Sony BRAVIA Z Series KDL-52Z5100 52-Inch 1080p 240Hz LCD HDTV

5 comments

1. 

   Angel Caban on September 4, 2009 at 10:49 am

   The Sony Bravia Z series KDL-52Z5100 is a carbon copy of the Sony Bravia XBR series KDL-52XBR9,both have 240 Hz Bravia Engine 3 and internet video/widgets, so if your looking for consumer reviews for the Z series just simply go to the Sony Bravia XBR9, like i said carbon copies, and if you want to save some money go with the Z series its 260 dollars cheaper, if you can stand waiting a little more the price will drop even further.most but not all these units have Mura, clouding in dark scenes a Sony issue that has yet to be resolved,with the Sony name and the high price tag for these TVs you shoul’nt have to worry about clouding issues but its there.

2. 

   James W. Marcum on September 4, 2009 at 11:48 am

   The 52″ Sony 1280P, 240Hz LCD HDTV replaces my 50″ Panasonic 1280I Plasma HDTV monitor, and is everything I wanted in a new big screen TV. The Plasma had a great picture in most conitions, but required a dimly lit room for best viewing, was prone to screen “sparkle” distortion in the blades of grass of football fields & herring bone/tight patterened clothing, and would blur high speed images watching sports. The Sony is far brighter, displays no “sparkle effect”, and is crysal clear no matter what you are watching. Skin colors – especially skin tones – are as good as it gets. The matt screen surface is a huge improvement from background reflections that plauged the shinny surface of the Panasonic. I still prefer to have the blinds drawn & lights dimmed to limit screen reflection, but at least I now the picture is watchable in daylight even with the blinds open. I leave the auto-dimming mode OFF even at night, cuz I prefer the bright “clear as if you are there” image over the “faded/washed out” look when using the auto screen dimmer in darkened rooms.

   I bought the 240 Hz version of the Sony Bravia from Amazon.com because it was NOT avaliable at [...], SAMS CLUB, or Wallmart stores – or their on-line websites. Only the 120 Hz version of the Sony Bravia was available, but all 120 Hz LCD HDTV sets are being phased out (to be replaced by 240+ Hz LCD/LED machines). After taxes, it would have cost me as much I paid for the 240Hz version!

   I bought the Panasonic thru Amazon.com about 4 years ago and was very pleased with the price I paid ($1800), no taxes, and free shipping, no hassles. It was in the top two HDTVs’ for picture quality at the time. In both cases the items shipped safely from the East Coast to San Diego in about a week. It may be faster & more convienient to buy a HDTV locally (if you could even find one you want), but you will pay a high premium in local taxes and/or shipping charges. In this case the 240Hz version was NOT avaliable from the big box discounters. I shopped around & did my homework. I trust Amazon.com, got a great price, and highly recommend buying high buck electronics from them.

3. 

   Nathan Vaksman on September 4, 2009 at 1:12 pm

   Great Picture quality and nice looking set. Better than any TV I have seen in the stores. Easily beats Samsung, since no reflection screen really matters in well lid room. Has many option that you can set up to your taste, even Internet using wireless bridge device that is sold separately. The only negative is no sleep button on the remote and menus are difficult to browse.
   
   I just uncovered a problem with features that are described in the Instruction manual, but TV doesn’t have them. Advanced setting for picture adjustment “wide color” item is missing so is the “live color” don’t show up in the menu options, see page 154 in the on line manual in pdf format. I placed a call to Sony, spent 3 hours on the phone with highest level engineering and they were puzzled them self.
   
   Now I am waiting for the engineer to call me back with some kind of explanation. Engineer admitted that the unit they have in the lab doesn’t have this feature also. Wide color, in my opinion, is the color space your TV is set for and it is very important for the unit performance. I keep you posted on the further developments.

4. 

   J. Page on September 4, 2009 at 1:25 pm

   I’ll keep it simple as many others have done the technical details already. My husband and I have been closely following the plasma and LCD tv models for the past many years, looking but never justifying the splurge. (Tightwads) We narrowed it down to Sony, Samsung and Sharp Aquus. We finally took the plunge and bought the Sony for my 50th b’day in June. We could not tell the difference between the Sony Z series and the XBR series, so saved many hundreds buying the Z. Also, we got the tv at the BB big box store, where they matched the Amazon price, and then 3 weeks later they refunded the difference as their own store price dropped another $345!It absolutely blows away any tv we have ever seen. The picture quality is phenominal, especially with the HD channels. Holy smokes! You will love watching shows on this screen. We are in awe watching HD Discovery, Food Network, Nat’l Geo, CNBC, CNN etc….The next tv in our house that dies will be replaced with a smaller version of the Sony Z series.

5. 

   C. McBride on September 4, 2009 at 2:59 pm

   We have an older version of the 52 inch Bravia, and this one is even better! The 240hz does make a difference for fast moving objects like Hockey and quick camera pans. The TV was easy to setup and comes with loads of cool extras. It even sounds good with its built-in speakers (a lot of other brands sound horrible!). Can’t recommend it enough, and Amazon had the lowest price by about $300!