Sony BRAVIA KDL-40S2010 40" LCD TV

As my picture started shrinking on my old tube type television, I decided it was time to start thinking about buying a new one. I started learning all I could about the different types of flat panel televisions out there and looked at the pros's and con's of all and decided the LCD's were the ones that suited my needs the best.

I compared many of the televisions on display at several stores, and picked this Sony because of the amazing picture I saw on it. Although it's only a 720p, another Sony just a few feet away, had no better picture than this one and it was a 1080p. Plus this one was about $470 less.

I won't go into a lot of detail of what the product specification's are, as you can easily read that yourself. I will tell you how well it works though.

I knew from reading other reviews, that many times the picture you see in the store, isn't always the picture you get at home. Luckily, this didn't happen to me. The picture I got at home, was as good as the one that I saw in the store. But let me state, I made sure I had a HD box from my cable company to hook it up to.

Much to my surprise, some of the things I had heard that were con's on many LCD's, didn't show up on my Sony-40S2010. Such as weak sound, lack luster black colors and viewing angle. The sound was as good as it was on my old tube type television, the blacks were rich and dark and we could view the screen from all seating angles in our room without losing any of the sharpness and detail. I am sure this has to do with Sony's new Bravia picture performance engine. The screen is made so that very little reflection from within the room is transmitted on to the screen.

Sony also has a light sensor on it, which allows the set to adjust the picture brightness to any light coming into your room. It works great if your room is brightly lit. Keeps the picture from being washed out.

Although I was a little disappointed this set only had one HDMI connector, It didn't deter me from buying it. As of now, I have nothing to hook up to that one. But it does have other hook ups in the back. Enough to hook up my cable box, stereo system, Tivo, DVD/VCR combo and still have a couple left over for other stuff, including your computer.

What surprised me the most about this set, was how well the plain digital stations showed up. Several times I had to check to make sure the station I was watching, wasn't High definition. It made me feel twice as glad I didn't spend the extra money buying the 1080p set.

I wasn't that impressed with the remote control. It didn't have a back light on it and looked kind of cheap, although it worked well. I use the remote that came with the cable box 99% of the time.

One thing you should be aware of when buying this television and maybe other LCD's, that they didn't tell me at the store. This set needs enough space to breath, to allow the heat that it generates, to escape. You need at least four inches on both sides and almost twelve inches from the top of the set. That cost me a lot of work rearranging things on my entertainment center. Especially the shelf that hooks both sides together. I was afraid if I didn't give it the breathing room required, it might jeopardise my warranty if something went wrong with the set later on.

Bottom line, if you have it hooked up to the right box and are using good connections, your going to love this television. The picture quality is outstanding and the sound is good enough that I don't always use my stereo's surround sound speakers when I have the set on. Sony has taken the weak spots of LCD's and eliminated them. They did their homework right on this set.