GREAT TV!! GREAT PRICE!!
Ok let me start off by saying this TV is awesome, I bought it as a family gift for Christmas it's in a family room. It makes the room look so much bigger (should state we had a projection screen TV, it was huge) this TV is on the wall and positioned great. Enough about that, lets get down to why people read these reviews. The picture is great i don't have the high...
26 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
Good product but bad delievery
The product is good but the guy who deliever did not even open the box and take it out. We late found out it was a openned box and then called Amazon customer service. They said they are willing to give $40 for that and I said it was too little since we don't know what would have been done on the tv and it cost more than $2000. Then he forward the call to the other...
This review is from: Sony BRAVIA V-Series KDL55V5100 55-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD TV, Black (Electronics)
Ok let me start off by saying this TV is awesome, I bought it as a family gift for Christmas it's in a family room. It makes the room look so much bigger (should state we had a projection screen TV, it was huge) this TV is on the wall and positioned great. Enough about that, lets get down to why people read these reviews. The picture is great i don't have the high definition channels yet but I have a lot of Blu rays and from that aspect I couldn't ask for anything better. The picture is so clear you can see the pores in people's faces. The settings for the TV are good too, usually to get the best picture the TV has to be on vivid (that will burn out the the TV out really quick) that isn't the case here I have the TV on cinema and it's bright enough for me. The sound is OK it's loud but when I watch movies I like to think I'm in the movie, I bought surround sound and that fixed that problem. I buy everything Sony because the Bravia sync works great you don't have to program the remote it's all done for you as long as you hook it up through HDMI. Now the TV has tons of inputs no need to buy an input extender. It has four HDMI one VGA and two component inputs, (all the inputs are on the side of the TV for easy access except the two component inputs are on the back of the TV) which I hate because the TV is on the wall and there isn't anyway to get to them without taking the TV down, but if you don't plan to put the TV on the wall you won't have a problem. All in all the TV is a great buy I would highly recommend purchasing this item, The product is great and the price is very reasonable.
On a related note I would also recommend purchasing a warranty from square trade, The prices beat the store warranty buy at least sixty percent and no shipping your giant TV and waiting two weeks for it to be returned. They come to you and do all repairs in home for all TVs greater that thirty seven inches.
This is my first review I have ever Written, please let me know how I did.
Thanks
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This review is from: Sony BRAVIA V-Series KDL55V5100 55-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD TV, Black (Electronics)
We wanted to replace our RPT Pioneer in our familyroom (55" screen)
There are three windows and many large screen TV's have screens with alot of glare. This was the best screen, picture and size for the price and it was a SONY.
We have always loved Sony. We purchased it online at Best Buy because it included delivery and Geek Squad Home Theatre Installation.
Bad news was that the Sony 55" we ordered went on sale for $200.00 less , the next day. I called Best Buy and asked for a Price Match representative. I asked because it was $200.00 less today should I cancel my order and just place a new order? She assured me that I would get the price match and if I cancelled my order I would lose my delivery date .
I SHOULD HAVE TRUSTED MY INSTINCTS AND NOT TRUSTED BEST BUY OR THEIR REPRESENTATIVES. I did not cancel my order and did call two more times last week to inquire about the Price Match, (it cannot be processed until your card is charged) TODAY I GET AN EMAIL THAT MY REQUEST FOR PRICE MATCH WAS DENIED BECAUSE IT WAS A "BUNDLE" PURCHASE AND I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN IT DID NOT QUALIFY!!!
TV was delivered yesterday and it is a beauty. We are now considering a possible upgrade. We will put this in our bedroom and get the 60 or 65 SONY for the Familyroom. The picture is great and we are still on the fence regarding Calibration. It looks great now!
BOTTOM LINE..DO NOT TRUST BEST BUY FOR YOUR PURCHASES. THEY DO NOT HAVE A PROBLEM WITH MISLEADING THEIR CUSTOMERS JUST TO MAKE THE SALE. WE WILL NOT PURCHASE ANYTHING FURTHER FROM BEST BUY. The only people who were straight with us were the third party delivery people who delivered the TV and set it up. They were great and did exactly what they promised.
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This review is from: Sony BRAVIA V-Series KDL55V5100 55-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD TV, Black (Electronics)
The TV arrived 2 days prior of it's promised delivery time in perfect condition. The delivery drivers from Pilot Freight also set it up in short order. Thank you Amazon and Pilot for the excellent service. Immediately after delivery Dishnetwork installed the HD connection to it. It runs mostly still on the factory settings, although I found on the Internet a set of settings for it recommneded by an expert evaluator, but I did not attempt to follow those recommendations yet, because it is OK as it is. Also there was 1 available software update from Sony which I carried-out, just in case. The TV itself is working perfectly and provides a movie teather-like experience and I can even see it (MOST IMPORTANTLY) without my glasses on, from my normal viewing point about 9' away. The visibility aspect is very important to me because I no longer could see my trusty old 27"-er even with my glasses on. Before I received it, I was worrying that I purchased a TV too large for my small viewing room, but this fear was laid to rest after the first few minutes of viewing, because it's picture resolution is so good that I can stand next to it without experiencing any grainyness or any other optical problems. It appears that there is no TV too large!! Everything on the new TV is wonderful especially it's picture quality, and this is even more true in HD. It needed a real high speed HDMI cable though (Sony DLC-HD10HF) to uncork it's full potential, instead of the little inexpensive no name brand HDMI cable I first used to connect the TV to the DVR receiver. The possible quality exception is maybe it's overall sound quality, which is suprisingly enough inferior to my 11 year old Philips CRT TV. Interestingly enough the sound volume of a given HD channell is also much lower than the same of it's non HD counterpart, without any extra volume adjustment. The so called surround sound effect although modifies the sound is not to my liking either. Please consider all these sound issues one man's ears only! Therefore I am considering to add some extra speakers later on. The Sony HT-CT100 or 500 soundbar sytem respectively, come here to mind. These are designed for Bravia TV-s (Bravia Link). Too bad that these soundbar systems have no stock attachment to the KDLV model. Also mornings, when I first start it up, the DVR receiver or the TV or both, respond sluggishly only to the commmads of the remote for a minute or two. This is no longer apparent for the rest of the day. Originally I considered the Samsung LN 55B630 and/or the Sharp Aqous LC55E77U as possible other choices. The Sony KDLV being a new model this year also, is overall an excellent purchase especially considering the purchase price and the 12 month no interest payment terms from Amazon. Now if it only would provide a trouble free decade of service like my old Philips TV did I would be completely happy with it.
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This review is from: Sony BRAVIA V-Series KDL55V5100 55-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD TV, Black (Electronics)
I recently purchased this TV from Amazon after much research into LCD vs Plasma, Samsung vs. Panasonic, etc. While in a Best Buy Store comparing Samsung & Panasonics TV's- my wife noticed this Sony nearby --granted you have to take picture quality in-store with a grain of salt due to the retail settings & source material; but all in all we liked the picture of the Sony best. Picture was brighter & clearer than the other brands and colors seemed truer.
Believe me I have no great allegiance to Sony whatsoever --I have owned several Sony products over the years and have been largely pleased except for a recent experience with a PS3 failing twice with 18 months--fixed once under warranty,then died again once warranty period was over-relatively big $ for repairs (50% of new retail price for repairs? c'mon Sony, how about a kiss first?) -therefore initially I wasn't open to Sony TVs or Sony anything for that matter - especially as my tech savvy friends all steered me to Samsung. I was ready to buy a Sammie until we saw this Sony.
I have to admit that so far we're very happy. Picture is great,there are no frills but I don't really want frills; just a great picture. Remote is basic but intuitive replaced by Direct TV remote anyway, on-screen menus are easy to follow & logically laid out. Speakers are lame for movies but what TV speakers aren't? I run the sound through an Onkyo receiver & problem solved. For normal TV programming such as the news the built in speakers, while far from great are better than many other brands I've heard.
It's only been 3 weeks but so far we are very pleased; it hasn't won me back to Sony fully but in a few years maybe it will.
One note: the bezel surrounding the screen is a high gloss black plastic that is a magnet for finger prints-otherwise it's an attractive unit.
We had Pilot delivery -- tracked the package on Pilot website -they indicated they had called my house & got no answer. Shot them an email & got a response in less than an hour. At around 10:30 am I asked to schedule delivery -they asked when I wanted it -I answered "This afternoon" (Black Friday) thinking a 6 hour window would be reasonable. Pilot was at the house with the TV in an hour -the delivery guys carried it in and asked me to sign & initial that the TV worked, without unboxing it -when I refused to sign without inspection they graciously unpacked it & powered it up. More laziness than anything else I guess.
All in all a pleasant experience --much quicker & easier than I had expected after reading others comments about Pilot on Amazon.
If the TV holds up better than the PS3's did I'll be happy -if not, I'll never buy Sony anything again.
A final thought; I paid $1577. shipped --I wouldn't pay a dime more.
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This review is from: Sony BRAVIA V-Series KDL55V5100 55-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD TV, Black (Electronics)
The product is good but the guy who deliever did not even open the box and take it out. We late found out it was a openned box and then called Amazon customer service. They said they are willing to give $40 for that and I said it was too little since we don't know what would have been done on the tv and it cost more than $2000. Then he forward the call to the other department of Amazon and said they might give us better reimbursement but the lady at that department even said it was not their fault and would not compensate anything! I have to spend more than 30 minute to argue with them and mentioned that it should be some kind of white glove delievery and eventually get the $40 back. I am kind of afraid to place another order from Amazon!
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This review is from: Sony BRAVIA V-Series KDL55V5100 55-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD TV, Black (Electronics)
Bought this in a national chain included in a package with a Sony N460 blueray (Netflix through this unit looks fantatic - better than through my PC.) I love this unit over the 40" Samsung and 42" LG (both 1040P but 2 years old.) The black is as black as Samsung, which is well known for the black level. The blue is somewhat more vibrant than Samsung but somewhat lighter. This may be because the higher contrast level with today's units compared with 2 year old designs. The adjustments in Sony is very versatile and should have no problem to tune it to a picture to your liking. One complaint I have, is that it places too many connections on the side (likely for all mount consideration.) However, I use it as a desktop so I would prefer to have one component, one HDMI and the USB on the side like the other two units. However, it is no big deal as right now I only need to use the back connections and most components I hooked them to the AV receiver. I do wish it has a coaxial digital output instead of just optical, only because I am using a long coaxial with my LG. I do not have any long optical cable, so I need to buy one.
I particularly like the tool button which let you go to some menu quicker. I particularly like the favorites with the graphics/icons rather than strictly texts as in my LG or Samsung. An icon that has your most recently watched channels pops up when you press favorite button. This is a great feature. You can also type in nine letter station identification for every channel so that you do not have to figure out what channel is 122-1101. The channel identifications show up in the favorite toolbar, channel editing and channel list. This beats my Samsung and LG as they lack these features. However, they are 2 year old so they may not be representative of today's Korean units.
The 55" screen is great, giving you a better feel of being in the theatre.
I read readers' comments in AVS forum about red flashing, clouding, undesirable auto-dim etc. However, I do not notice any of those deficiencies at all. After reading up about these complaint, I paid particular attention to these potential distractions last night, but honestly could not detect any in the four hours of watching. I think you need to be a videophile expert to really tell if there is such a small difference. For me, I am very happy with the picture and its performance.
Update - 12/18/09 after several weeks use, I do have to point out two weaknesses. 1. the optical output is only PCM 2 channels. My LG put out actually Dolby 5.1 if the cable delivers such audio. However, the AV receiver converts the 2 channel signals to 7.1 outputs and the sound still sound great like any digital surround sound. 2. changing channel from one to another is somewhat slow.
However, I am still very happy with the purchase, balancing the price and performance.
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This review is from: Sony BRAVIA V-Series KDL55V5100 55-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD TV, Black (Electronics)
I bought this TV about 2 months ago. Everything is great, and I have no complains. There is only one problem, and here is how to fix it. I connected the TV using HDMI. One day all of my HDMI inputs stop working. The rest of the inputs worked fine, and all of my receivers worked if connected to other inputs or other TV's. If you have this problem, unplug the TV from the wall for a minimum of 5 minutes. With the TV still unplugged, push and hold the power button in the TV for one minute. Plug the TV again and everything should work fine. This problem has only happened once.
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This review is from: Sony BRAVIA V-Series KDL55V5100 55-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD TV, Black (Electronics)
I bought this TV 2 month ago. I hooked it to the HDMI port of my dish network receiver and it worked as expected. Picture quality is perfect. The menu is easy to use. The size is just right for my living room. And you can't beat the price.
Highly recommended.
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This review is from: Sony BRAVIA V-Series KDL55V5100 55-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD TV, Black (Electronics)
This is our second Sony tv, we purchased a 32" for the upstairs and this one for the downstairs family room. The picture is excellent from any angle & the sound quality is terrific. We highly recommend Sony!
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