tv took 2 days to get to denver. which is great! I picked it up myself as the box and tv are not too large and this means I don't have to hang around waiting for a delivery. I would say that if you have a smaller tv 46' or less go down to ceva wharehouse and get it yourself. This tv though with it's three key features: deep color, x.v. color and 24p or 24 frames per second film speed for blu ray only I would say make this tv in many ways future proof. I knew when I bought the sxrd that new technology wasn't far off that technology is here on the sony z series and it's good enough on the sony to make the tv a keeper for many , many years.
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This review is from: Sony Bravia Z-Series KDL-46Z4100/B 46-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV, Black (Electronics)
Let me start off by saying that my previous TV set was a 27 CRT from Panasonic. It was a great TV that I had purchased 5 years ago on sale for $190 at Circuit City. It still amazes me that after 5 moving (inter/intra cities and states) and after 4 TV stands this set stands like a rock (No really! It is that heavy).
Anyway, my quest started off with the first question that almost anyone would have at the beginning. Plasma vs. LCD. After reading tons of articles, comments and reviews on this subject I concluded that both were superior technologies and one couldn't go wrong choosing either one. It was a personal choice then.
Contradictory to my opinion "personal choice" really isn't that easy as it sounds. This being my first HDTV I had a whole bunch of questions creating chaos in my mind with zero answers to fight them off.
My requirements list looked something like this:
* Budget < $2000 (incl. tax, shipping and other basic cables)
* Size > 40 inches but less than 50 inches
* Preferred the best or second best brands in that technology. This is usually debatable but my choices were pretty clear with Sony and Samsung as one and two for LCDs and Pioneer and Panasonic for Plasma's respectively.
* Low power consumption
* Low heat emissions
* Deep blacks (as much as possible)
* Reasonably good speakers
* 120 Hz for a LCD
Luckily, some very personal choices like low electricity consumption and less heat emissions nailed my choice to a LCD pretty quickly.
So I started looking in to the Sony and Samsung lineups. Amazon had certain TVs with 5 stars based on 400+ reviewers. But once I checked them out at Fry's it was clear that they had a reflection problem. My living room has two huge windows and that would make it impossible to ignore it. Even otherwise when I looked at a Sony and its Samsung counter-part it was pretty clear that Sony was way ahead in clarity (No, I do not own a single Sony product).
From that point I concentrated solely on finding the best possible Sony for my budget and other requirements. In about an hour it was clear that the XBR line-ups were out of my price range. So I started delving into the Z-series which is the top of the line non-XBR set from Sony. In fact I think Sony never made a 46+ on this series to avoid XBR's sales drop. The S-series seemed to lack many of today's technology and the W-series was just today's technology that would be outdated in six months. The V-series fit somewhere in between. So clearly Z-series was the one.
My research made it easy to narrow down the retailers to Costco and Amazon. This is heavily biased and can be debatable again. For that very reason it is pointless to list my reasons on picking these retailers here.
Costco seemed to promote Sharp, Samsung and Vizio and hardly had Sony in its lineup. Amazon on the other hand had the Z-series for a huge discount (30% for the black which was my preference). While I debated and kept reading articles on the "best time to buy a HDTV" it became clearer that the answer could only be "when you are ready to buy". So I placed the order on Amazon.com
I am waiting for my set to arrive. Will update on the experience once I get through it.
UPDATE:
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In my last post I wrote about my experience in ordering a Sony LCD from Amazon.com. I had ordered a KDL-46Z4100 (black) from Amazon on the 29th of October and the delivery estimate was the 8th of November. They did better ... it was delivered on the 5th.
The logistics was handled by Eagle/CEVA and they called up and gave us a time range of 9 to 1. It was delivered around 12:30. I was happy with the way everything was handled and would definetely recommend Amazon/CEVA after my experiences.
Note: CEVA delivery guys said that even though Amazon promises white glove delivery which includes setting up the TV on its pedestal CEVA does not authorize them to do it. It was not tough to get it on to the pedestal but I was a bit curious to know why Amazon doesn't mention this online.
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This review is from: Sony Bravia Z-Series KDL-46Z4100/B 46-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV, Black (Electronics)
This was the first LCD HD television that I purchased and I found the Sony to have no faults (purchased 6/2008). I love the 3 inch depth and light weight (about 57 pounds).
The set up was easy and the screen viewing wonderful with any media thrown at it ("rabbit ears", cable, blu-ray, DVD, XBOX, Wii). There is no glare and you can view easily from an angle. 4HDMI and multiple component ports made for a no fuss addition of extras.
The remote is a bit large but that may be how other manufacturers are doing that.
Overall, a wonderful product from Sony
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This review is from: Sony Bravia Z-Series KDL-46Z4100/B 46-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV, Black (Electronics)
I have been very happy with this TV and for the price that Amazon offered you couldn't beat it. At first I was concerned about the quality of the picture, however Sony defaults to having a lot of extra picture features turned on. For me they work better when turned off. I recommend adjusting the following.
1. Turn off Cinemotion - made normal TV difficult to follow as it forced odd panning.
2. Turn off Motion Enhancer - also caused odd picture distortion.
3. Turn on the light sensor - the brightness of the picture adjusts with the light in the room, and is much more balanced instead of being overpowering and almost blinding.
4. Turn off the Sony Logo - just distracting and unnecessary
Overall it is a great TV and with the design features including the thin black trim it looks great. Also the menu is intuitive and fairly easy to use.
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This review is from: Sony Bravia Z-Series KDL-46Z4100/B 46-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV, Black (Electronics)
I been researching for LCD in the 40-46" for little over 5 months. Narrow it between the W and the Z series of Sony. I rule out Samsung due to the glare. Finally did the purchase during black friday. (Cheaper by now). Matched it with PS3, Tversity (free software as media server), Logitech Z5500.
Pros: 1: PQ is exceptional. Especially with blu-ray. 720p material is also stunning via PS3. DVD without upscaler are so-so, however, after upscale with PS3, it is acceptable viewing from 6 feet and beyond.
2: Minimal glare, still some with direct light shine upon it. However, if viewing angle is within 30 degress, it is acceptable.
3: 120hz, or motion enchancement is great, have to see it to appreciate it.
4: Price drop every other week since Thanksgiving. You can spend less than $1500 to have it. Nothing in such price range can compare with the z series.
Cons: 1: Very blocky output for low resolution materials such as PS1 games, VCD's, mpeg1. Need to view those blocky images from at least 8 feet away to avoid getting a headache.
2: Took more than one time (initial setup) to get most of the digital channels from cable line without cable box, and still get the channels with wrong network labels.
3: Optical output is wonky while the on board speaker just suck.
4: DLNA for photo viewing only, kind of pathetic.
5: Don't expect the Sony tech support team to help with any issues.
Conclusion: All the cons cannot out weight the fact the z4100 looks so good with the picture and the thin bezel. Cheap price too. I recommend this LCD greatly.
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This review is from: Sony Bravia Z-Series KDL-46Z4100/B 46-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV, Black (Electronics)
I bought this TV for my father for XMAS, and so far it has been great. You will need to "google-Z4100 calibration settings", because changes to the picture are necessary. The motion issues that I experienced on the XBR4 have been taken care of with the new Bravia2 engine. I think the picture quality is just as good if not better than the XBR4 (could be the dynamic contrast ratio increase from 18000:1 to 30000:1).
On another note do not fear purchasing a TV through Amazon (make sure you are purchasing from Amazon). I have purchased 4 LCDs and one plasma from Amazon and delivery was excellent. The plasma was defective but it was not a result of anything the deliverers did wrong. If in doubt (damaged packaging) do not accept delivery, and if you do happen to receive a bad TV, Amazon will make it right. Pilot was not able to demonstrate my TV as it was cold. Do not turn on TVs that are cold to the touch. The resulting condensation can damage your TV.
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I PURCHASED THIS TV ON 7-19-08 AND IT WAS THE BEST PURCHASE I HAVE EVER MADE. THE PICTURE QUALITY IS OUTSTANDING AND IT IS A VERY LIGHT AND EASY TO MOVE TV, I WAS THINKING ABOUT GETTING AN XBR4 46" BUT WHEN I WAS ABLE TO GET THIS FOR 2200 DOLLARS AND LOOKED AT BOTH OF THEM REALLY CLOSE IT WAS HARD TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE IN PICTURE QUALITY WORTH 600 MORE DOLLARS. WHEN I GOT IT HOME AND SET IT UP THE PICTURE LOOKED REALLY GOOD, BUT AFTER I DID A LITTLE BIT OF TWEAKING IT WAS OUTSTANDING. I HAVE A SONY BLURAY, PS3, AND XBOX 360 AS WELL AS DIRECTY HDVR HOOKED UP TO IT WITH ONE HDMI CABLE FROM MY ONKYO 805 AND ONE COMPONENT CABLE AND ALL OF THEM LOOK GREAT. THE BLURAY PICTURE QUALITY AT 1080/24P LOOKS LIFELIKE AND REALLY PUTS YOU RIGHT IN THE ACTION, AND PLAYING A GAME ON EITHER OF MY CONSOLES JUST BLOWS ME AWAY HOW GREAT THEY BOTH LOOK. IT TOOK ME A LONG TIME TO DECIDE WHICH TV TO GET AND BOY AM I GLAD THAT I WAITED LONG ENOUGH FOR THIS ONE TO COME OUT BECAUSE IT IS JUST GREAT. SO IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A GREAT TV WITH AN OUTSTANDING PICTURE DONT HESITATE TO GET THE KDL-46Z4100 I KNOW THAT YOU WILL LOVE IT AS MUCH AS I DO.
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This review is from: Sony Bravia Z-Series KDL-46Z4100/B 46-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV, Black (Electronics)
Were it not for my current problem, I would rate this TV a 4 or 5. I did exhaustive research on LCD televisions and made repeated trips to stores to compare picture quality and features. I gravitated to this particular set for its small footprint (bezel) around the screen, the exceptional picture quality and the Sony name. I have always known Sony TVs to be high quality and reliable........until now.
I babied this puppy on delivery, as if it were fine crystal. It sits on top of a cabinet, free-standing, with plenty of ventilation in a large room. For 23 days it worked great. Then a powerful windstorm knocked out power in NE Ohio and took down cable across the region. The following day I had the TV on throughout the day as I waited for cable to be restored. Late in the afternoon I noticed vertical lines across the screen instead of simply a blank screen.
The set was totally unresponsive via remote or otherwise. It didn't even work with my Sony DVD player --just random vertical lines and no sound. I called Sony. They put me in touch with their technical repair contractor, QualServe. They sent a tech 8 days later. The guy replaced the heart of the thing....the main processor and circuit board. No change. He was stumped and called Sony. After a long conversation heordered a new LCD screen!! 2 wks for delivery to QualServe then another week for them to send one of their techs out to install the thing.
I am awaiting resolution. When all is said and done, it will be 4 wks of repair time for set I had a mere 23 days.....and given what they're replacing it will essentially be a new TV. My out of pocket costs for the repair? Loss of TV for a month and the bill for the cable I cannot watch. Sony has been responsive and apologetic to a certain point but also unwilling to send a new set in the box.
FOR THOSE ORDERING THROUGH AMAZON --- be advised, I ordered this TV on Amazon from a company called 'OneCall'. Amazon TOTALLY screwed up the purchase and shipping info. Amazon is usually stellar and organized with these things, I do not know what happened. The OneCall people were good to work with however I was surprised they were not more concerned about the mix up.
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