Sony Bravia S-Series KDL-40S2010 40-Inch LCD HDTV

Afterall, Sony is the best for a reason
We love this TV. I bought a Sony rear projection 60" for my family room about 4 years ago and have never regretted it. So naturally when it came time to buy a big one for the bedroom, we upgraded in technology and stuck with Sony. When you're spending this much on a TV, pay a little more for the best. I research all my high ticket purchases so I expected the quality to be as good as it is. We don't have it hooked up to surround side or an HD box and you'd never know it. The picture is crystal clear. We've had the tv for about a year and no complaints yet. We feel like we're at the movies when we lay in bed.

It is also very light and thin. I am a 125 pound woman and I can lift it myself. Perfect if you have the wall space but don't want to take up too much room.

Great LCD TV for Great Price! Go SONY Bravia!
This was by far the BEST Picture on the Showroom Floor and got it for 00 clearance at BestBuy! When I got home I thought that the Picture would suffer as I only have a Standard Antenna to pick up local Stations. However, I was amazed at the picture and brought in my Nieghbor whom works for verizon on the Fiber Optics line. he stated that there is no better image engine then what the Sony Bravia Creates.
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Summary: BEST LCD TV for the Money! Hands Down.

Sony makes a difference
I live in a rural area, and could not get any store to deliver a television to me. Even delivery companies would not deliver a television in particular. Amazon came through with shining colors. The delivery was prompt - understand that the delivery company will CALL by telephone for an appointment. I waited for an email for longer than I had to prior to checking my phone messages, whereupon I found the Television waiting to be delivered. The service was very good, if not "white glove." The delivery man offered to help me take the television inside, which was nice - but he's certainly wasn't familiar with the television set, and so I didn't want him to hook it up.

The television arrived in in perfect shape, and performs spectacularly.

Why this set is special:

- Picture quality is superior coming from this television's image processing software.

- Exterior of the television is matte black, not reflective lacquer like Samsung and Sharp. That reflection is distracting from the picture.


Looking at this sony as well as a Sharp and Samsung that had better specs on paper (higher resolution), this television's picture quality was superior. The Sony has better image processing software/hardware built in so that it "cleans up" standard input signals AND cleans up compressed mpeg image quality (from less-than-perfect DVD's). That really made the difference in my purchasing decision. The numbers alone don't tell the whole story. When researching HD Televisions, be sure you check the type of input and ensure that the settings on the television are calibrated to that input. This is where Sony really excels.

Another commenter mentioned that standard DVD's looked better after purchasing an "upconverting" DVD player. This is very key. The one that I have found to be close to perfect is made by Oppo :
OPPO DV-970HD Up-Converting Universal DVD Player

The connection by HDMI is also key. A lovely signal transmitting through a mediocre line is wasted.

Still, as with any HD television, the connection between the two machines must be made carefully. When I changed the output of the DVD player from 480p (standard DVD) to 720p, the image quality improved RADICALLY. - Then I looked to ensure that "noise filtering" was off (default setting is "low" ) - and once turned off (no need to filter a gorgeous signal)... the picture is flawless - well as close to that as I need. The good news is that one can save settings for a particular input. So that once you set your settings for the DVD player, you aren't required to adjust them again. Though, DVD's vary and changing settings accordingly may do some good.

The control menus are easy to navigate, and after a few minutes of figuring, one will be very comfortable trying this setting or that.

Overall, the television and the delivery were both superlative.

I couldn't be happier.

Great TV, poor service
TV: Since this TV replaced a Sony XBR with 1080i resolution, the picture quality we see is only slightly better. Also, I have not noticed the clouding problem that many other buyers of other S series models had problem with.

Good:
- very good HD pictures
- color & brightness when using HDMI input
- sound quality is much better, could be due to HDMI

Bad:
- the response (switching between inputs, volume change) is way too slow, even compared to a much cheaper brand LCD we have.
- there is no way to skip the coax cable input which we don't use.
- no picture in picture (I knew this before buying)


Delivery: very bad experience
The delivery was late and it cannot be considered "white glove" because all the delivery guys offered to do is to hook up the TV at the nearest outlet in my living room to prove that it was not dead. Secondly, it took over a week (half dozen email/calls) to get Amazon to agree to their policy (that because of the late delivery, return shipping should be paid by Amazon), which also meant that I could not refuse the shipment and ultimately hooked it up while getting this resolved. Oh yes, they offered a coupon and are yet to respond to my final comments on this experience after four days.

Excellent
Excellent product. No complains. Strongly recommend.
Eagle shipping is also very good. They delivered the TV and took away all packaging boxes.