Sony Bravia S-Series KDL-26S3000 26-Inch 720p LCD HDTV
See it at Amazon.com for $1,099.99Average Customer Rating
(5.0 out of 5)
Amazon Customer Reviews
Most Helpful First | Newest First (5 out of 5)Nice TV, even if a bit pricey
Never really concentrated to much on the sony products because of the prices of them. For the money, you can get a larger sized samsung like a 32", or for the same size TV you can save big bucks by going with a westinghouse or other bargain priced TV's sized at 26" which is ideal for a bedroom. After purchasing a 26" westinghouse and not being extremely happy I bought a 32" Vizio. Still not satisfied, I left the bargain TV basement and took the plunge and bought this TV. Wow, what a difference. At $300-$400 dollars more than the westy, I'm not sure if it's that much better if tied to a budget, but if you've got it (cash), get it (sony). As far as specs go, read the description, but rest assured this TV is really nice. Sound is better than expected for a 26", menus are nice, picture is B.A. On XBOX 360, the best and most graphically demanding game is by far Gears of War. This TV makes it look incredible. The darks are dark enough in the spooky parts unlike other TVs I've tried out which looked washed out and lame. This set really makes the whole thing look alot better. I have been switching between the 3 presets (vivid, cinema, standard) and haven't made any tweaks yet exept for turning on the dynamic lighting. I'm sure you could make the picture even better with some adjustments but it's unnecessary.
(3 out of 5)If only Sony was as good as Amazon, J&R & UPS
Before reviewing the product I do want to say that I couldn't have been more pleased with the speedy delivery from Amazon, J&R Music and Computer World and UPS. I input my order to Amazon at 11:37 PM on a Wednesday evening and the TV was on my doorstep at 1:30 PM on Friday afternoon, just under 38 hours. J&R's warehouse is about 130 miles from my house so no grass was growing between the toes of Amazon, J&R or UPS.
Unfortunately the speedy service was to no avail since it will be about 2 weeks before I'll be able to enjoy my new TV. It was defective out of the box. Best guess is a faulty tuner. It's now in the capable hands of a local Sony Factory Authorized repair shop. I know this repair shop is capable because in the past they've repaired another Sony TV and 2 Sony tape decks which were also defective out of the box.
Why can't Sony get over this tendency? We're not talking about cheap junk here. Sony makes good stuff, once it's been repaired. I went over to Best Buy and checked out all of the major brands side-by-side. In fact I went to three Best Buys and a Circuit City just in case some of them were better at tuning a TV than others. Sony definitely had the best picture in this size TV. Just be prepared to get in line at the repair shop behind other owners of brand new Sony equipment.
(5 out of 5)Works well as a computer monitor!
Am I the only one who thinks the pixel size on typical computer monitors is way too small? Fortunately, one can buy HDTVs and essentially choose their pixel size, which is what I did with this 26" Sony Bravia. With my PC, I can run it at 1360 x 768 pixels, and the Bravia is smart enough not to scale it ("1:1 pixel mapping" is what it's called). In fact, no matter what resolution I send to the Bravia via my computer (600x800, 768x1024), the Bravia shows it unscaled, and this results in a smaller, centered image with black borders. This applies to both the VGA (PC) input and also the HDMI (via a DVI adapter) input.
Also note that I had previously tried using a 26" LG HDTV, but the LG had fuzzy/blurry text on both the HDMI and VGA inputs. Not so with the Sony -- text is razor sharp. However, I do note that colored text (e.g., blue text on a white background) will sometimes have some artifacts around the edges -- this may be due to the S-PVA panel design... I don't know. I can live with it, though, especially since there is no problem with black text on a white background.
Comparing this to the other TVs in the stores, I noticed that the colors were "truer" on the Sony than other sets, presumably due to the wide color gamut backlight. I did notice however that the Panasonic set had a more pleasing degradation for off-axis viewing -- with the Sony, just a slight change in left/right changed the amount of black detail. The Panasonic image seemed more consistent with slight viewing angle changes (however, the Panasonic didn't appear to be designed for computer use at all).
As for the TV's speakers, well, they seem a bit "tinny" -- I'll stick with my computer speakers.
Also, one nice feature is that when using the VGA input, the Bravia will automatically go into standby mode if no signal is fed into it, and power back up when a signal is detected. Unfortunately, this feature does not work when the computer is hooked up via the HDMI input, so one would have to manually turn the TV on or off if you use this input (although I can't really discern any difference in picture quality between the HDMI and VGA inputs, which is good, because with the LG HDTV I tried, the VGA quality was far worse than HDMI).
(5 out of 5)Sony remains the best
I spent several months researching LCD HDTVs before ordering the 26" Bravia S-Series from Amazon. Replacing a 27" CRT, the new television needed to fit in my existing media armoire. My chief priorities were picture quality and build quality.
I looked at several brands sold by my local warehouse club. The Sharp models seemed to reveal many artifacts from HD sources, and the plastics used - plus the cheesy remotes - left much to be desired. Samsung's offerings had substantially better build quality and fairly good picture; however, nothing compared to the 32" Bravia S-Series on display. I then went to a local electronics store and checked out the 26" Bravia in person. Sure enough, it was just a smaller version of the 32" and retained its superior picture. For comparison, I also looked at the mass-merchant Sony model, the Bravia KDL-26M3000. Though better than almost every other brand on display, I was reluctant to forego the S-Series' 6000:1 contrast ratio for relatively little savings.
I was very happy to then find Amazon's price-no tax and no shipping-which beat every other quote I found. Within one week of ordering, the Sony arrived. As stated on the order page, these televisions ship in original packing, and there was a large hole on the box, directly in front of the screen. Fortunately, upon unpacking, everything looked perfect. I hooked the television up using the existing composite video cable that connected my stereo, the Bose® 3.2.1, previously my "input selector" between DVD and cable box. I completed the "quick set up" and was amazed by how good the SD signal looked. I then connected the television directly to the coaxial cable. I am Verizon FiOS subscriber, so I am able to watch unencrypted SD and HD content with the internal QAM tuner. The "Add digital channels" feature takes about half an hour, as the on-screen menu lets you know. It mapped about 100 offerings, including HDTV. I was blown away by "America's Test Kitchen" on PBS. The detail of the food being prepared made watching the program an entirely different experience. But to get all my channels, I reverted to the SD box, though using S-Video. Verizon does not compress their channels, so results might vary, but nearly every channel looks near-DVD quality. My DVD player, in progressive scan mode through the component inputs, looks even better. I've also used my HD camcorder, the Canon HV20, and purchased a Xtremehd 2M HDmi To Dvi Cable cable for my MacBook Pro. The Mac detected the "Sony TV" as a display and adjusted its resolution automatically. I"m now able to use FrontRow and watch Hulu with impressive quality. The many inputs - nine, to be exact - ensure that even this small set will be viable for years to come.
My only frustration is very minor. Sony WEGAs are able to "lock" on inputs so that you skip the internal tuner. Unfortunately, I am unable to remove "TV" from the input menu, resulting in static if I choose that by mistake. Considering the flawlessly polished user interface, I'm disappointed that Sony did not include this feature.
Bottom line, though I always research every option, Sony remains the first-choice for electronics. If you want HDTV in a modest size, this is the television for you.
(5 out of 5)great LCD TV
I am very happy with the sony lcd tv. I narrowed down the 26" lcd tv's to a couple and checked them out at local stores. I liked the picture of the sony over samsung which was my 2nd choice. plus the sony did not have large speakers on the sides or bottom making it too large for the small opening in my entertainment center. the price was comparable and sony quality has always been good for me.