Customer reviews

Awesome TV
This is my first HD set and it is amazing. From set up to watching it took under half an hour. After playing around with the controls and reading the instruction book I have a good understanding of all the TV’s functions in about an hour and a half. There are so many places to plug in DVD players and video game systems in the back, I don’t need my RF switch box anymore. Consumer Reports rated this the best of the 32 inch HD flat screens and they are correct. I recomend this TV to anybody.

Simply the Best in Every Way!
We’re in the “senior citizen” class and were looking to replace our 27″ Panasonic tube TV (which did serve us well for more than 10 years.) Being in our 70s did not mean I didn’t THOROUGHLY check out and compare EVERY high-rated 32″ LCD HDTV on the market–at Sears, Circuit City, Wal-Mart and other brick&mortar stores. I searched on-line, read technical reviews, and paid particular attention to what buyers said about the products. The hands-down winner for us (and apparently all accompanying buyer-reviews) is this awesome Sony product. It is in our opinion simply the best in every way. Period. (”Consumers Report” magazine recently also ranked this product best in its category.) [...]Now we enjoy a superb television picture with startling sound clarity. I like it when a plan comes together.

Great TV, better price at Costco
Thanks to everyone for the great review and comments for the TV. Found the same TV, at Costco KDL-SL130 (only difference is the type of plastic used) for $ 849 and free shipping also. Need to print out the $ 100 off coupon first then order on the website.

Thanks

Edna

Good looks, great picture, Sony reliability!,
I went over to Best Buy yesterday and took a look at all 3 of Sony’s 32″ LCD TVs. The KDL-32S3000 looks better than the 32M3000 becuase they have put a black stand on it instead of silver. The XBR does not look as good becuase they changed the speaker to a shiny black rectangle at the bottom that looks cheap. For looks I would go with the 32S3000. The XBR is supposed to be technically better though. The 32M3000 is their base model being phased out now. The picture on all 3 is great and I could not tell the difference.

I am very happy with this purchase. The TV has very good looks, sleek and discreet. The equivalent Samsung and Sharp had frames too shiny and looked cheap. The picture is great. SD cable looks very good, better than on my earlier Samsung 30″ Slimfit. Audio is very good. Best of all is Sony reliability. My previous experience was the Samsung 30″ SlimFit. That had bending issues at first and was replaced. Then it refused to turn on, and customer service was rude and unhelpful. The Slimfit has major reliability problems. I am very happy with this Sony that replaced it.

Adding to this review after 2 weeks of extensive use. I compared this TV to Sony’s 37″ KDF-37H1000 LCD projection TV. This 32″ LCD TV won out because:

1. Sharper picture on HD signal - the KDF-37H1000 is a little more blurry. (Note the KDF-37H1000 picture is better than no-name brand LCDs). The Sony LCDs had better focus.

1a. LCD TVs have a brighter picture. The Sony TVs have 3 picture settings: i) Vivid (very bright, what you see in Best Buy, ii) Standard (less bright, what looks better at home), and iii) Cinema (softer, more reds and earth shades). On the KDF-37H1000, you have to set it to vivid to watch even at home. On LCDs, you have to reduce brightness becuase they’re brighter pictures.

2. SD cable on LCD TV is much much better than on KDF-37H1000.

2a. Motion was much cleaner on the LCD TVs. Sports blurred on the KDF-37H1000. I watched a bit of “8 below” Disney’s Alaskan adventure with lots of white dogs and snow, and it looked bad, blurry and soft on the KDF-37H1000.

3. LCD TV has much less depth. Looks sleeker. I also tapped my fingers and felt around the frames on the 2 TVs. The LCDs were firmer and fit better. The KDF-37H1000 frame was looser and cheaper materials like a toy.

4. Maintainence costs - the KDF-37H1000 will require $200-400 bulb replacement in 1.5 years. The sales people said this could even happen in less than a year due to bulb malfunctions, just like in a floor lamp or any lamp. Note, Sony is phasing out LCD projection TVs in favor of SXRD, Hence, parts for the KDF-37H1000 will become harder to find. The KDF-37H1000 lamps are already $400 (Sony parts are always costlier - look at their digital camera memories, compared to Canon’s).

4a. The complex combination of chips, mirrors, projectors, lamps on a projection TV is more prone to break than the simpler LCD technology. I am an electrical engineer and design integrated circuits for a living.

5. The KDF-37H1000 generates more heat than LCD, but much less than plasma.

6. The KDF-37H1000 has moving parts, such as the cooling fan, etc., All of these are more prone to malfunction.

7. Consumer reports rates the LCD TV reliability higher than projection TVs after looking at consumer repair data. Projection TVs had higher rates of return and repair.

7a. The folks at Best Buy told me they saw higher rates of returns due to reliability on the KDF-37H1000 than on Sony’s LCDs.

8. The LCD TV has higher pixel count 1368 X 768, compared to the KDF-37H1000’s 1200 X 720. This leads to sharper picture and better focus.

9. Screen door effect on KDF-37H1000. When objects on screen moved, their individual pixels did not move as a group. The picture was constantly dissolving and reforming. Faces had spots that appeared and dissappeared.

10. 2-3 years from now, I can put the LCD TV on a dresser in my bedroom as a 2nd TV, or put it in my study as a computer monitor. Cannot do this with the KDF-37H1000.

11. Moving - when we move houses, the LCD TV will ride easily in the seat in my Honda Civic. Cannot do this with the KDF-37H1000, which will have to go in the back of the truck with my wife.

The KDF-37H1000 was better than the Sony LCD TV in terms of:

1. Sound was much better becuase larger speakers and probably more pwerful amp.

2. A few more features and options that I will not use.

3. Larger screen. However, you must sit further back to avoid seeing spots and motion blurs.

Note the KDF-37H1000 is an excellent TV and very reliable compared to no-name brands. Definitely more reliable than the Samsung Slimfit TVs. We just came out of a bruising warranty battle with Samsung, and their reliability and customer service is pretty bad. The KDF-37H1000 does look very good compared to Samsung or Westinghouse LCD TVs, which had cheap and shiny frames. However, the KDF-37H1000 is just not as good as Sony’s 32″ LCD TVs. If you want a bigger screen than Sony’s LCDs, go 46″ or 55″ projection. The SXRD projection TVs had better motion. If you’re thinking of 37″, get an LCD.

One thing Sony’s have going for them is Sony reliability. I work for IBM and we design integrated circuits for Sony’s products. They require a 100 defective parts per million quality level from us. This is very good in the industry.

One other note: We only have standard SD cable channels 2 to 99. Yesterday we found that if we disconnect the cable box, connect the cable directly to the TV, go to Channel 2 and hit the channel down button on the remote, we get the 4 HD networks in HD for free! ABC, NBC, Fox and CBS, plus a local HD PBS channel. Try it at home kids and don’t tell Comcast! The HD picture is amazing.

Best $900 I ever spent.
I was immediately blown away after hooking up this TV. It comes with three picture presets (Standard, Vivid, Cinema) that make calibration virtually pointless. They’re just that good. Whether I’m playing the PS3, watching movies, or just browsing pictures, I’m seeing details I’ve never noticed before on my previous HDTV (51″ rear-projection). If you’re looking for a TV of this size with the best possible picture, look no further.