Customer Reviews: Read 12 more reviews...
 Sony Grand Vega November 9, 2008
Purchased 11/06 and has performed flawlessly. Have PS3, PC, VCR, DVD bridged thru to Bose audio system. Viewing angle is pretty good, dims a little when greater than 45 degrees off center. Next one to be Sharp Aqueos as they have a better picture.
 GREAT TV UNTIL YOU REPLACE LAMP July 26, 2008
We loved the Sony KDF-46E2000 until 2 weeks ago. The projection lamp needed replacing. I purchased a new one and replaced it. Tv came on for about 10 minutes then wouldn't come back on. I had 3 blinking red lights on power button. I contacted Sony and they said the lamp door was not on right. I checked and it was. So I called a tv repair man. They came out and fixed the activor switch. 140.00. Tv then had a red band at top of screen. Contacted Sony again. They told me to take it to a certified Sony repairman. The problem is there are no Sony repairman in my area. They are 2 hours away. After arguing with Sony they finally offered me a new tv for a discounted rate. A 1599.99 tv for 768.00. But I already spend 300.00 for new bulb and repair service. The engine light is failing on the KDF-46E2000. TV is only 16 months old. Very disappointed. So don't try to change projection bulb without a repairman.
 I should have bought the service plan. January 30, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I liked this TV a lot until yesterday. It has a picture as good as any plasma or lcd I've seen and the footprint is very small for a rear-projection.
It's in my family room so it gets a lot of use and I have a big bay window which light shines through in the afternoons. Even with that the glare is pretty minimal for most tv watching. Altough I'll definately pull the blinds for serious watching of dvd's or big sporting events.
So everything was going well until yesterday when the lamp blew out. A brief look online and they are $200 to $250 for a replacement. I'm not at all handy so I have no idea if that's something I can do myself. If not, I'm probably looking at at least another $100 to $150 for a professional.
The TV is only about 15 months old, so even though it's in my main room and is on almost constantly it seems a short lifespan.
I NEVER buy service plans because when you think of how many electronics (tv's, computers, printers, laptops,dvd players, stereo's, mp3 players,video game consoles, etc.) and appliances (fridge, range, dishwasher, washer, dryer, vacuum, mixers, etc.) are in a typical household and how long they usually last, you're basically self-insuring against the one or two items which will fail before it's time.
I guess the difference here is that this lamp WILL fail at some point and in my case quite quickly. It just sucks that it happened to fail 4 days before the Patriots play in the Superbowl (I'm from Mass.).
 A great set for the money October 3, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Sony KDF-46E2000 46" WEGA Widescreen Television
After looking around for 2 months, I finally decided to go with the Sony KDF-46E2000 as my new TV. My older Samsung 42" widescreen projection television finally run its course after about 4 years of service, and I felt that my money would be better spent on a new unit as technology has advanced to the point to where picture quality was above and beyond anything I could get on my older Samsung even if it was repaired to factory-new condition. I initially thought about buying a plasma TV, but I didn't like the fact that they had a finite lifespan as opposed to a projection unit that could have a lamp replaced and be in practically new condition again.
I've been running what I consider to be my "test DVD's" through my set since I got it, and I'm convinced that I made the right choice. The DVD's I use are a mixture of high quality transfers that all have certain aspects that make them stand out. For instance, Independence Day had a lot of colors and fast moving action scenes while The Fifth Element puts a lot of color and texture variation on the screen. Frank Miller's 300 has a unique color palette and a wide-range of high-quality still scenes and textures. So far, I am nothing but impressed with the Sony.
Pros:
Colors are amazing and brilliant. Artificial laser and light sources on movies really stand out (such as seen in the Star Wars movies or the Fifth Element). Skin tones and clothing can be very accurately represented if the settings are tuned correctly, finding the initial sweet spot for this took me less than 10 minutes of watching various scenes of high-quality transfer (non-HD) DVD's.
The clarity and detail that can be achieved on this relatively inexpensive set is amazing. Things look very life-like (again, if you tune the settings towards this end). Plasma definitely has an edge over this type of projection set, but the differences on this size screen for most home viewers should be minimal and not necessarily worth the added cost of the Plasma units. The texture of wood, metal, snow, dirt, clothing and skin has a near life-like quality to it once the set is tuned properly. I've only done an initial calibration and it can only get better with further, more precise tuning. However, if the picture I have is what I have to live with for the life of this set, I will have no complaints, overall the picture is amazing and worth every penny (and then some) that I spent on the set.
The sharpness of text in the menu system and on-screen text is perfect. Sub-titles are dependent on the DVD, but while they're not as clear or sharp as on-screen and menu text, they are acceptable.
There are more than enough inputs to connect virtually every piece of equipment a normal home user would have.
No unexpected visual artifacts can be detected at my regular viewing distances of 10-15 feet. Some people like to turn the sharpness up to high levels in thinking that it will give their DVD's a better picture, but it actually can have the opposite effect. DVD's are generally of a high enough quality that adding additional sharpness will produce artifacts and edges that shouldn't be there, giving the picture a jagged and pixelated look.
The lamp life on this unit should be 4000 to 8000 hours, which should last 2-4 years at watching the TV 5 hours every day of the week. Though this lifespan can be significantly impacted by individual habits and conditions, a replacement lamp currently costs about $200 USD, which is not all that much considering replacing it should restore the picture to the condition it was the day you bought it (provided of course that nothing else has broken, malfunctioned or burned out). This is one of the larger benefits of going with a set like this instead of a plasma TV...once a plasma has run its course, you'll need a new TV, there's currently no way to restore the picture.
Cons:
None that I've really noticed yet. I think this set, especially considering the rather modest price, is a bargain and has everything most of us need and want in a home theater system.
My initial settings for DVD viewing (tuned with THX Optimizer* and then honed in by eye):
-Picture Setting (Vivid> Standard> Custom) = Standard, which is recommended by the manual for home use, I presume that vivid is suited to work better with in-store demos to catch your eye and compel you to purchase
-Advanced Iris = Auto 1 - for signals with a larger variance between light and dark as in a typical movie
-Picture = Max (100) - This is the contrast setting, and although common wisdom dictates that the contrast shouldn't be this high, so far this seems to be the best setting for the few movies and games I've displayed on the TV...though experience tells me that I may end up going down to the normally recommended settings of between 30 and 50 once I get through watching more films.
-Brightness = 60
-Color = 35
-Hue = R7
-Color Temp = Neutral
-Sharpness = Min (0) - this should normally be left at zero or close to it for home viewing when using DVD or HD-DVD sources, all sharpness does is add artificial edges to sharpen soft signals (like regular TV), DVD's and HD content benefit more from leaving sharpness at a very low settings
-Noise Reduction = Off - again, more for removing noise in TV signals, best left off
-DRC Mode = High Density
-DRC Palette = Custom (Reality 25 - Clarity 35)
If you use the above as a starting point, you can then fine tune it to your liking as you go. With the above settings, I can see the blemishes and pores in facial close-ups and metal and wooden objects show through with detail on the grain and texture, things look very realistic. I will tune it further as I go, but the current settings are a very good starting point and way beyond the quality you'll get with older large projection or tube TV's.
*As I understand it, you can find THX Optimizer on any Lucasfilm or Pixar DVD created from 2000 onward; I used one of my Star Wars DVD's for this.
This is one great hdtv! September 22, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Have had this for a little over 2 months now and it is wonderful! I agree with the 8/31/2007 review by Keyur H. Desai especially re: the upscaling dvd player. I happened to buy the same one - Sony DVP-NS75H. I thought my regular dvd player would give a great picture but it didn't. Definitely get one.
I researched buying an hdtv for a long time, and decided on a dlp, either Samsung or Sony. But I didn't like the reflective black cases on the Samsungs. This has a slightly larger bezel than the Samsungs I was looking at, but believe me it's no big deal, especially since the color is an unobtrusive matte dark gray, with a matte silver on the bottom. And the screen is non-reflective also, unlike some lcds and plasmas. As for the sound, we have a smaller home, so I don't even have a 5.1 system, and the sound from this is all we need.
I have a Comcast hdtv DVR, hooked up with very inexpensive hdmi cable (diito for the dvd player)that I got from ehdmi dot com. The hd channels are amazing, especially sports. Tennis, football, baseball...all awesome...and my husband can't wait for hockey season. He was skeptical about getting an hdtv (we had an excellent 6 year old Sony 32" tube tv...now in our son's room). Almost every night now hubby says "I love this tv." I haven't noticed any artifacts at all from this tv.
We sit between 8 and 10 feet away, and even non-hdtv movies look good. If they're 4:3, I can zoom and it still looks ok. Though not like hd!
When I first got it I used the tools on our Finding Nemo dvd to set the picture settings, but honestly it looked just fine right out of the box.
I thought I wanted the 50", but this one is plenty big for our space and the distance we sit from it. And this is so lightweight compared to the old Sony. That thing weighed like 160 lbs. I also thought I needed 1080p, but I didn't! I can't see how the picture could be that much better to justify spending so much more money.
The viewing angle is not an issue. Anywhere we sit it's perfect. Sure, if you lay on the floor and look up at it, it will be darker, but who does that? Or if you're way off to the side it looks darker, but we don't sit there to watch tv.
I will buy the extended warranty from Sony Style, but not until the first year warranty is almost up. I called them, and if you buy say a 4 year extended warranty, that includes your 1st year too, so it's only really 3 years past your normal included warranty period of one year. I asked when is the last date that you can buy the extended warranty, and they said something like the 1st day of the month, one month before your warranty ends. So if I bought it on 7/3, I'd need to purchase by 6/1. But call them yourself to find out for sure. I just figured why give them my money early, ya know? And the extended warranties are based on how much the tv cost, and it is not at all expensive for a 900 dollar tv. Definitely worth it for the peace of mind it will bring...so many things can go wrong. I know I'll have to buy a new bulb in a couple of years, but that's ok with me, since this tv is wonderful.
Buy it now while there are still some around for this price, instead of spending so much more for the newer model.
Peace.
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