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| Sony Bravia KDL40W5500U 40-inch Widescreen Full HD 1080p LCD TV with Freeview and 100Hz Motionflow |  | Brand: Sony
Category: CE
Buy New: £789.99
as of 31/7/2010 07:53 BST details
In Stock
New (3) Used (8) Refurbished (1) from £427.95
Seller: BARGAIN TV'S,CONSOLES,GAMES ETC....
Rating:  168 reviews
Sales Rank: 856
Color: Black
Media: Electronics
Display Size: 40
Shipping Weight (lbs): 39.7
Dimensions (in): 49.1 x 30.4 x 7.8
MPN: KDL40W5500U
Model: KDL40W5500U
EAN: 4905524549942
ASIN: B001RCU7GM
Release Date: March 16, 2009
Shipping: Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 168
 A great choice April 23, 2009
cbrynr (Wales)
267 out of 270 found this review helpful
I took delivery of this TV 3 weeks ago to replace an older and smaller LCD model. Having been looking at the various televisions of this sort of size that are available, I made my final decision to buy this particular model based on looking in stores, careful inspection of specifications and looking widely at reviews on the internet.
As something which is going to be a major feature of my living room for quite a long time I wanted to make the right decision. Certainly there are cheaper brands, and also cheaper Sony models out there, but the Bravia 'W' range seems to be the best combination when it comes to features, quality and price.
Having used it daily I can now confirm that I think I made a wise choice. This Sony has the best colour display of any television I've seen. When you first watch it it's as if everything is suddenly in 3D - such is the depth and definition of the picture, even when using it to watch standard definition Freeview television as I usually do. I thought that I was getting a very good quality Freeview picture with my previous setup, but it is noticeably better with this Bravia. I've also invested in a Sony BDP-S350 Blu-ray player to use with this TV and watched a number of discs through that. As you'd expect the quality of the picture then is exceptional.
The sound is also surprisingly good for a TV. There's plenty of energy in the sound output and great clarity too. I can now hear things that I'd missed before - I actually got up to answer the phone at one point before realising that it wasn't mine - it was on the telly!
There's only one snag that I've found with this TV and that's a minor one. Although it has a good number of connections available to it Sony has reduced the number of SCART sockets on this model to 2. As someone who is still in the process of upgrading my televisual equipment, the rest of my equipment (except for the Blu-ray player) uses SCART connections so a third one may have been a bonus.
Faultless August 1, 2009
tallpete33 (London, UK)
95 out of 97 found this review helpful
When my trusty Trinitron (literally) went pop, I turned to amazon for my next TV purchase, having been impressed with their service and good prices over the years. I was looking for a 37" W series Sony Bravia but as this model was only £10 more expensive, it would have been rude not to go for the bigger screen. Despite specifying next day delivery, it actually took three days to arrive (via Citylink) but the extra £8.80 charge was politely and promptly refunded within three hours of my inquiry. Like all amazon deliveries, tracking was easy online. It comes with a Sony 3 year guarantee.
OUT OF THE BOX
It was actually light enough to remove from the box on my own, though it helps if you have long arms like I do. Putting the TV on its own tabletop stand was nice and easy; you just carefully lower the TV onto it before fixing with the four screws provided. Simple. The TV swivels on the stand, which is very useful as I move around the room during the day though the viewing angle is very good anyway. Once done, putting it onto the Centurion Stand was much easier than I thought as the TV only weighs 18kg (plus it's stand of course).
SET UP
Once plugged in, I connected it to my PVR and PS3 and powered up. It takes 30-40 minutes to set-up as it downloads the Freeview channels for its integrated tuner then you are ready to go. It is quite easy to accidentally skip this part of the set up but you can run it again from the Guide as I did so it's no problem.
IN USE
The remote is light, functional, and refreshingly uncluttered with most of the functions being menu driven onscreen. The blue Home button puts you into a familiar PS3/PSP style horizontal menu (XrossMediaBar) which has all the detailed settings, or you can use the Options button for more basic choices.
Pressing the Scene button allows you to quickly adjust the picture (and sound) according to general, gaming, movies, sports etc. Overall, the functions and menus are quite simple and intuitive and I haven't needed to open the manual yet. The full manual can be found in the menu and there is a system update function too so this TV is fairly future proof.
I am not a big fan of the integral TV guide (Guide+), it looks a bit cheap and nasty to be honest with annoying adverts around it. You get a small window of the current channel in the top left though which is quite useful and you can set reminders etc though I will probably stick to my PVR so I can pause live TV etc so won't be using this much, same as viewers with Sky+ no doubt. It will be useful to have a third option though just in case I'm recording on two channels.
The TV has PIP - Picture in Picture so if you're playing your game you can keep a beady eye on your TV and not miss the start of your favourite prog. The on/off switch is a nice and light button on the side next to channel, volume buttons etc. Never has switching a TV on and off been so enjoyable.
PERFORMANCE
1) GENERAL TV - When I powered the TV on, it soon became clear that the TV was too good for my geriatric Humax PVR800 which uses a SCART connector and so this will soon be rectified with a 9300T (HDMI upload) or perhaps a Freesat box. I will update this review once done. The integrated Freeview tuner delivers a better output, nice and clear with good contrast and no ghosting on movement, thanks to the 100Hz refresh and Motionflow. The moral of this story is the better the input, the better the output. This TV is too good for a basic digital tuner so one with a HDMI upload or HD is the way to get the most out of it if you're picky about your picture (and you probably will be if you've spent nearly £800 on this TV).
2) PS3 - It really shines with the PS3; colours are nice and vibrant with excellent detail and it gives you a much more involving and cinematic experience. Ratchet and Clank, a big and bright game looks amazing, despite being produced in 720p. I'm playing it through again on this TV, it's like I'm on a new game. Uncharted:Drake's Fortune (also 720p) is excellent with lush greens against the rocky outcrops showing up beautifully, ditto the water.
3) DVDs are very good and my first BluRay purchase, Planet Earth is jaw-dropping in places.
4) Sound is good, excellent in fact, very clear but just lacking in bass when playing music. As I intend to use my PS3 as my media centre I will look into additional speakers of some sorts soon.
INPUTS
Amongst many others, there are :
4 x HDMI (2 side, 2 rear)
2 x SCART
VGA (for laptop, PC)
USB (view photos, other media etc)
RJ45 - for connecting to your router and other wireless DNLA compliant devices such as laptops
VERDICT
This is a stunning and very up to date piece of kit that I am very pleased with and am enjoying very much. I cannot find fault with it at all (apart from the messy TV guide), hence the 5 stars.
Read other reviews about this item with a pinch of salt April 18, 2010
Dr. G. Fullerton (Scotland)
22 out of 22 found this review helpful
First of all, congratulations go to Amazon for outstanding delivery time and service. This TV was ordered late on a Wednesday night and delivered by parcel force early on the Saturday morning of that week. I think that is remarkable.
The set up of this TV is simplicity itself. From opening the box to putting on the stand, connecting it to our peripherals and switching on took less than 15 minutes. We have it connected to a Sky + box and so there was no tuning to be done. The correct input was selected for the Sky box and away we went.
My initial thoughts on seeing the picture were good but a few minor tweaks of brighness, hue and contrast and the picture was outstanding. Very crisp, natural looking colour and with motionflow on, movement was scarily smooth.
Can I address a couple of points others have raised and suggest solutions. Firstly several people have said that after a period of time the TV spontaneously switches off of its own accord. A brief look at the instruction manual will tell you that the front of the TV has a motion sensor which to all intents and purposes can `see` if anyone is in the room. If you have this feature turned `on` and you sit motionless for a couple of hours or for whatever time you have preset it for, then the TV will switch off. All you need to do is switch this feature off. Pretty simple.
The second very common `problem` is the light at each corner of the screen pointing into the centre of the screen. Some people have said this is present in very dark scenes and is so distracting they have had to send the appliance back. Just change the ambient light setting and the lights magically disappear! I can categorically say that the screen is super impressive even with terrestrial digital and I cannot wait to see its performance on SKY HD.
Sony Bravia TV`s are among the best quality you can get in this price range. I have several family members and friends who have these TV`s and have had no short or long term problems with them. Please don`t be put off by bad reviews. Some simple thought and reading solves all their complaints. Buy it and ENJOY!
From the whole family..... October 9, 2009
Mr. Michael S. Rhind (Glos. England)
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
Already pleased with another Sony TV, a KDL26S2010 which we've had for around 2 years, we decided to treat ourselves to this KDL40W5500.
We're not disappointed. The picture is simply superb - even on analogue though of course we've joined the growing number of Freeview viewers. As with our 'old' 26" set, although good at first it took a few days for the picture to really start to shine. It's so good that even our regular DVDs (we've yet to commit to Blu-ray)now have a clarity and depth that wasn't always apparent previously although we've toned down the factory colour setting somewhat - the reds were positively glowing before. Now, the picture is simply sharp, detailed and natural. Unfortunately though, the TV is sometimes almost too good; poor focus-work on some broadcasters output is immediately apparent whereas with the old set the picture merely appeared to be 'softer'. Back to Freeview for a moment, though we had a look, we almost immediately ditched 'Guide-plus' in favour of Sony's proprietary EPG. Accessible through the on screen menus it's neat, clear and much more user-friendly than Guide-plus. Frustrated Guide-plussers take note.
On the subject of the backlighting: we've seen no hint of streaking, uneven shading in the corners, or ghosting. And we've looked very hard. One of our favourite DVD collections (Stargate SG-1) has innumerable instances of scenes in which one half (or even quarter) of the frame is brightly lit (or even white) whilst the remainder of the frame is in shadow. All are rendered perfectly with as much detail as we could want across the screen.
Without a HD source it's hard to be precise about the benefits of the Motionflow technology, although switching between modes during a recent F1 Grand Prix did seem to show some slight improvement in clarity with it (the motionflow) switched on.
We have both a HDD-recorder and Home Theatre system connected via HDMI, each Sony products themselves and though not HD sources the 1080p upscaled output is definitely superior to non-upscaled output. The ability to control either or both using one remote via Bravia-sync is a boon we only now are coming to realize we'd missed. Note though that the HDD required us to set it's Bravia-sync control mode to 'on' before we were able to access the function from the TV.
Finally, the Xbox 360's output looks absolutely fantastic. Again connected via HDMI, it's hard to overstate the improvement in picture (remember we were already using an LCD TV), and our son reports that playability has improved thanks to the greater detail and reduced 'blurring' during fast-moving sections of a variety of games; COD4 and 5, Halo ODST, NFS Shift, to name but a few.
Sound has never been an issue in this household. Whilst this sets' speakers are never going to be able to match those of the sound system, they are at the very least satisfactory; we've absolutely no complaints.
A terrific TV. One which we've no hesitation in awarding 5 stars
This family is extremely satisfied.
40W5500 - Brilliant, if u can put up with the backlight problems! October 4, 2009
Dan (Sheffield)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
After looking around at LCD tv's for a while, I finally decided to go for the sony 40W5500.
I have to say that the picture of this tv is great on HD & also standard definition programs, & the sound is also not too shabby. I have Sky HD which looks really good & the tv really excels when playing games on the PS3 & also watching blurays.
However, the longer you watch the tv, the more you begin to notice it's major fault - backlight. While the black levels & colours are really good on this tv, mine had major backlight bleeding at the top 2 corners. While this is not really visible on bright & colourful scenes, it is very noticeable on dark scenes, & when the screen goes black it appears as if 2 search lights are shining down from the top 2 corners into the centre of the screen. Once you have noticed this effect it is very hard to notice anything else & becomes really irritating - a tv of this price should not have this fault.
I decided to return my tv for a replacement, however the replacement had the same problem as the one I sent back. I therefore decided to return the tv again for a full refund.
I have now purchased the new LG SL8000 series tv, which is absolutely fantastic (& probably has a better picture than this Sony) & has no backlight problems whatsoever.
Overall, this would have been a brilliant tv if it wasn't for the backlight problems. It would still be a great purchase if you're not too bothered about this fault - just depends whether you can live with it, but in my opinion the picture on a tv of this price should not look like this.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 168
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