LisaDo's Full Review: Sony Class Grand WEGA E series KDF-46E2000 46 in. ...
A few months ago my husband decided to buy a bigger television. He wanted a big screen, high def TV. We were actually looking at a larger television in a different brand, but we fell in love with the picture quality of the Sony KDF46E2000 46 in. HDTV Television when it was compared to other televisions sitting next to it. Also, I liked the look of it better than the other television we were looking at. The Sony KDF46E2000 46 in. HDTV Television is black and silver which more closely matches our other electronics compared to the all silver televisions. Sounds petty, but the all silver colored ones stand out like a sore thumb to me.
When we brought our Sony KDF46E2000 46 in. HDTV Television home, it was extremely light. I couldn't help my husband move the smaller TV off of the stand, due to the weight, but the new Sony KDF46E2000 46 in. HDTV Television, despite it's size, was less than half of the smaller television's weight. At only 60 pounds, it's also very easy to accidentally knock off of the stand, so you'll want to keep that in mind when you go to move it and set it up. There is a support belt that fastens to the back of the television and connects it to the stand, but I wouldn't count on it to hold the television in place alone. It helps it from tipping forward, if someone was to pull on it, but it's not much good for backwards, and side to side, movement.
I don't know exactly how long it took my husband to set up the Sony KDF46E2000 46 in. HDTV Television, but it didn't take long. Maybe 5-10 minutes? We have a stand alone DVD player that is connected to it, as well as a home theater system. My husband used the input/output connections on the back of the television so that the cables are all hidden, but there are extra input/output outlets on the left side of the television screen, which are good for plugging in your digital camera or a game system.
When setting up your television, you need to keep in mind that it needs "breathing" room so that it doesn't overheat. This was something we hadn't really thought about when we purchased our Sony KDF46E2000 46 in. HDTV Television, but wasn't an overly big issue once we got it home. Our entertainment center is in four pieces, so we could pull the towers farther apart to make the necessary room so that it doesn't overheat. It requires 4" on each side, 4" behind it and 12" above it. Also, according to the instructions, you need to be a minimum of 6.2 feet from the screen for the best picture quality.
I'm not a television guru by any means. I just want something with a good picture when I have a television show that I want to watch. Some of the features for the Sony KDF46E2000 46 in. HDTV Television are listed below, even though some of them mean nothing to me.
From the instruction book:
~WEGA Engine™ System
~Digital Reality Creation® (DRC)® Multifunction Technology
~Integrated HDTV
~Advanced Iris
~Menu
~Wide Screen Mode
~CineMotion
~Parental Control
~HDMI™ (High Definition Multimedia Interface) and PC Connectivity
~Component Video Inputs
~S Video Inputs
~Favorite Channels
~Steady Sound
The remote for the Sony KDF46E2000 46 in. HDTV Television is very simple and easy to use, however we don't use it. We programmed our remote for our DVR to control the television to limit the number of remotes that we need to use. This way, one remote works not only our DVR, but also our television and home theater system. This makes it a lot easier on me, especially, rather than trying to keep four remotes separate and remember which one does what.
The controls for the Sony KDF46E2000 46 in. HDTV Television, as well as the speakers, are hidden, giving the television a much cleaner look than some of the other models. The speakers, which we don't use since we use our home theater system, are hidden at the very bottom of the television. They actually point down, toward the floor, and are hidden up inside the bottom panel.
The controls are in the same area as the speakers. You reach up inside, about the middle, and push up and the little compartment slides down. Inside you'll find a menu button, a TV/Video button, the volume up and down control, and the channel up and down control. I like that these are hidden because Zack has a bad habit of playing with the buttons on the TV so he can change the channel. He might not know exactly what he is pressing in his search for the channel button, so more than once he has messed up settings on our televisions that I didn't know how to reset since I didn't know how he did it. We don't have that issue with the Sony KDF46E2000 46 in. HDTV Television. We just make sure that if we ever drop the door open at the television that he isn't around to see how we did it. Normally, however, we use the remote for everything, so he doesn't even know the little door is there.
Next to the hidden control panel are the indicator lights and power button. Like the control panel, the power button is hidden. The indicator lights are almost hidden, unless they're lit up, so you really don't notice them, either. There is one for the timer, the lamp, power and then the Infrared Receiver, which is for your remote control. We haven't ever used the timer, and so far we haven't had to replace the lamp, so the power button is the only one we've seen on so far.
A few things that we don't care for about the Sony KDF46E2000 46 in. HDTV Television may seem petty, but they get on our nerves after a while.
The first thing is that we have an older DVD player. With some of our movies, they play great, but there are a few that "roll". At first we thought it was a vertical hold problem, but since it was only with certain movies, we weren't sure what to think. My husband called Sony and they said that the Sony KDF46E2000 46 in. HDTV Television wasn't compatible with the "Progressive scan" feature that some DVD players have. Since our DVD player is older, we can't shut down the progressive scan feature, like Sony suggested. We're going to have to buy a new DVD player sometime in the future or watch the offending DVDs on another television, which is annoying.
Another thing, we watch some of our favorite shows on the High Def channels in wide screen mode. We have the television set so that the default is widescreen for these channels, but for some reason the Sony KDF46E2000 46 in. HDTV Television sometimes "forgets" our settings and shows the wide screen shows as regular screen, so the picture looks squished. My husband has to go thru the menu options and reset the default several times a month. We asked Sony about this, as well, and they really didn't have an answer for why it was doing this or how to fix it. It's annoying, but we just grit our teeth and reset the default when it acts up.
According to Sony, the "Steady Sound" feature is supposed to equalize volume levels between the television shows and the commercials. I'm not sure if it's because we're going through a home theater system or what, but I don't notice that this feature works. Commercials just about blare us out of the room, while we constantly seem to have to turn up the volume during the actual shows because we can't hear what the characters are saying.
For the most part, the Sony KDF46E2000 46 in. HDTV Television has been excellent. The picture is sharp and the colors are crisp and clear. Even sitting at my desk, which is on the same wall as our television, I can watch the television and see the entire picture. Jesse can also watch television (he's a CMT junkie) from the floor and see the picture as clearly as if he were watching it head on.
While the Sony KDF46E2000 46 in. HDTV Television was actually something my husband wanted (a gift to dad, from dad), we all enjoy the new television. Other than a few minor issues, it's been a terrific fit for our family.
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