Sony BRAVIA XBR KDL-32XBR9 32-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV

Review by Liann for Sony BRAVIA XBR KDL-32XBR9 32-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV
Rating:
First, let me say this TV excels on many levels. Picture quality is great, pre-set picture settings are almost spot on, but plenty of flexibility to adjust, decent off-angel viewing, matte screen deals well w/ bright lighting (we have a lamp directly across from the TV and only notice a reflection in truly dark scenes), and of course the long history of Sony quality standing behind it. However, unless the 120hz is a must for you, see if you can get your hands on a XBR6 on clearance. The XBR9 doesn’t add much more, and you do lose some features, like the on-screen tv guide, PAP/PIP, and the proprietary input for things like the ipod dock, etc.

Minor Issues: Sound quality is decent for a TV of this size, but audiophiles will want to add an external speaker system. The bezel is highly reflective, which can be distracting depending on the lighting in the room. Another thing to note is that the input menu has to be navigated with the arrow keys on the remote – can’t just keep hitting the input button to scroll through – so depending on your satellite or cable remote, like us (we have DirectTV), you may not be able to use it to change inputs, and will have to use the Sony remote to switch b/t the SD box and HD antenna.

Major Issue: The biggest drawback on this set, for me, is the function that automatically adjusts the backlight based on screen brightness, and, so far, we cannot find any way to shut this off. (Note, this is NOT the same as the light sensor, which you can, and I think should disable, as I think it produces kind of a muddy picture in all but optimal room light conditions.) For average viewing, this is not a problem, and we did not discover the issue until watching The Prestige on TV a few weeks ago – the movie has many dark, candle/lamp lit scenes, and the dark-bright-dark-bright adjustments made the movie almost unwatchable at times. It wouldn’t be so bad if the adjustment was smoother, but generally a couple of seconds after the screen brightness changes there is a abrupt and significant darkening or brightening of the screen. So if your main interest is gaming or watching movies that tend to have a lot of dark scenes, then this might not be the TV for you. Even though we use this TV mainly to watch TV and the occasional DVD from NetFlix, and so will probably have to deal w/ this only occasionally, it’s distracting enough when it does happen that, if we’d known about this issue in advance, we probably would not have purchased the TV.

Review by Ara for Sony BRAVIA XBR KDL-32XBR9 32-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV
Rating:
We were unhappy with this TV and then found that Sony has fixed the back light issue so you can adjust it or turn it off and this has fixed the screen changing from dark to light with different scenes. It was easy to down load this onto a usb memory stick and the TV automatically did the update. The channels seem to change faster also. Here is the web site for downloading it from Sony – just make sure you follow all of the steps and read the info first. They will mail you the update on stick also.

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Darlene

Review by Bruce Norman for Sony BRAVIA XBR KDL-32XBR9 32-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV
Rating:
We bought this for our master bedroom – my wife loves the picture, thinks the sound is fine and doesn’t mind waiting for 30 seconds or so for the TV to “boot up” as she believes that following the Energy Star guidelines is the right thing to do.

The one issue we had is that this unit had clearly been opened previously. Although the box was sealed and it was delivered by the outfit Amazon uses in our area, when I opened the box, it was clear that this was probably a return unit. The packaging was not sealed with blue tape that you often see on Sony products and the screws for the stand were missing. I called the Sony hotline and they were very nice and willing to send me the four screws, but it would take about a week or so. So, I asked the agent for the size of the screws or the part number which took her only about 2-3 minutes to retrieve. She didn’t know the size, but when she told me the part number, it was obvious that the 4 missing screws were metric (M5 X 12). So, a quick trip to ACE yielded replacement screws for 19 cents apiece and I was able to attach the stand and set the TV up.

This experience has made me wonder about how carefully Amazon is monitoring its vendors. This was clearly not a factory-sealed item – so one immediately jumps to the conclusion that there might be other ways to sell items for less than just volume buying. However, I must say that our general experience with Amazon has been outstanding, so this could just be a one-off, isolated incident. Anyway, if you end up needing the correct screws to attach the stand, now you know to purchase M5 X 12.

Review by Dennis Otieno for Sony BRAVIA XBR KDL-32XBR9 32-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV
Rating:
MUST READ – A step in the wrong direction for SONY KDL-32XBR9

I bought two of these TVs a week ago and just set one up a couple of days ago. I am a true sony fan since the WEGA editions and have stayed true to them. My largest screen 46″ is the an XBR5 model and I have loved it since. So when it came time to buy TVs for my bedrooms, I naturally thought the latest XBR would be just as good. How wrong was I?

PROS:

Picture quality is very good, one of the best. Glossy finish is classy and the sound quality is as best as it gets for this size TV.

CONS

OK, last year’s model the XBR8 line used LED lighting which is supposed to be much better (read the reviews). Why did we go backward with the new XBR9 models?

The TV takes 30 seconds to come on from the time the power button is pressed! My old Sony comes on instantly ….what is wrong with this TV and why did Sony put it on the market with such an annoying flaw? This slow response also happens when you cycle between inputs, not just when you turn the TV on. So fi you press the input button to change inputs from your TV to your Blu-Ray/DVD player, expect to wait another 30 seconds before you can see a picture …go make you a cup of coffee!

The video inputs are on the side of the TV. So expect cables to be visible from the side of the TV unless you spend money rewiring your AV with L cables. Also be warned, if you currently have two separate devices using S-Video and composite video (yellow), then you’ll have to find a converter or adapter for one device because on this TV, Sony decided to place both inputs on the same video channel! So you can only use one or the other and there is only a single audio connection on that channel! I have an old home theater system for my bedroom with uses S-video and I love it (it’s one of those things you buy with low expectations and it surprises you)! I also have surveillance security cameras using composite video. Now I have to buy an adapter to convert one input or lose it!

Also you cannot press the input button multiple times to cycle between inputs. When you press input key multiple times, you can cycle through the top -> button inputs list but you cannot cycle back around to the top unless you use you up/down arrow keys to change/select the input you want. Expect to wait an additional 30 seconds to see a picture each time you change inputs! This makes switch back and forth between inputs a time consuming annoyance!

Finally, don’t let anyone fool you that the changing contrast on dark scenes is a minor issue. When watching regular TV, recorded TV, DVD/Blu-Ray, or HDTV, it takes about 15 seconds into a dark scene then all over a sudden the TV realizes it’s a dark scene and instead of compensating by brightening the scene for better clarity … it makes it darker! So when watching dark scenes, be prepared for them to get darker and this is drastic and very visible. Then when you return to a bright scene, the Tv does the reverse and brightens the scene. This is also sudden and visible…not to mention annoying! This, feature has no menu options to disable. I have gone through my entire TV menu and disabled all the advanced picture enhancements and it’s still annoyingly there! Trust me, this is a deal breaker for me!

FINAL TAKE:

If you watch HDTV or use AT&T U-Verse, make sure you go to your receiver’s Menu>Options>System Settings>Aspect ratio and change your TV size to 1080i for optimal picture.

I wish I could suggest going back to the XBR6 model but I will loose 120Hz refresh rate plus I will get a TV that is about 2 -3 years old already …doesn’t sound right.

I will be returning these TVs back to the store and replacing them with the Samsung LN32B650. I feel so sad and betrayed by Sony. It’s like realizing that someone you have loved and been loyal to just betrayed you and you don’t want to leave but you know that you have to; for your own sanity! So long Sony …welcome Samsung…and you better act right!