Buying KLV-40Z450A: is it a wise deicision?

nikhil_j

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Hello Folks,

Another round of hectic TV hunting in good ol' Delhi. Well, for one Stores in Bangalore are so much better - better stocked, more courteous staff and more willing to show things. In Delhi, I visited Reliance Digital, Chroma, Ezone, and Jumbo. None of the guys had more than 1-2 of the TVs in my comparison set and and NONE of them were willing to show the SD TV content - only slick Blue-ray DVDs, which obviously is meaningless. Anyhow, I went to a Sony World and here's yet another flip-flop.......

I compared a KLV-40Z450A with KLV-40w550A and oh the Z-series seems so much better. I bargained a little and am getting, z-series, the KLV-40Z450A, for Rs 1.05Lakh (5k price cut). Should I buy it?
Its got a 10-bit panel, wcg-ccfl backlights and 200Hz motion-flow. The downsides are BE2 engine and lack of USB.

Experts, is this wise to buy this TV at this price??? Please tell. Any issues?

(KLV-40Z550A when it is launched will have BE3 and possibly USB too, but it would be priced at about 133K which is way beyond my budget.)

The other choice is to buy a 40" Samsung Series 6 LED TV, which I am getting for 85K after letting go of all the freebies. Should I buy this LED TV instead of Sony older model z-series?

I need to buy tomorrow, please please help... :)

Well IMHO, Sony charge you more than their product deserves for mainly the following reasons:
1> To maintain a uniform pricing across the dealers and the country as a whole (Which can be a good thing, cause you need not worry of getting a sony at a cheaper rate elsewher).
2> To maintain the "Brand Equity". They have always praised themselves for quality and reliability (While reliability and service remain good, the quality mainly refers to the days of CRTs and tape decks). You may have heard the saying, "Why does it cost so much? Because its a SONY!"

About the Z series which you are talking about, its really not worth the price you have been quoted.
You can rather look at LG 47LH90 or the Samsung 40B750. They would cost around 85 and 95k resp.
At this point i might be sounding like an anti-Sony, but trust me i am not(ps. I own a PS3;) )
Check out the reviews at various sites like CNET and do audition the mentioned tvs before you make your decision.

Kudos.
 
All the TVs you have quotes the prices for are decent. I would look at Sony/Samsung first before LG. RE: the pricing, all of them are higher than they should be but then there is not one that jumps up as a real big deal. Given this you may be better off with the Sony.
 
Hello Folks,

Another round of hectic TV hunting in good ol' Delhi. Well, for one Stores in Bangalore are so much better - better stocked, more courteous staff and more willing to show things. In Delhi, I visited Reliance Digital, Chroma, Ezone, and Jumbo. None of the guys had more than 1-2 of the TVs in my comparison set and and NONE of them were willing to show the SD TV content - only slick Blue-ray DVDs, which obviously is meaningless. Anyhow, I went to a Sony World and here's yet another flip-flop.......

I compared a KLV-40Z450A with KLV-40w550A and oh the Z-series seems so much better. I bargained a little and am getting, z-series, the KLV-40Z450A, for Rs 1.05Lakh (5k price cut). Should I buy it?
Its got a 10-bit panel, wcg-ccfl backlights and 200Hz motion-flow. The downsides are BE2 engine and lack of USB.

Experts, is this wise to buy this TV at this price??? Please tell. Any issues?

(KLV-40Z550A when it is launched will have BE3 and possibly USB too, but it would be priced at about 133K which is way beyond my budget.)

The other choice is to buy a 40" Samsung Series 6 LED TV, which I am getting for 85K after letting go of all the freebies. Should I buy this LED TV instead of Sony older model z-series?

I need to buy tomorrow, please please help... :)

No doubt the Z series is good. But the lack of BE3 may be slightly evident while watching regular SD (Tata Sky) signals. The BE3 upscales SD signals better than BE2. The 10 bit panel will not make much of difference for SD viewing. I was kind of in the same situation where I was looking at the 40W450 which had a 10 bit panel and had the same questions you have, while comparing it to the 40W550, which is this years model. The general forum feedback was to go with the latest model, which is the 550 series with BE3 and not worry too much about the 10 bit or 8 bit panel.

As far as the USB is concerned, SONY can only play jpeg, music and some video files. It will not play DivX movie format. The Samsung 6 & 7 series along with LG LCDs which have USB can play many movie formats. The Samsungs & LG are certainly more value for money with slightly more features as compared to the SONY. The Samsung 6 & 7 series also have nice panels with good contrast. Plus, the difference in PQ may not be much between SONY and high end model of Samsung these days, unlike the CRT days. However, since Samsung panel is a lottery, do take that aspect into consideration. The LG is in a slightly different league of panels, with IPS technology. It has its own +s & -s.

Try not to choose a LCD based on USB alone.look at the PQ, contrast, processing engine etc. These are some of the important points while choosing a good LCD. One can always get a good DVD player with USB capability to play DivX movies. But that is individual decision.

SONY LCDs in India are totally imported from Thailand / Malaysia, unlike the Samsungs & LG which are manufactured here. Hence the import custom duty on the SONY panels is passed on to the end customer, hence making it slightly more expensive than competitors with of course a bit of brand image cost.

Have checked out the Samsung LED US40B6000 also and there was a time when I was considering it strongly and may have almost purchased it. The PQ & design wise, really liked it a lot. The black contrast was deep and the looks with the thin frame were also very attractive. However, I have a lot of equipment (that does not have HDMI outputs) to connect and this LED did not have enough component & composite outputs that I require, hence dropped it.

All the LCDs (SONY Z450 series, W550 series & the Samsung 6 series LED) youve mentioned are very good choices. The SONY with BE3 and the Samsung with its own processing engine yield very good PQ. Both Samsungs & SONYs have comparable panels (except watch out for the CMO panel that adder keeps mentioning on this forum). You cannot go wrong with any of the LCDs you have shortlisted. Not sure what your majority viewing / use, for the LCD is going to be. Assuming it will be a lot of Tata Sky / Dish TV / DVD viewing, best would be to do a side-by-side comparison and choose that you like best. Out of the choices youve mentioned, Id look more at this years SONY W550 with BE3 & Samsung LED 6 series than at last years Z450 for reasons specified above before finally deciding. Hope this helps.
 
KLV-40Z450 is a outstanding TV. You can keep it as choice no-1. I have seen it performing well in sony store(DTH) and good reviews everywhere

It has very good design too

If you buy this kindly let us know its perfomance
 
well the 40Z450A is a terminator of a tv,impressive build quality,it uses a AMVA panel but a very high spec one,the contrast it delivers is impressive. for HD content i would choose the Z450A.its shows qood level of shadow detail,i would say a bit more then the W550A.
sound quality again is top notch.far better then all 09 lcds from sony,samsung,panasonic etc.
the 200hz is again aids in motion resolution,one of the first,if not the first lcd to crack the 1080lines of motion resolution.
drawback is the lack of BE3,where its performs a bit bad in SD content.
now the reason why u felt it better then W550A is probably because of superior contrast and the sharper wow look of 200hz.
the newew Z550A is however a step back in build quality and sound quality.it can be had in the grey market for about 98k or less.
 
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well the 40Z450A is a terminator of a tv,impressive build quality,it uses a AMVA panel but a very high spec one,the contrast it delivers is impressive. for HD content i would choose the Z450A.its shows qood level of shadow detail,i would say a bit more then the W550A.
sound quality again is top notch.far better then all 09 lcds from sony,samsung,panasonic etc.
the 200hz is again aids in motion resolution,one of the first,if not the first lcd to crack the 1080lines of motion resolution.
drawback is the lack of BE3,where its performs a bit bad in SD content.
now the reason why u felt it better then W550A is probably because of superior contrast and the sharper wow look of 200hz.
the newew Z550A is however a step back in build quality and sound quality.it can be had in the grey market for about 98k or less.

Do you have any idea of Grey market in Pune ?? How do one handle any service issues or warrantly issues if purchased from grey market??
 
Nidhi,
I am in a same boat as you...check my post http://www.hifivision.com/televisio...-40w550a-klv-40w450a-samsung-la40b750u1r.html

After going thru different opinions by the forum members (mainly adder & Gfreeman) I decided to hold on till the Z550 is launched...I expect it to be launched by year end. At the same time I would also like to point out that the 550 series on Sony is actually priced cheaper that 450 Series...so I don't think it will be priced 133K.

If you are not in hurry then I would suggest you to hold on for sometime for Z550 (like me :))...at the same time I came to know Philips (thru Philips Arena dealer) will be soon launching their 2010 LCD lineup...it will be interesting to see the top end Philips in India.

If they include PFL9704H series for India which has been lauded in Europe and Singapore then it will be tough fight for me to decide between Sony and Philips.
If you are in hurry I would strongly suggest W550 series...but don't go with 450 as BE3 and SD content PQ performance mainly matters in everyday life.

I have seen some Philips service concerns on this forum...but believe me I never had any service issue with Philips atleast in Pune and their top end products are really well built oozing quality...I have been owning a Premium Philips CRT 29" 100Hz for last 10 years (29PT8321 - Belgium built) and it had been settling the scores will all the Premium brands for long.
 
if you're happy spending a lakh on the Sony, why not 80k for the LH90? And some people are claimining to have got the 42 LH90 for 66k. I wouldn't be surprised if it outperforms the Sony, with its local dimming LEDs and all that.

Of course if you want the best pictures you'd have to go for a Plasma

*ducks while the LCD brigade pulls out the knives*
 
Nidhi,
If you are not in hurry then I would suggest you to hold on for sometime for Z550 (like me :))...at the same time I came to know Philips (thru Philips Arena dealer) will be soon launching their 2010 LCD lineup...it will be interesting to see the top end Philips in India.

If they include PFL9704H series for India which has been lauded in Europe and Singapore then it will be tough fight for me to decide between Sony and Philips.
well the philips AFAIK hasn't unveiled any 2010 models,the 9704 is a 09 model.
the 9704 has the local dimming LED backlight so it may very well be more expensive.
but do note no local dimming set be it the LG LH90,philips 9404(if using IPS or ASV) still won't natively match the blacks of VA based panels from sony/samsung and plasmas.the local dimming LED backlight lcds also suffer from large differences in gray scale,unless offcourse u turn the dimming to OFF,in which case the blacks levels of tvs based on ips like LG LH90 will be bad,atleast compared to VA based lcds and plasma.
 
if you're happy spending a lakh on the Sony, why not 80k for the LH90? And some people are claimining to have got the 42 LH90 for 66k. I wouldn't be surprised if it outperforms the Sony, with its local dimming LEDs and all that.

Of course if you want the best pictures you'd have to go for a Plasma

*ducks while the LCD brigade pulls out the knives*

Amen to that.. Ever considered Panasonic V10 :)
VIERA TH-P50V10D | V Series | Digital AV | Panasonic India
or G10
VIERA TH-P42G10D | G Series | Digital AV | Panasonic India
 
well the philips AFAIK hasn't unveiled any 2010 models,the 9704 is a 09 model.
the 9704 has the local dimming LED backlight so it may very well be more expensive.
but do note no local dimming set be it the LG LH90,philips 9404(if using IPS or ASV) still won't natively match the blacks of VA based panels from sony/samsung and plasmas.the local dimming LED backlight lcds also suffer from large differences in gray scale,unless offcourse u turn the dimming to OFF,in which case the blacks levels of tvs based on ips like LG LH90 will be bad,atleast compared to VA based lcds and plasma.

I agree 9704 is an 2009 Model but this model was never offered in India. Currently they are offering 5000 and 74xx series in India....so I am optimistic about the 9407 series to be included in the next line-up for India.

BTW..thank you for the other technical details which you provided for the VA based lcds :)
 
I agree 9704 is an 2009 Model but this model was never offered in India. Currently they are offering 5000 and 74xx series in India....so I am optimistic about the 9407 series to be included in the next line-up for India.

BTW..thank you for the other technical details which you provided for the VA based lcds :)

Saw the 9703 in Croma, Phoenix Mills. 89,990.
 
congrats on your purchase of this very good TV

I plan to buy 40Z550 next year

1)How does it look on SD from 6-7 feet distance

2)which DTH you are using

thanks
 
congrats on ur purchase,:)how about posting some pictures.

but highly unlikely that the 40Z550A will have BE2,mostly the brochure has a typo and this is not the first time sony has made errors in their brochure.
the sony Z550A is made in thailand and the Z550A sold in thailand and malaysia has the BE3.
 
Congratulations Nidhi !!
Even though you got some sour grapes...but don't worry you have gone for the best of the class product...so enjoy :yahoo:

Please post your end user experience review and some pics.

Adder thanks for consoling me for the future 40Z550A with BE3...anyways...now I am not in hurry to buy (as i have got over the Diwali spending mood)...so I am prepared to wait.
 
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