Low-priced Sony Bravia LCD TVs at Wal-mart and Target

Is it a good buy?

Sony Bravia LCD TVs have earned a reputation for fine performance, and our tests of many of those models have borne that out. But the brand's high profile generally comes with a high price tag. Some of the Bravia sets—typically the most feature-rich—are among the priciest in their size. (ConsumerReports.org subscribers can verify that by just looking through our latest Ratings of LCD TVs.)

Given that reputation, you might not expect to find the Sony Bravia name showing up at Wal-Mart and Target. But there it is. Both chains are selling the Sony KDL-32ML130 at relatively low-prices for a 32-inch Bravia LCD TV. At Target (and via Amazon), the set is selling at Sony's list price of $797. But at Wal-mart's Web site, it's $767.

We decided to take a look at one of these sets to see if it lives up to its family heritage. We're still testing the LCD TV and hope to have more details available soon on ConsumerReports.org soon. But here's what we know so far:

It doesn’t have all the features you'd find on higher-priced Bravia sets, but it does offer fine picture quality, according to our preliminary tests. It did very well for black level, color, and fine detail. The viewing angle was decent—typical for most LCDs, meaning the picture changes slightly when you're off center, in this case losing some contrast.

We were less impressed with the sound, which seemed a bit muffled, but it should be fine for typical TV programming.

The menu is more basic than on many sets, but that actually makes it easier to get around. Among the features it lacks are RGB controls for fine-tuning color, but given the fine color accuracy, that's not a serious omission.

All in all, it's a good buy. If you want better audio quality, additional features, and a wider viewing angle as well as high-quality video performance, check out Panasonic's TC-32LX700 ($950).

More information about the Panasonic set, as well as full access to our latest LCD TV Ratings, is available to ConsumerReports.org subscribers only. But we'll have more information about the 32-inch Sony Bravia KDL-32ML130 LCD TV set up on our site soon.

Comments

[apmason]

I just got a 32" Bravia at Best Buy on sale for under 650. I love this tv. I had been used to watching HD on an old rear projection Toshiba and this kills it. FYI, I got a flat antenna since I am not going to be getting my cable for a week or so, and I get all the networks HD chanels, free, and they look awesome. Sunday football was all I hoped it would be! Inputs are simple and straight foreward. The on screen controls are easy to use. I have some experience with a larger Sony model and I can vouch for the comparable ease of use. Hope this was a help.

[Mike]

hello there all. Now heres me sitting at home and using this sony bravia of the topic as my computer monitor, it works great and gives me no trouble, but i just wanted to give some information from my personal experience and my personal thoughs.

First of all, every tv is different, every namebrand produces a different picture, every picture type be it plasma lcd or dlp is seen in everyones eyes a little different and last, all tvs have strengths and weaknesses.

1. Plasmas: The Common Misconception!
LIFESPAN!!! If anyone says to you that your plasma tv will last you 27 years you can tell them to jump off a bridge for being so stupid. Heres the truth, if you buy a plasma tv and it is on for about 7 hours a day, the TV will "WORK" for 27 years (60,000 hours), but heres the kicker, by that time it will only work 50% as good as it did when you bought it. It wont be near as crisp as it was. So huge lie there coming from the manufacturer. Once your tv reaches anywhere from th 15,000 to 20,000 hour range (about a third of its so called life) the tv will only be opperating at about 80% thrusters. That being said Heres some good numbers to think about though, theyve made vast advancements to these kinds of tvs in the last couple of years, and you can get a STRONG 12 YEARS from a plasma tv, which is pleanty of time when you think about it, so the investment already pays for it self. As well, a viewer needs to pay attention to the breakin period of these tvs 100-150 hours to avoid quick burn in. Some of the older tvs, and some of the newer cheap plasmas can burn in those stupid icons from tv logos like the much music icon or the nbc peacock from constantly being in the same place.

Now i will tell you that off the bat, im biased against plasma tvs because there no good for videogames and I have my share of xbox 360 and ps3 games. That being said, there is no stopping anyone from playing videogames on a plasma. But heres my point, there are so many stipulations and cautions someone has to worry about and pay attention to if they want to use videogame systems on a plasma, like changing brightness, changing resolutions, and controlling burn in as well as the screen door effect (spaces in between pixels). From a gamers perspective really not the tv for you, to much hassle for what your gonna pay for the tv.

Finally the good news, these tvs display superior picture through hd sources, like cable and satellite, but most notably the blu ray disc format and the late HD DVD. Even regular dvds played on a a decent upconverting dvd player looks fantastic. As well, with rich red and blues, and dark and not fuzzy blacks the quality is astounding. You cant get any better then this.

So heres the facts:

-plasmas generally, (on average i mean) have a better all around picture then LCD tvs, with little to no "ghosting"

-lifespan is a misconception, you need to pay attention to what your doing with the tv, how long its on one constant channel

-brightness and contrasts need to be constantly controlled, if not calibrated

- GREAT for fast paced pictures, like sports and movies, the best

**last thing on plasmas, once these tvs burn out and the gases are all gone (phosphor like neon which give the colour) you cant get them back, which means the tv is useless. Some LCD tvs you can just pay anywhere from 100 to 300 dollars for a new backlight once youve used your 60,000 and just like that, start fresh for another 60,000. DLPs are even easier with a bulb replacement which basically means as long as there are bulbs, those tvs wont be broken for a long time.

[Dave]

HDTV or what little I know about it. What we have learned about our foray into the world of HDTV. This is the TV we bought, a SONY KDL-32ML130. We searched on the Internet and found the had some pretty good sales going on them. I'm sure so they could move in their newest models. It supports 720p resolution but I really wanted a 1080i. Our cable supplies 1080i so I wanted to take advantage of that. However, because the Sony we bought is only a 32 inch screen, even at 720p it is crystal clear. The one I really wanted was the 46 inch 1080p Sony KDL46V3000. The 1080p is so far advanced it would out perform what any service provider could supply at the present time, but who knows what they will be putting out in the future? It is a long term investment, but the KDL46V3000 was way out of our price range. We paid $699.00 for the 32 inch.

The most important thing is what signal your service provider is sending you. Like I said ours which happens to be Time Warner Cable send us a 1080i signal over our cable line. We did have to change our box to a HDTV box, but all we had to do was take the old box up to the Time Warner office and they handed us a new HDTV box in exchange, no charge. It took 5 minutes. The other thing is not all channels are HD. When that is the case you do not get a full screen picture on the standard-definition 4:3 source. The pictures are very nice, sharp and crisp, but to enjoy the best picture of all you have to tune to a high-definition 16:9 channel. It would be a good idea to check your channel guide to see how many HD channels they provide.

Another thing is the Sony has given a great deal of control to the viewer. There is a menu program that allows you, via your remote, to access multiple controls of the picture, sound, etc., etc. For instance, My wife loves the vivid setting on the picture. We flipped to a football game and there was so much sharp crisp color that it may overwhelm some people. In that case you just hit the remote and set the picture to normal. Speaking of football. If you watch a football game on these systems you will never be able to go back to the old analog system again.

The only cable we had to buy was the HDMI cable that was like $35.00. Our cable box came with the jumpers that would work, but the HDMI allows you the best connection and lets you set up with one cable instead of 5. It is made of gold by the way.

I hope this helps.

[Keith]

I recently bought a Samsung 40 inch LCD model number LN-T 4065F
(I think it is the F). Anyway I love the TV. It has a GREAT picture and adjustments for sound and picture to satisfy what ever a person might want. I also love the swivel stand it came on. Nothing to buy to hang the TV up with or sit on a table top.

[Douglas]

FYI: Sears has this modelfor $699.99