Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony Bravia W-Series KDL-52W3000 52-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV

I spent many moths reading up on LCD and Plasma HDTVs and visiting every local showroom multiple times. Also reading all the posts on AVS for every TV of interest. I had held of purchasing a TV because I felt the 120Hz sets were likely to be the first ones I would consider due to motion blur. Those came out and I started doing live compares and reading the posts and reviews on various sites. It became apparent that a) the non-120Hz sets are doing very well with motion blur these days and b) 120Hz doesn't really help with motion blur to any noticeable extent (but adds a lot to the price). I argued with myself for a long time but decided even though 120Hz felt like "insurance" on image quality there just wasn't evidence to really support it. I looked at Sharp, Samsung etc. as well as comparing the 52" W3000 and XBR4. I ultimately settled on the W3000 from a local store so I could return it if I was disappointed after viewing it. I never once considered returning this thing as the picture quality is phenominal (on HD and good quality SD feeds). No clouding, no banding, no dead pixels, nor any of the other horror stories you read about in reviews on every brand. As one review I read some time ago said, the PQ on these sets is so high you can find yourself glued to the set watching some show that is of absolutely no interest to you but which has great HD imagery. I've kept following AVS posts on the main brands I considered and on the whole the W3000 maintains a strong positive set of feedback. I recommend it without hesitation. I have my paired with a Toshiba A20 for 1080/24p output and it is a great and troublefree combination.

I purchased the Sony Bravia KDL-52W3000 52" TV from Amazon.com after reading reviews that this TV is as sharp as the XBR's and the Samsungs. I've heard and have personally experienced problems getting parts from Samsung. Even under warranty, you dont want to have to wait weeks for parts. So I bought the Sony and it blows away my expectations. Here is my setup:

Sony TV is plugged into an APC AV H15BLK Power Conditioner (also purchased from Amazon.com) because my home has substandard RG59 wiring which is susceptible to harmonic interference. I also have problems with minor power fluctuations. Even though the power conditioner is a surge protector, I plugged it in to a panamax Max 2 surge protector so it will take the hit in the event of a surge and not screw up my $380 power conditioner.

The picture is clean and amazing. I cant wait for the superbowl. HD programming is supurb. Regular programming is good as well. I use the vivid mode for cartoons, standard for regular TV, and cinema or my custom settings for football. Setting the TV on cinema or customizing it will smooth out the picture for fast moving sports.

The sound is great in custom mode. Just crank up the voice boost. It wont interfere at all in regular programming and it is absolutely wonderful when watching the news. The difference between the regular sound and custom sound is very noticeable so by all means customize it the way you like it!

Be sure to only use HDMI 1.3 Category 2 cables because this TV has the capability to separate the colors more for a better picture, but only if you use cables that are compatible.

I was concerned about late delivery because I had scheduled Eagle Delivery to come on New Years Eve and the installer was coming on New Years Day. When Eagle didn't arrive by early afternoon, I gave the local warehouse a call and they put me in touch with the delivery supervisor who gave me the driver's cell phone. I was able to do some shopping and made an appointment directly with the driver for 9pm. He showed up just after 9pm. I praise Eagle's responsiveness to my needs.

Eagle is now part of CEVA Logistics and you can track your package or call the customer service number for your local warehouse once your package gets there (www.cevalogistics.com).

My recommendation is to purchase from Amazon.com. I've read a lot of reviews that state that people spent the extra money to buy from a big box store. All you are doing is spending more money AND paying sales tax to boot. As for me, I will continue to buy from Amazon.com and have CEVA deliver it to my door. Yes I was fortunate that the TV has NO dead pixels, but then I've never seen a dead pixel in a Sony TV although I have seen some in the smaller Samsungs. I usually check all of the high end TV's when I'm at my local warehouse store and havent found a single dead pixel in any Sony TV of any size. It does happen according to the delivery driver, but Sony is pretty good about purchasing only the highest quality samsung LCD screens.

Stop your indecision and buy this TV. You will thank me for it! I've already received almost $120 back due to Amazon's 30 day price guarantee!

Strengths: Razor sharp 1080p and 1080i, wide viewing angles, vivid "Live Color Creation", many connectivity options, anti-glare screen, excellent value.

Weaknesses: No 120Hz refresh rate. No LED backlight illumination.

Summary: Buying a large screen LCD TV online can be daunting. Luckily, I've gotten a great holiday deal from an online merchant back in Dec. 2007 and CevaEagle Global delivered it quickly and without damage.

Like most informed consumers, I did lots of research online and visited local stores to compare different brands. I decided on mid-tier models for heavy-duty family room viewing and narrowed down to the Sony KDL-52W3000 and Sharp LC-52D92U. The Sharp has better contrast, black shade levels, and 120Hz refresh rate while the Sony has better color and stock audio. The Sony won because I use stock audio 75% of the time and costs less.

My KDL-52W3000 is connected to Directv HD DVR (HDMI), Sony Blu-ray Disc player (HDMI), Panasonic 5.1 HTIB (component and optical digital audio), and Wii(component). Satellite HD (1080i-interlaced) are crisp and detailed (can see one strand of hair sticking out on newscaster) Blu-ray discs (1080p-progressive) are just eye-poppingly, retina-scorchingly sharp. Stock audio sounds good set on Dynamic with S-Force Front Surround. However, not quite as good as the HTIB (which I'll upgrade soon for even better sound). My kids and I are happy with the Wii's 480p resolution set to Vivid. The downside to all this HD is all the SD(standard definition) channels look blurry but can be somewhat enhanced by using Vivid picture setting.

Being an avid NBA and NCAA hoops fan, I was a bit concerned with the lack of 120Hz refresh rate. However, I initially noticed some occasional blurring during quick movements and turning off Noise Reduction and MPEG noise reduction has made it a non-issue. The satellite HD-DVR is set to 16:9 standard format while the TV is set to Full (wide mode). This stretches out most SD channels but the HD channels are all in correct proportion with the occasional boxes on the sides (set by station). The Lack of LED backlight means some uneven lighting during dark scenes and fading to black. Turning off "Gamma" and "Clear White" in advanced picture settings has helped minimize occasional graininess / screen noise with varying shades of black. Also, LEDs last longer than fluorescent backlight but by that time I've already upgraded.

By no means a perfect large screen LCD HDTV, the KDL-52W3000 delivers a powerful punch with excellent value, above-average picture and sound, plenty of connectivity options, and lots of setting options for those who like to tinker with electronics to set personal preferences.

Being the happy owner of a 52' Sony projection set, I was skeptical about whether I would be as satisfied with this LCD. I am amazed at how much I was missing without even knowing it - the picture quality is amazing and I couldn't be happier! The setup was almost too easy - I kept expecting to have to call someone to help - but I was able to do it all myself. If you are in the market for an LCD, spend your money on this set. It's worth it!

This TV meets or exceeds all my expectations. I've owned smaller LCD HD TV's before from other brands, along with viewing friend's TV's. But this TV is superior in every way from the others. In HD it of course has an excellent picture as any TV from any brand should have. But a few positive surprises were: 1) Viewing angle. My 2 year old LCD TV gets a blue fog at about 30 degrees off axis. This TV can be viewed at any angle without fading out at all. 2) The sound. Regular TV of course just sounds like TV. But with a concert DVD this thing almost rocks. With the addition of a subwoofer a person may not be tempted to spend the big bucks for a high end surround system. 3) Standard def. picture is much better than expected. Better than any analog CRT TV or any HD TV I've seen before. 4) DVDs: This was a big surprise. They look like HD. I don't know if this TV "upconverts" (if so they don't brag about it), but for now I'll save my money until the HD DVD "war" is over. 5) Remote is very logical and the backlighting is a "can't live without" now that I have it. 6) Mat finish. Maybe I should have listed this as number 1. I get no reflections from this TV, either from the viewing screen or the frame. I've seen other TV's with a 'piano glass' black finish on the frame and found it distracting. When I glance at my former TV I can see a relection of my entire living room. 6) Size does matter. I was a little concerned that a 52" TV would overwhelm my small living room. Not so! I will never again buy anything smaller for a main viewing room.
I am happy with Amazon's price and service and recommend this TV.