Great Flat Panel Set, HD, Costco Price approx. 2,700 as of April 2007
Written: Apr 15 '07 (Updated Apr 15 '07)
Product Rating:
Sound:
Ease of Use:
Picture Quality:
Durability:
Pros: Absolutely amazing HD picture, easy to setup and use, reasonably priced
Cons: One set has a very occasional power up issue as discussed, probably isolated issue
The Bottom Line: I would not hesitate to buy this set again. The picture exceeded my expectations and I've had HD sets before. Sound quality is adequate and overall I rate it highly.
oman9's Full Review: Sony BRAVIA KDL-46XBR3 46 in. HDTV TV
I've had this set (actually bought two of them) for a few months now and they have been great! Of course in order to get the maximum from these LCD sets you need to have an HD capable set top box from your cable/satellite provider. It is rated up to 1080p (1080i is the standard now, wasn't sure what that was but I wanted it, a la Jessica Simpson). I have no idea when they will broadcast in 1080p (you can get that resolution with Sony's Blue Ray Disc player now if you buy that) but I figure if it's in the next few years I'll be ready with these sets.
One set I use with the included pedestal. It was a breeze to pull the set out of the box and mount it on the included pedestal. One of the great features of this pedestal is that it allows you to swivel the set. This is very useful to me as I have this set in my bedroom and I have a loft just outside my bedroom where I set up a home office. During the day I swivel the set so I can see it from my desk while at night I move it back the other way to see from my bed. I would say the swivel range is somewhere around 50 degrees. The other identical set I bought I mounted in a wall on a wall bracket. That worked real well also.
The picture on this set is amazing in HD. There are different quality HD broadcasts and one of the best channels to get the full HD experience is Discovery Channel. It is unbelievable the detail you see. We just had the Masters Golf tournament last weekend and you could see the texture and detail of Tiger Woods' sweater. The level of detail on CBS's broadcast of that event was also spectacular. The quality of the picture on non HD broadcasts is quite acceptable. I also have a DLP set from Mitsubishi and that set is very nice in HD (not as nice as the Sony LCD however) but you can really notice the difference on the Mitsu DLP set on non HD broadcasts, not quite as good as the non HD on this Sony LCD.
In the few months I have owned this set I have experienced one issue with the set upstairs in my room. Sometimes when I go to power it on it doesn't turn on, just clicks non stop like it's trying to turn on but just can't. I'm not sure if it's some circuit break kind of deal in the set preventing a more serious problem or what the story is. The way I've remedied it is by unplugging the set, leaving it be for about 15 minutes and trying again. That seems to work fine. This isn't the greatest thing on an almost $3,000 set and I have contacted customer service about it to give them a heads up. This has happened maybe 4 or 5 times in the two months I've owned it. Other than that, operation is flawless. Again, may be some other issue with respect to the power I have it hooked up to, who knows?
The audio from the built in speakers is quite good. You can see down below from the specs the set has 2 10W speakers and they are ample for both quality and sound level. I have no complaints here for those who will not be hooking this up to a receiver and quality surround sound external speakers...these internal speakers are adequate.
There are some setup menus you can run through to choose type of sound mode you like, timers to set, etc. It is very easy to navigate the menus and I think I took all of 10 minutes to run through and make my choices. One choice is whether to have 4X3 video (traditional aspect ratio) stretch across the whole screen or have bars on the sides. I've chosen to have it stretch and it doesn't look distorted, doesn't look bad at all.
I used an HDMI cable instead of traditional RCA cables to get the most out of the latest connection technology and also to reduce the number of cables I had to run. HDMI cable carries both the video (for HD) and audio. The result is the amazing picture as I discussed above and quality audio as well in just one cable! If you are a savvy consumer, you can search the net for inexpensive HDMI cables. I used to be a believer in Monster, etc. but have come to learn that the cable just carries a bunch of digital information (think 1's and 0's) and it either successfully carries that data or it doesn't...one cable isn't "better" than the other.
The set is amazingly light and takes up little space compared to the 32" Sony XBR CRT set this new set replaced. For 14 more viewing inches (well, in 16X9 aspect ratio...would actually be more than 14" considering that item) this set is actually a smalling "feeling" set because it plain takes up less space.
There is a cool little headphone jack on the left side of the set. I plugged in a set of headphones just to test it and it worked easily (no reason it wouldn't I guess). This is cool if you have someone nearby who you don't want to disturb and is a neat little feature.
I will give you a heads up...be sure when you hook up your HDMI cable you set the right output in the menu (Video 6 is the HDMI hookup I believe). When I first hooked this up I got no picture...that's because you have to set the right input in the menu. The cable company customer service rep I called to get some help immediately suggested this and that was exactly the issue. She chuckled and says it happens regularly.
The technical specifications of these LCD sets are as follows:
Features:
Screen Size: 46" Diagonal
Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Contrast Ratio: 1300:1(On-Screen Contrast Ratio/ 7000:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio)
Viewing angle: 178° wide viewing angle
HDTV Compatibility: 1080
Tuner: ATSC, Clear QAM
Comb Filter: 3D Digital Comb Filter
Weight: 70.55 lbs (w/ pedestal), 57.32 lbs (w/o pedestal)
Dimensions: 44.13” W x 32.75” H x 13.25” D (w/ pedestal), 44.13” W x 29.75” H x 4.75” D (w/o pedestal)
Audio:
Speakers: 20W (10w x2)
Steady Sound® Automatic Volume Control
Sound Mode: Dynamic/ Standard/ Custom
MTS Stereo Decoder
A/V Synch: Off/1/2/3
Digital Amplifier
SRS® TruSurround® XT Audio Effect
Dolby® Digital
Inputs/ Outputs:
HDMI™ Connection(s): x2 (Rear) - 1 rear input included L/R audio inputs
Component Video (Y/Pb/Pr ) Input(s): x2 (Rear)
S-Video Input(s): x2 (1 Rear/1 Side)
Composite Video Input(s): x3 (1 Side/ 2 Rear)
RF Connection Input(s): x2 (Rear)
PC Video Input(s): x1 (Rear)
Digital Audio Output(s): x1 (Rear)
Audio Out (Variable/Fixed): x1 (Rear)
Headphone Output(s): x1 (Side)
I'm not sure what else to mention other than to say, even with the annoyance of the power up issue mentioned above on one of the sets, this set is absolutely amazing. I went with an LCD because I tend to watch a lot of CNN, etc. LCDs do not suffer the same screen burn in issues as Plasma sets although technology has advanced in Plasma to mitigate that issue these days. In any event I have no fear of just leaving the set on CNN or any other channel that leaves there logo in the same place for long periods of time.
The set is great, you won't regret it and prices continue to drop. Good luck and leave a comment if you have any questions.
Includes - Remote Control (RM-YD010), 2x AA Battery, HD-15 to HD-15 Cable, Operating Instructions, Quick Setup Guide 16 - 9 1080p HD Resolution Panel ...More at Amazon Marketplace
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2010 Shopping.com, Inc.