Sony W550A vs EX500

[Bublu Bhuyan]

Hello everyone,

I've been eying a 40" LCD TV. After doing my research over the net, I've handpicked these two models of Sony -

1.) KLV-40EX500 (Rs. 73,900)

2.) KLV-40W550A (Rs. 83,900)


The price difference between the two is Rs. 10,000. Do you guys think it's worth spending those extra ten thousand bucks for the costlier model?

 

[alokbharti]

KLV-40W550A is phased out and was available for 64K during stock clearance..
KLV-40EX500 is recently launched and you can get it for 68K

 

[Bublu Bhuyan]

KLV-40W550A is phased out and was available for 64K during stock clearance..
KLV-40EX500 is recently launched and you can get it for 68K

But Sony India website says that it costs Rs. 73,900. BTW, you have any idea on how good that model is?

 

[alokbharti]

73,900 is MRP (Maximum Retail Price)..
and you get discount over MRP...

For Sony the discount is normally very less (maximum 10%).. but for samsung/LG you get almost 20-30% discount on LCDs MRP..

EX500 is indeed a good model.. in fact it is successor of W550 model..
nothing wrong with this set for the price..

Other choices with few additional features would be Samsung B650.. and few LG models (LH90, LH70, LH50 etc)..

 

[Bublu Bhuyan]

73,900 is MRP (Maximum Retail Price)..
and you get discount over MRP...

For Sony the discount is normally very less (maximum 10%).. but for samsung/LG you get almost 20-30% discount on LCDs MRP..

EX500 is indeed a good model.. in fact it is successor of W550 model..
nothing wrong with this set for the price..

Other choices with few additional features would be Samsung B650.. and few LG models (LH90, LH70, LH50 etc)..

One more question. Is there a big difference in picture quality between the EX500 and the EX400 series?

 

[thekinge]

I own the 46EX500 which is the newer 2010 model as mentioned before. Overall I am happy with the set, however there are a few minor gripes:

1. Its SD upconversion is below average. If you watch cable a lot, then you may want to try out the EX500 with standard cable and see if you are happy with the video quality.

2. In built speakers are really bad. they are very flat and sound tinny.

For me, these are really minor and I plan to address these issues by buying a decent upconverting receiver + ht. If you watch normal cable a lot you may want to check out other brands like samsung & lg side by side with Sony and make your decision.

regards,
thekinge

 

[Bublu Bhuyan]

I own the 46EX500 which is the newer 2010 model as mentioned before. Overall I am happy with the set, however there are a few minor gripes:

1. Its SD upconversion is below average. If you watch cable a lot, then you may want to try out the EX500 with standard cable and see if you are happy with the video quality.

How about DTH picture quality? And what about standard DVD upconversion?

 

[thekinge]

How about DTH picture quality? And what about standard DVD upconversion?

I use dish tv whose telecast is not great anyway (480i and a compressed telecast if i am not wrong) hence my experience is based on dish tv. May be other DTH could be better. I have heard that Sun HD DTH is very good but I don't have it yet.

I use an upconverting DVD player hence I do not know about the quality of upconversion done by the TV for normal DVDs.

 

[Bublu Bhuyan]

I use dish tv whose telecast is not great anyway (480i and a compressed telecast if i am not wrong) hence my experience is based on dish tv. May be other DTH could be better. I have heard that Sun HD DTH is very good but I don't have it yet.

I use an upconverting DVD player hence I do not know about the quality of upconversion done by the TV for normal DVDs.

That's what I'm asking. What's the picture quality like using an upconverting DVD player?

 

[adder]

well dish tv has indeed the worst picture quality compared to other DTH,if you want the best SUN HD is good followed by reliance Big tv.

 

[reignofchaos]

Isn't W550A a 10 bit panel while the EX500 is an 8bit panel? Not sure but I thought that was the case.

 

[thekinge]

That's what I'm asking. What's the picture quality like using an upconverting DVD player?

My upconverting DVD player converts SD DVD to 1080P and outputs via HDMI, so the EX500 just displays it without applying its own upconversion. However, even in this setup, the output quality is only average which is due to the quality of the upconversion performed by the DVD player (mine is a run of the mill LG upconverting player that I got for free when I purchased my EX500).

Also, there are lot of other aspects in play, like the quality of the DVD you're using. I have seen that local Tamil movie DVDs do not display that well when compared to English movies, possibly due to the quality of mastering. If you do decide to check the display quality of SD DVDs take something that's good quality.

 

[thekinge]

Isn't W550A a 10 bit panel while the EX500 is an 8bit panel? Not sure but I thought that was the case.

Both of them have only 8 bit panels. Beginning this model year, 10 bit panels are available only in X, ZX & Z series.

 

[Bublu Bhuyan]

Both of them have only 8 bit panels. Beginning this model year, 10 bit panels are available only in X, ZX & Z series.

How much did you pay for the KLV-46EX500?

 

[thekinge]

How much did you pay for the KLV-46EX500?

I live in Dubai and I paid AED 5000 / INR 63000 for 46EX500.

 

[Bublu Bhuyan]

I live in Dubai and I paid AED 5000 / INR 63000 for 46EX500.

Will be hell of a lot more in India, I believe.