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40" 1080p BRAVIA XBR Series LCD HDTV

The BRAVIA XBR series represents the very best Sony has to offer in high definition viewing. With 1080p, these televisions incorporate all of Sony's latest technologies, like HDMI v1.3, x.v. Color, Deep Color, Motionflow 120Hz, and the new BRAVIA Engine PRO.

A great value and a great picture

Reviewed By: Billie Cornell - Truckee, California

For a year I researched the web to educate myself about the new LCD and Plasma TVs and to understand the terminology. Living just under 7000 foot elevation I learned plasma TVs do not function well at higher elevations. Since this would be our first LCD TV we had nothing to compare it to.

I highly advise researching the web for reviews from non-biased companies such as Consumer Reports and PC World, etc. to find the top rated, not just top selling, models in the size you want. Plus take the time to watch educational videos and read dozens of personal reviews. These resources are invaluable in my opinion.

At long last I had decided Sony, partly due to reviews on their warranty and customer service, would be the TV of choice. The clincher was when I saw several brands and models at a friends home and the Sony model was the best picture and they raved about their Sony. Then before actually purchasing we finally went to Store X to view my No.1 pick against others brands and models. We decided on a 40-inch based upon our room size.

The Sony KDL-40XBR4 was my first choice and after seeing it in person it sold us. Some reviewers did not like the extra clear glass frame so I really wanted to see it before buying a model online sight unseen. We actually did like this design feature making it look more like a piece of artwork, especially with the HD stations being aired on it, rather than just a black TV frame.

Purchasing an LCD with 1080p was important and the 120Hz motion Flow mode of the Bravia series was another feature that impressed us when we viewed it against other models at the store.

Hooking up the TV to the DVD player, stereo speakers and cable line together with the initial TV setup was easy. Purchasing an HDMI cable together with subscribing for HD cable service after the fact has helped our picture quality.

SKU 753008273 Panamax PM8-HT
SKU 751044197 AudioQuest HDMI X 1M

The VANNS phone sales dept is very helpful at offering suggestions for accessories without over selling, such as the HDMI cable & the surge protector listed above.

Be prepared to read the manual especially if this is your first LCD purchase. As of yet I have not tweaked the color, white balance, etc. or any other settings. The factory settings so far seem quite suitable to meet our eyes. We have only had the TV one week and are amazed at the HD quality. No blurring, when in HD broadcast, and action sports are instantaneous resolutions without delay.

The speakers produce a good sound but hooking them up to our existing 2 speakers make it sound even better.

We are now awaiting a back order for our Bravia theater system so we can replace our existing AV system and DVD player with an uploading player to 1080p together with smaller wireless speakers for surround sound. Although the box Sony theater systems were not the Vanns sales person recommended systems, esp. since it was on backorder, we decided to order it anyway since it should all sync together easily.

We have played a homemade DVD and plugged in our digital Kodak camera to watch photos & video. All looked exceptionally good especially based on the quality of the DVD which were created by myself from old non-HD, non-stereo VHS tapes using analog, not even S video, cables.

We are very pleased with the purchase of the Sony Bravia KDL-40XBR4 and especially happy to have located Vanns who saved us both sales tax and shipping costs! Much easier to spend the money for a 5 year extended warranty with Vanns especially when I plan to receive half of the warranty price back as store credit in 5 years...just an optimist that we will not need to use the warranty.

I would recommend purchasing this Sony model and to buy from Vanns. Once we finally ordered we had delivery in less than 1 week, with Fed X Freight taking 3 of those days to make the home delivery appointment. With no prior knowledge of Vanns before this purchase I have been pleased at the time spent doing research on this major purchase. We have recommended both our new Sony and Vanns to many of our friends.

The best LCD TV I've seen.

Reviewed By: Jim Pierce - Los Angeles, CA

Notes

-Ive heard that the LED-lit Samsung has a better picture, but ive never seen it, and its much more expensive.

-The bezel is big, and there is a slight fan noise which you can hear during quiet scenes. Those are the extent of the downsides.

-What impressed me most about this television is its ability to smooth out low-resolution material. Even YouTube videos playing out of my computer look pretty good on this screen, which was a surprise. The last HDTV i used, also a Sony KDF-E60A10, did a pretty crappy job of playing any non-HD material, even DVDs.

-The 120Hz motionFlow mode, which makes movies look like video, is baffling to me. I have no idea why anyone would ever want to use it. Thankfully, it is easily disabled.

-If you are considering the XBR5, you should know that the higher price will get you a different finish, an additional six months warranty, a fairly obscure home automation connection, and nothing more. The XBR2 and XBR3 models do have some technical differences.

-I did have some trouble connecting the television to my computer using DVI-HDMI cables - it was not able to receive a progressive 1080 signal. Research suggests that this is something that varies from video card to video card. The VGA signal puts out 1920x1080@60p, but requires some calibration to look good.

-The settings menus are a little funky, but there is such a vast quantity of adjustments that this can be forgiven. It was not too hard to get a picture that looked how i wanted it to look. The default picture settings out of the box are not good.

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