Excellent TV

Review by George S. Martin

I've had the TV for almost a month and couldn't be happier. The matte finish on the screen is what attracted me to the TV in the first place. The room where the TV sits is very bright and this really cuts down and almost eliminates glare on the screen. I looked at Samsung LED TVs and the screen was shiny and there was a lot of glare, I could actually see clear reflections of objects in the room on the screen. The ambient light sensor on the TV is a great feature. It adjusts the brightness to compensate for the ambient room lighting. In the evening the picture is not a bright as during the day. The picture quality is excellent. Guests have said it feels like you are actually part of what you are watching. 

Sony has done it again with the Bravia XBR. I would highly recommend this product. In addition the price on Amazon was unbelievable! 

Great TV, Good delivery service from Amazon

Review by QB

I was back and forth between this TV and the SamSung LN46B750. The price on this dropped to $1649 a few weeks ago, while the Samsung TV went up. The Contrast ratio for this one was 100000:1 compare to Samsung 150000:1, but really I can't tell with my eyes. I don't trust Samsung yet, but I trusted Sony XBR reputation. However, the price, and buy online with free delivery was nice to term saving money. I updated the firmware without any problem. Nice TV. I can't see any negative. I was very hesitant to buy Online since I don't know how it would turn out in case I need to return, but the AMaZON delivery was great. They unbox, set TV up, turn it on before I signed the acceptance. The delivery company they used was PILOT, which has a couple of guys in their 40's or 50's. Very nice guys, very gentlemen. Now I see the price went back up, I am glad I bought it. The sounds for this Sony TV is much better than the Samsung when I check it out at Bestbuys. 

Best bang for the buck!

Review by That'sCrazy Talk!

$2,399.99 $1,949.95

Ordered from Amazon, best price by far at the time of ordering. Free delivery, box arrived in pristine condition, it looked like it had just been pulled off the packaging line, no dents, tears or even scratches in the cardboard. So far so good... The delivery guys unpacked it, put the stand on and plugged it in. I was trying not to salivate. 

It was a breeze to set up. Coax cable to HDD recorder, HDMI to TV. 2nd HDMI from Sony Blu-ray to TV. Done! I turned on the tv, autoscan picked up the analog and digital stations (took about 30 minutes) and I was watching the news in high def. Wow, the picture was stunning, right out of the box. Oops, forgot, also coax from HDD recorder to TV. 

I have watched 4 movies, the blu-ray is stunning. At first I noticed a mild "flashlight" effect in the lower left corner in dark scenes while watching Bladerunner in a dark room. I watched it again 4 days later (again in a dark room) and it was gone, so maybe it was my imagination. The blacks are good, not as good as LED or plasma, but really good. If the room lights are on, the blacks are black. For $1,000 less than a comparable 240hz led backlit model it is a no-brainer in my opinion. The PQ is just amazing. Some of the explosions on the Bond flick I was watching appeared as if pieces were flying out of the screen. I was expecting some 3D effect, but this was ridiculous! I was so entranced that at times I forgot to follow the plot. Planet earth blu-ray also spectacular. The 3D effect is again breathtaking. It feels like you are on the plane/helicopter with the film crew! 

About the sound. I was expecting it to be really bad, due to a few reviews I read. I am an audiophile with my music, but keep my sound system separate from the TV (different rooms). I was hoping to not need to buy a receiver/speakers but was skeptical that the sound would cut it for me. But it is not bad. I tweaked the settings to my liking and the dialogue is crystal clear. There is a little "surround" effect using the front surround setting. I was really impressed. Let's face it, most people will be using external speakers. Now, my room is small with 7' ceilings, which I am sure helps the sound work for me. I can see how this would not be powerful enough in a great room type setting, or a more open area in general. 

At this time I only have one complaint. There is only 1 hdmi input in the rear panel, the other 3 are on the side. With my cables, there is no way to completely hide the one plugged into the side. Maybe there are cables with an "L" type connection that would keep the cable around the back. Eventually I will find a way to tie it back behind the TV with a zip tie. For now I am way too busy watching movies on this beautiful piece of HT equipment. My next order of business will be to connect to my high speed network with a wireless bridge to access Amazon and Netflix for streaming HD! 

For the price.... FIVE STARS!!!

Sony 46XBR9 is an excellent TV and worth the price,

Review by J. Cartledge

$2,399.99 $1,949.95

I did extensive research to determine the best quality TV for my bedroom and settled on Sony's 46XBR9. The picture is excellent and the built-in internet capability is exceptional. We rent from Amazon movies all the time, which has saved money on our cable bill since we were able to reduce our plan. The other TVs I compared were Samsung's LED, which is nice and light, but I worry about the reliability now, expecially since the technology is new. I have seen both pictures and the XBR9 compares well with the LED. Sony's XBR8 has the ultimate picture, but it is pricy and lacks the internet capability. I also have a 52XBR6, which has a very vivid picture and I love it. I haven't seen much difference with the faster speed of the XBR9, but it's nice to have it for high-speed action. The price with Amazon was exceptional, and you want to watch prices from day to day because they vary several hundred dollars sometimes. Amazon usually doesn't adjust the price you paid if a new price goes down in 30 days, but they were nice enough to do it in my case. I also bought surge protectors from Amazon, but bought my heavy duty wall mount from another site. Amazon is excellent and my new Sony was delivered with "white glove" efficiency and care. Great TV and purchase experience.

Wonderful TV

Review by David

$2,399.99 $1,949.95 
 

Tried the LG 47 inch LH40 and then the Samsung 46 inch LED B6000. Had both for about two weeks before returning them. The Sony not only has more features but has a much better and consistent picture than the previous two. The LG has a major lip synch problem and the Samsung had a great picture as long as you were in front of it. Anything slightly to the side and the picture was unwatchable. The sound on this Tv is great as well. Definately a wonderful TV and I strongly recommend it.

Excellent TV but still wondering if I should have opted for LED or Plasma...

Review by C. Williams

$2,399.99 $1,949.95 

I got this TV two weeks ago. As an admitted unapologetic Sony "fanboy" I had high expectations. The display is beautiful especially when viewing blu-ray's or HD sources. However in an extremely dark scene it is evident that LCD's still have a ways to go when it comes to contrasting blacks. I have played around with settings and even adjusted the custom setting to those recommended in CNet's review of the TV but it still leaves much to be desired. 

Pros: 

Excellent response time and display when viewing HD sources. 

A lot of options for customizing to fit your personal taste. 

A ton of extras (mostly accessed if/when you hook your TV up to your home internet network). The widgets and video on demand are fun features but likely not something that will be for the average user. 

Cons: Black contrasts still aren't near the level displayed in Plasmas and the LED technology also looks to be a major improvement in this area. 

Display of SD (standard definition/non HD) content leaves much to be desired. Going from an old Sony 36" CRT HDTV (HS510) standard definition played extremely well on that model and HD sources looked great also. On this model (like with most LCD's) the SD sources look worse than they normally do on non HD tubes. 

One area that I have yet to decide if it is a pro or a con is the input jacks. The back only has one HDMI input where as the side has 3. I really think Sony should have put two on the back and two on the side but at least the ones on the side are recessed enough to where the wires aren't visible unless you are standing near the side of the tv. 

I have already gotten compliments on the glass bezel that surrounds the screen and this tv definitely passes the "eye test" as far as attractiveness. The SONY logo at the bottom can be dimmed or turned off if you find it distracting (I thought this was a nice touch). 

I am happy with the purchase but all-in-all if I had to do it over I might wait for a 240Hz LED model by Sony or opt for a Plasma from a competitor.

Amazing picture

Review by W. Paulk

$2,399.99 $1,949.95 

I bought this TV because of Sony's legendary reputation in beautiful pictures and previous experience with the XBR line. As expected, the picture is absolutely great. If you want amazing HDTV, then this set is for you. The TV has a very simple and understated front, which I like a lot. The Amazon delivery was great! Two men brought it into the house, put it where we wanted it, connected it, turned it on and checked the remote for operation. The deliveryman was familiar with the TV and went above and beyond by doing the initial setup, which admittedly was simple, but not something he was required to do. There are only two drawbacks so far. The stand is flimsy feeling and wobbles like a weeble if you bump the set. My XBR4 had a rock solid stand. I just attached a cable to the wall for piece of mind (didn't want it falling on the grand kids). The second thing is a lack of PIP or P&P, both of which were on my KDL40XBR4. Bottom line--love it so far.