Finally...bought it.... Sony 40EX520

[anandk]

GM friends. After what appeared to be a never ending saga of research and deliberations, the final episode ended yesterday. I went with an intention to buy the Panny V20 and ended up with EX520! As strange as it might sound here is a brief of my decision...
I had shortlisted V20, EX 520 and LE5500 in the same order of preference. Went to a local dealer who was also a long standing acquaintance. He spoke positively of all three. His view was to stick to Japanese models over Korean onces atleast for TVs. Secong logic was to go with the most recent model and technology. My heart was with V20 but my mind was inclining towards the EX520. I was not too impressed the first time I saw it but checked with couple of colleagues who had got it. Also the review in cnet asia couple of days back was also positibve. I decided I could live with the 50HZ pain point and took the plunge.
TV was installed last eve...so didnt have much time. Hooked to Tata SKy (normal) now. Initial impressions are positive. Its currently in general mode, not started tweaking the settings. Colors are natural, pictures are sharp. The best thing I liked was it is not bright and vivid, more subdued and realisitc which I my personal preference. Apparantly Sony guys will come for a demo. I will spend more time with this weekend on testing its capabilities on the HD front...and will def update this thread.
Many thanks for all your views and posts. This is def a great forum! Have a great day.

 

[sunbaj]

Congratulations .....Enjoy it man to the fullest now ...

 

[exfivetwenty]

Congrats!!!
Did you wall mount it using the sony provided wall mounts? If so how much gap is there between the back of your tv and the wall ? Are you able to easily plug te cables?

 

[midnitefreakin]

congratulations! so how much did it cost? u didnt have EX710 as a choice with motion flow?

 

[anandk]

thanks for your wishes.
Did you wall mount it using the sony provided wall mounts? If so how much gap is there between the back of your tv and the wall ? Are you able to easily plug te cables?
Not wall mounted it yet, kept on a stand. Sony guys will come with the wall mount brackets for installation. Will let you know post that.

how much did it cost? u didnt have EX710 as a choice with motion flow?
Its costs 64,900. Went with 0% finance over 12 months so there is no immediate outgo. Down payment of 4 months and bal over remaining 8 months. EX710 is discontinued and hence was not an option. I understand EX620 is expected in April. Apparantly this will have 100hz and is expected to be roughly 8-10K more expensive.

 

[peeyushm]

Congrats Anand :clapping:
Please do mention the price of the set and post few images. Will wait for a detailed report on various aspects of this set like the 50 Hz refresh rate, performance with SD DTH and obviously the USB capabilities.

 

[anfjavid]

Did you update your TV to the latest FW ?. I have the CCFL version of the same TV and i updated mine on the same day of purchase.... Do you have any idea of the price in grey ?

 

[adder]

^In grey market it costs 54k .But should be cheaper in chennai grey market.

There will be no EX620 model for asia http://www.sony-asia.com/pressrelease/asset/434289/section/regionalpressreleases

 

[abhi_jollyguy]

Congrats anandk and enjoy with ur new LED-LCD

 

[indiglo]

plz update here with some pics of ur tv( in off & when on/displaying something)...this is a humble request...plz do that asap!

congrats !

Another very imp thing...how much is the silver bezel at the bottom of the front ,distracting/annoying to view as per aesthetics r concerned?

 

[tkrishnan]

Adder Are you sure? Sony dealers are telling it will be out in one week.

 

[rajeshprasath]

congrats anandk....

In my point of view, LG LE5500 is far better than Sony 40EX520. Anyway you are going to miss following features in any point of time,

IPS - In Plane Switching display
Bluetooth stereo
USB moview playback
extra 2" inches
natural colors ( in sony human faces are always in more reddish shade, its formula to soften the video to reduce grains in watching normal SD content )
extraordinary black levels ( in sony you will always get only dark grey )

One more thing i don't believe your thought japanese are always better than koreans...If that is a case then why don't they make their own lcd panels....sony is always using samsung lcd display panels( thats why they didn't get IPS ) ...panasonic is using LG panels......

So japanese are best or koreans are best...that is not a matter...who will give more features, advanced technology, good picture quality in compative pricing that matters....

if you feel bad on my comments, I am sorry for that....any way you have bought your TV...congrats buddy.....

regards
Rajesh

 

[sandy_d]

Where in bangalore can we check the grey market prices ??

 

[adder]

congrats anandk....

In my point of view, LG LE5500 is far better than Sony 40EX520. Anyway you are going to miss following features in any point of time,

IPS - In Plane Switching display
Bluetooth stereo
USB moview playback
extra 2" inches
natural colors ( in sony human faces are always in more reddish shade, its formula to soften the video to reduce grains in watching normal SD content )
extraordinary black levels ( in sony you will always get only dark grey )

One more thing i don't believe your thought japanese are always better than koreans...If that is a case then why don't they make their own lcd panels....sony is always using samsung lcd display panels( thats why they didn't get IPS ) ...panasonic is using LG panels......

So japanese are best or koreans are best...that is not a matter...who will give more features, advanced technology, good picture quality in compative pricing that matters....

if you feel bad on my comments, I am sorry for that....any way you have bought your TV...congrats buddy.....

regards
Rajesh

The SPVA have one of the best blacks in lcd tech,the LG IPS panel cannot match the Sony or samsung,unless it has full local dimming backlight,then to it cannot match the black in pixel level.

Colors are subjective.Just by looking at the showroom demo mode one can't judge the picture quality,one needs to adjust the settings.If you ask me the demo mode usually kept in vivid mode look like crap.

Sony choose korean samsung and the fellow japanese lcd maker Sharp as their lcd panel supplier,they even used AUO panel(taiwan) in high end tvs of 2007 and 2008,since back then the AMVA was better.
They also use panels from some other taiwanese companies in really low end lcds 22 to 26" size tvs.

Sony themself don't have a lcd panel tech or manufacturing faclity(except for small screen sizes used in phones and cameras) ,like they had in CRT world.

They were late to join the flat panel market,since they believed consumers would still buy the Flat HD CRT tv,but they were wrong.
Sony needed a flat screen panel maker badly,they choose the lcd way and they partnered with samsung which wasn't considered as big as a competition to Sony back then.Their main rival that time was Sharp.

At that time Sharp was the No1 in world wide lcd sales.Sony launched the Bravia branded lcds in 2006 within a short time they surpassed Sharp has the world no 1 (using samsung PVA panel).

Currently they are second .Due to huge demand and shortage of panels.Sony also partnered with Sharp which by now was in the bottom pack in sales.Their UV2A tech is comparable to the latest SPVA and in some cases superior.

Lg for years was in talks with Sony to buy their panels.But the deal hasn't happened .This year they are again trying to make a deal with Sony with their passive 3d panel.

Also Since the 10g Sharp/Sony facilty in japan has failed to meet Sony huge demand(as stated in their press briefing) they were forced to launch new models in 2010 itself with SPVA(710,810 series) and even AMVA in 46" EX710.

Now the fact that the earthquake has halted production in the 10g facility.
lg perhaps may get Sony order since they are the only large corporation that has passive 3d tech and that can meet panels demand of Sony.Their panels where also report by display search has to being slightly cheaper in cost.

Sony own inhouse flat panel tech will be OLED.

 

[adder]

Where in bangalore can we check the grey market prices ??

You can go to gandhinagar located near majestic bus stand.Sukhsagar mall is a good place.

 

[anandk]

indiglo: i will try to upload some pics over the weekend.
the aesthetics of the silver bezel is subjective and mainly a personal preference. In my opinion its not distracting and looks good. Having said that if it would have been black like the other 3 sides, may be it would have looked even better.

 

[shameer_as]

Congrats Anand, finally you end up buying EX520. I am sure you are enjoying the picture clarity it offers even for SD channels. Tell how you feel connected to DTH at home. I remember you were not happy with EX520 connected to Airtel DTH at showroom.

 

[indiglo]

dear anandk, where r the pics bro,...was patiently waiting for those !
if u can plz make a small review of it!

 

[anandk]

Shameer: I am very happy with both the SD and HD reception. I realize the settings at the showroom were inappropriate and hence the confusion. It is a real good TV.

Indiglo: hey...apologies for not upoading any pics till now...the holi weekend was quite hectic. I however had a good opportunity to spend more time with the set and here is a brief:

The Sony guy came for demo and tweaked some of the settings relating to both display and sound. I then tested the set using HD rips of Toy Story, Monster House, I am Legend and Waka Waka. To be honest I am truly impressed with the picture quality. This set is a boon for HD viewing. Color reproduction is flawless...clarity is amazing. Till now I have not felt 50hz is a deterrent. The best feature this set is the ability to support SD quite well. I watched 300 in WB on SD and truly enjoyed the experience. Few of my colleagues attribute this to the new x-reality engine. Overall I am quite happy with this purchase. It plays Mpg4 and avi files from usb without any issues. Will check on other formats also in due course.

 

[anfjavid]

Shameer: I am very happy with both the SD and HD reception. I realize the settings at the showroom were inappropriate and hence the confusion. It is a real good TV.

Indiglo: hey...apologies for not upoading any pics till now...the holi weekend was quite hectic. I however had a good opportunity to spend more time with the set and here is a brief:

The Sony guy came for demo and tweaked some of the settings relating to both display and sound. I then tested the set using HD rips of Toy Story, Monster House, I am Legend and Waka Waka. To be honest I am truly impressed with the picture quality. This set is a boon for HD viewing. Color reproduction is flawless...clarity is amazing. Till now I have not felt 50hz is a deterrent. The best feature this set is the ability to support SD quite well. I watched 300 in WB on SD and truly enjoyed the experience. Few of my colleagues attribute this to the new x-reality engine. Overall I am quite happy with this purchase. It plays Mpg4 and avi files from usb without any issues. Will check on other formats also in due course.

It will play only certain codecs in MP4 format and MPG 1/2. You can go through the I-Manual for the list of supported codecs. TBH the I-manual is a great plus point for this TV. It explains every nook and corner of the TV features and troubleshooting with pictorial representation...

The TVs inablity to play MKV files and lack of subtitle support is a minus point. Dont know why SONY stands always in the back w.r.t features though the picture quality is amazing....