Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony Bravia KDL26S2030U 26'' HD Ready LCD TV with Freeview - Black

After reading a multitude of reviews over a long period of time I finally went for the Sony Bravia KDL26S2030U 26".

The TV arrived less than 48 hours after the order was placed (with Amazon) which was a great start!

In no time at all it was unwrapped, plugged in and in operation. It looks great on or off but is more entertaining when on. Picture (after some tinkering with the settings)is brilliant with no glare or reflections. Good colour, good brightnes, good contrast. Sound is good too.

This TV is not the cheapest on the market but has good functionality, is easy to use and I am more than happy with my choice.

I bought this KDL-26S2030 about 2 weeks ago and i must saying it is fantastic! I've had some Goodman tv since day dot and to finally get back up to speed, i really do believe i've made the right choice.

Looks:

Very slick, smooth and will look great once i get my PS3 sitting next to it. As with most sony products, they always look 10x better once in your living room than an internet image. I done hours of research looking for the right tv for me. This really was one of the best looking televisions i could find. 5/5

(The difference between 2000, 2010, 2020 & 2030 are colours. Techinically they are completely the same. I can't remember all of them, but the 2010 is a silver/blue and this 2030 is pure black. Thats probably why its more expensive)

The buttons on top of the tv instead of them on the front is very nice. No distractions when watching HD in all its glory.

Techical :

Once again, fantastic. So many options to fiddle with and that bravia engine is amazing. Making blacks actaully black is possibile on this tv. Noise reduction and more vibrate colours make all the difference. Straight out of the box the settings are pretty aweful but after an hour or so. You'll have it looking great. I still tweek it time to time.

Having the option of adjusting the backlight is a real bonus, as it avoids blacks being grey and lack of colour depth which is the case of other tv's. I have mine set at 4 (out of 10) for general watching. For a film, i turn it off completely.

HD wize its capable of 480p 720p 1080i (and some random ones). You can't get true 1080p unless your looking at the £[...] 42 inch things. But on the 26 inch 720p is perfect for me and future content. I connected the tv up to my computer via a hdmi cable and straight away it sat at 1080i. Progressive scan lines are better for viewing motion so i configured my computer settings to have the tv run at 720p. 1080i is better for still image viewing.

Sound :

Althought i'm very impressive with the sound and all the options availble to me, i'm not the biggest sound guy so i can't comment. But to me its very clear, excellent bass and there are plently of options to fiddle with when i'm in the mood.

Ultimately this is worth the price tag in my eyes. The Sony label, looks and techical aspects make this a fine purchase for your living room. The slight Matt finish is a good choice on Sonys behalf because i found them samsung tv's with the gloss finish reflect all the light from the tv and is distracting. I can't fault the TV, its everything i wanted it to be and more.

Having suffered with an old style square tubed tv, we noted the TV adverts and viewed the set in a local dealer. The first impression in comparison to others was its neat style, and the total lack of prippery at the front. Another plus point is the lack of smooth shiny areas around the edges which reflect unwanted and distracting light back towards the viewer. The picture and sound quality are just light years ahead of anything previously owned by us and has added a new dimension to our TV enjoyment. Linked to satellite digital signal gives as good as it can be until we get High Definition next year. The manual is simple enough to set everything up first time around, and the on-screen menus clear and easy to use. The set is so impressive that parents have just yesterday bought the same model and are both equally pleased with their purchase. We both now look forward to setting up with a Sony DVD recorder to match them.

Having lived with the TV for a week now I can easily say that I am extremely pleased with my purchase. The Tv is brilliant.
I spent many an hour pouring over reviews and guides for various LCD TV's, heard all the scare stories for various brands. But in the end settled for the Sony having owned a conventional 24" CRT TV made by Sony for the past 6 years.
The picture is excellent, though the colours/contrast etc do take some tweaking from the factory default settings. I was extremely impressed by the Freeview images displayed by the unit, they are crisp and vibrant and show very little digital artifacts(though it does of course depend upon the channel watched and the level of compression that the channel is using).
HDTV playback through the unit is also excellent, having connected my Xbox 360 using the PC input I am amazed at how much more detailed and colourful games like Oblivion look compared to when they were running on my old TV.
Overall I am extremely impressed, the unit is well built and exhibits all the quality and high performance that you would expect from a brand like Sony. I highly recommend the TV to anyone looking to purchase a smaller HD ready unit.

My first foray into the world of LCD TV's and, in my view, a successful one. I spent a great deal of time researching the best TV for my needs.

I'm not an Xbox user, don't have tons of gadgets and never use my TV as a PC monitor so I can't comment on how this TV handles those types of input. However, the built in digital tuner gives a very clear picture (much better than from my old set top box) and, when watching upscaled DVD's on my new Sony HXD860, the picture quality and sound and truly superb.

All in all, a very very good TV. Oh and it's black (instead of the strange grey/blue 2010) and looks fantastic in my living room.