Sony Bravia XBR-Series KDL-32XBR6 32-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV Reviews

Review by John E. Pombrio for Sony Bravia XBR-Series KDL-32XBR6 32-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV
Rating:
Heh, first time I have used smelly in a review, but this set DOES run warm like another poster said. For the first week, this made the set have a high temperature electronic type smell in my bedroom (with door closed). Gone in a week tho.

With a 1080P source (Blu-Ray), the picture cannot get any sharper. This high resolution for a 32″ is probably overkill but DANG its good! There is just a ton of pixels. Upscaled 1080P DVD look just about as good as high def because of the set’s smaller size. Standard TV signal looks fine (again in comparison to my larger SONY XBR 40″).

Controls are good and simple to understand and operate. First time I have had extra HDMI slots. Sound is very good though the built in speakers but needs more bass (as does all my LCD TV speakers). Has a lot of extras that I have yet to fool with or notice. Motionflow? DMeX?

The set is very handsome with a surprising gap between the bottom of the TV and the top of the speaker bar. Very good base keeps the set solid on the table.

A winner!

Review by Michael Davis for Sony Bravia XBR-Series KDL-32XBR6 32-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV
Rating:
Normally I wait a few months before giving any sort of review on high ticket items such as this telvision simply to give time for issues, if any, to surface.(See my review of the KDL-52XBR4). But in this instance I already know I have a great piece of hardware and feel no reservations about writing so early on.

I have had this television for about three weeks now (purchased online via SonyStyle) and I love it. I bought the XBR model simply becuase it harbors most of the same things my larger KLD-52XBR4 model does. Namely, native 1980x1080p resolution, Bravia 2 engine, a myriad of controls for in depth picture calibration, numerous HDMI unputs, etc.

Initial setup is a snap, as the television asks simple questions with regards to language and region, what type of signals it can expect to receive, and what other components, if any, should it expect to be connected to. Once set up the tv works like any other. SD programming looks pretty good since it’s a smaller panel, and HD programming shines given its native 1080p resolution. Since I purchased this for the bedroom I only have a Sony upscaling DVD player conected to it, but I am utilizing the Bravia Sync feature and I love it. All I have to do is hit a button on my remote, select the device I want to use, and everything I need for that device turns on. This translates into not having to get out of bed. The speakers are great for a set this size regardless of the output setting you choose.

As far as cons, I don’t really have any to list. After reading some of the other reviews I can’t verify the ‘smelly’ review, as this tv doesn’t run hot for me at all. I have it mounted on my bedroom wall, so it’s possible that the placement of the tv with regards to surrounding items/cabinets/armoirs might make a difference. Also, please note that contrary to what the features checklist (above) states, this television does in fact have Sony’s XROSS Media Bar (3D on-screen feature navigation). I don’t know why it states otherwise, but it leads me to think that maybe the checklist was released prior to Sony’s new line of smaller tv’s for 2008.

All in all, this television is great and works perfectly as a bedroom set. It saves tons of space when mounted to the wall and has plenty of connection options for any device you might want to plug in. The remote is nice, although I wish it had a backlight feature like the one for my XBR52 does, which makes for easy navigation in low-light situations.

I agree that while this television is priced higher than other telvisions in its size class, it is completely worth it for all the options it comes with. Some might argue that 720p for a panel this size is fine, but once you have 1080p it’s hard to go back, and this is the only television currently offering a native 1080p resolution for its size. Recommended!

Review by M. Geary for Sony Bravia XBR-Series KDL-32XBR6 32-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV
Rating:
We use this in our kitchen/dining area to replace a 20inch sdtv. It is hooked up to a Charter cable HD box which provides a 1080i signal. The HD picture is fabulous and the regular digital pictures are also quite good. Rather then buy a BluRay player we decided to go cheap ($72) and purchased a Sony DVP-NS700H/B 1080p Upscaling DVD Player to play DVD movies. According to the display the movies are being upscaled to 1080P. Other than adjusting the picture: vivid,standard,cinema,custom or trying the different “wide” settings, we have not yet tried any other adjustments. The TV is pricey for a 32inch model but you get a great picture and many other features not standard on older 32 inch models. This is my first online review of an electronics product and I must say that I have benefited greatly from reviews written by others prior to buying electronics products online.

Review by Wandering Eye for Sony Bravia XBR-Series KDL-32XBR6 32-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV
Rating:
Pros:

Lots of nice features. Built in HD QAM tuner. Good speakers. Mounted to the wall easily. Great picture quality for HD sources. Nice user interface. As soon as I turned on the TV for the first time, it asked me for my language, time and date, zip code (for the TV Guide listings), and scanned for available channels. This took about 20 minutes, and found dozens of new digital channels that I didn’t even know I had on my analog cable system. It automatically tunes the HD channels, for example channel 7 is standard resolution (480i) while channel 7.1 is the HD version of the same station. I recommend it.

Cons:

Okay picture quality for low-def sources, like standard TV signals, much worse than a CRT TV. No headphone output (contradicting what Sony and many other merchants claim on their websites), so I had to get a cable and a signal booster to connect my headphones to the RCA audio outputs on the back. When pressing the channel up or down button on the remote to get to the next channel, there is a noticeable delay of 1-2 seconds while it tunes the signal, an annoying delay that I did not encounter with my previous television. Does not have a dual tuner, so the picture-and-picture (PAP) can only show a TV signal on the right window while the left window can have any other input, like the VCR or DVD. I needed to split the cable signal to have one line going to the TV and another line going to a VCR in order to have the PAP display two TV channels at the same time so I can channel surf during commercials. There is no PAP button on the remote, so you need to navigate through the system menus a bit to enable it. The free TV Guide on the TV is a nice feature, but it frequently displays no listings or the listings are wrong.

Review by David for Sony Bravia XBR-Series KDL-32XBR6 32-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV
Rating:
I bought this for $879 on 12-02-08. The price went up to $898.99 when I got my invoice and now more then 3 weeks later Amazon lists it at $949.97 (12-30-08) Kinda confusing. I thought prices would be going down!

The price I paid was STILL $400+ cheaper then at Best Buy & Frys Electronics!! ($1,200+tax) here in the San Fernando valley near Los Angeles

The Sony picture is perfect. No complaints at all about it. You can create a custom picture you like or go with the defaults. Under Options> Picture Adjustments there are many settings you can adjust. I bought the 32″ model because it is the equalivilant of the 26″ tube tv’s in height. TV uses 160 watts. The speakers are very good. 0-100 and I set the volume at 20 or so. 100 is very loud. Plenty of connections to hookup more speakers.

The tv has a built-in tuner so you don’t need a cable box if you don’t want one. The Sony has Coax, RCA, S-video and 4 HDMI connections. I bought a 3ft $25 HDMI cable that hooks up to my cable box. Others will insist that you get those expensive ones at $100+ while others say you only need the $5 ones.

You can view 480-720-1080 resolutions. The high def channels at 1080 will make you think you are there in person when the show has been filmed well. See the Travel channel and National Geographic and Discovery etc. I swear I could reachout and hit Paulie and Mikey and old man Teutul on ‘American Chopper’ : )

The 480 resolution looks better then any tube tv. The 720 better and the 1080 is what I wish all tv channels were like.

Easily switch between inputs like your cable box or the vcr/dvd player. Push the Input button on the remote or top of tv and select the one you want. You can tell which has a connection because it has an arrow next to it.

The remote is lightweight. Just wish the Mute button was larger since I use it a lot. If you are using a cable box you will use their remote.

The tv channels switch quickly when you have the coax plugged directly into the tv. If you use a cable box and a HDMI cable however there will be a 1-2 second delay as you change channels due to that $#@!&%! DRM (digital rights management) that checks if you are looking at copyright material. It slows the changing of channels way too much.

It is the cable box that is slow and not the tv set.

A workaround is to use the RCA connection. The picture will be dumb down to 720 or 480 due to hollywood.

I will buy a Sony later on in the 42″ or larger range when I move. The 32″ is just right for my place.