Sony 46" Bravia 46x3500

BadCharlie

Was looking at buying this Tv over the next week or so. It will cost me €3500 in the local Sony Shop. When buying it on line i would make a saving of only €80 so figured i just get it closer to home.

What im wondering is it a good buy ?
Or for the same price can i get a much better LCD Tv?

Might be a post about this all ready just did not have a time to do a search

trabpc

Are you sure €3500. sony shop in Liffey Valley wanted that for the 40x3500.
they wanted €4800 for the 46x3500.
Nice lcd both looks and picture.

D/C

One of the best TVs on the market! Sony's premium brand so needless to say the best of the best! Price sounds a bit off, but if you can get the 46x at that price, snap the sales mans hand off!

Come to think of it, are you sure its not the 46x2500, cause its reduced down to €3600 in a local electrical shop!

trabpc

I think dc you may be right saw the 46x2000 in Sony Shop in Tallaght for about that kind of money €3600

BadCharlie

I better ring them up again and make sure they gave me the correct price. It was my friend who was on the phone to them the last time. So maybe he did not give them the correct information.

Soarer

Definitely the x2000 for that money. If not, you've got the bargain of the century. Especially since the 46x3500 qualifies for a free PS3 or BDP-S300 bluray player!

As for the x3500, I have the 40" version and love it!:D
There are some issues with smearing, and some people have had excessive fan noise, but in terms of picture quality, it's awesome.

Plus you get 1080/24p over all sockets!

BadCharlie

I finally got them this morning on the phone. And they are telling me its €4000, so the price i got yesterday was infact wrong. On the net i can get one for about €3420 and that would cover postage also.

But the people on the net don't have them in stock and i ordered it almost a month ago and still not in stock!

Maybe i should just pick up a nice 32" also and wait for the 46" to come along. And then move the 32" into our main bedroom.

floydmoon1

if you want a nice 32 inch i just got a sony bravia 32d3000 for .1099 from soundstore.very pleased with the quality.i have a ps3 connected to it and it looks beautiful

Soarer

Well I purchased mine in my local Sony Centre, and I'm glad I did.

Mine came with a 3 year warranty and a BDP-S300 bluray player for €4000. Like you, I could've saved a few quid buying online, but everywhere was out of stock. Plus, if I were to buy the S300 online too, the overall savings only came out to around €100.
Certainly not enough of a saving to warrant an online purchase.

Go into town today and buy it from your local Sony Centre. You'll not regret it!:cool:

spanner_head

Soarer wrote: »

Well I purchased mine in my local Sony Centre, and I'm glad I did.

Hi Soarer,

What sony centre did you buy this from?
Did you have to pay extra for the warranty?

I've talked to the Liffey Valley and Tallaght stores and both say that it comes with a one year warranty.

Thanks

Soarer

Hi Spanner.
I bought it from Sony Centre, Patrick Street, Cork. The warranty was a promotion they were doing for October, and I happened to put my deposit down on October 31st! I didn't know anything about it, and the saleman didn't mention anything to me about it, until I put the money down!

That said, EU law will cover you for more than 12 months anyway. There's no way a €3k+ tv should develop problems within 3 years.

BadCharlie

The online store is still out of stock. If i want it i will need to go to sony centre. Maybe i should ring them up and see what they will give me!

BadCharlie

Well I finally got this TV Friday last. I ordered it on line and it took forever to get to me.

All I got to say is the sound is very very good and the picture quality is super. I have HDMI set on my dvd player and all in all im very happy with my TV.

trabpc

Called into sony Centre in Liffey Valley today they have the 46x3500 on sale for €3599 not bad.

Its a fine looking telly.

They had Sky HD on. I asked them to swith on regular Sky which he did for about 30 seconds and then back to HD. Has this tv some problems showing standard def. Just he did not like leaving it on Standard Def. ( I know HD shows off these tellys at their best but 90% of my viewing is DVD/Sky)

For the 30 seconds i saw it seemed ok but not like the Quality of my 32" sony Trinitron CRT.

Of course Bluray etc was Brill.

Has any one got this what is it like on Standard Def like sky/DVD?

E@gle.

the new 46v3000 is a far better set than any of the x or w series.

or if you want to wait and buy the new 46D3500

Soarer

E@gle. wrote: »

the new 46v3000 is a far better set than any of the x or w series.

or if you want to wait and buy the new 46D3500

Are you taking the piss??
How do you get to that conclusion?
Sony models progress towards X as they get better. V is less than X, therefore inferior.;)

E@gle.

Soarer wrote: »

Are you taking the piss??
How do you get to that conclusion?
Sony models progress towards X as they get better. V is less than X, therefore inferior.;)

have you seen both TV's running the same thing side by side?

Soarer

Nope.

E@gle.

Soarer wrote: »

Nope.

TBH the X series is a great TV, I bought the V series because i couldn't notice the difference between the two.

The only difference spec wise is that the X series has the Bravia engine pro as opposed to the V which just has the Bravia engine standard, In my opinion the X isnt worth the extra €2000

Soarer

E@gle. wrote: »

TBH the X series is a great TV, I bought the V series because i couldn't notice the difference between the two.

The only difference spec wise is that the X series has the Bravia engine pro as opposed to the V which just has the Bravia engine standard, In my opinion the X isnt worth the extra €2000

Well that obviously makes the V series a better tv!
So you've seen both side-by-side, but couldn't tell the difference in picture. How does that make the V a far better set? Probably makes it a better value set, but certainly doesn't make it a better set. As a by-the-way, what was being displayed on both?

I could also go into the whole "were they both calibrated correctly?" thing, but that's being too pedantic. I just think your initial sweeping statement was way off the mark.

And as for " The only difference spec wise is that the X series has the Bravia engine pro as opposed to the V which just has the Bravia engine standard", see here.

I think you should check your facts before you start downing other people's sets.

LFCFan

I got the KDL-46X3000 for €2,611 in Argos. The only difference between the 3000 and 3500 series is the surround. The actual screen and technology behind it is identical. Dunno why there is such a massive price difference between the 3000 and 3500. I think the 3000 looks class. So far I'm well impressed. HD is stunning and for most stations, SD is pretty good for such a large screen. I haven't noticed any of the usual LCD negatives like ghosting or smearing etc. Using a PS3 on it is fantastic. Watced some of the Planet Earth 1080 24P BD on it and it's such a leap over SD, it's nearly like going from B&W to Colour all over again (I'm not that old but there is a wow factor when you see proper High Def material on a large screen ). Highly recommend!

Soarer

A few of us have got that set from Argos.
We've been keeping it quiet though, and only been telling people on the QT that are looking for a big, cheap tv.
That price is an obvious misprint, but they haven't caught onto it yet. But the more people that know about it, the quicker they'll catch on. Hence the keeping it quiet!;)

sofireland

yeah i had heard something about that, the cat's out of the bag now!

LFCFan

Is there a chance they have to accept the amount advertised in the catalogue? Surely they would have kopped on to a €1,000 mistake by now and rectified it if they could. Anyway, all they are doing is selling it at the price it should be sold at. You can get it for that price in some stores in the UK. Their 'correct' price is a complete ripoff.

Soarer

LFCFan wrote: »

Is there a chance they have to accept the amount advertised in the catalogue? Surely they would have kopped on to a €1,000 mistake by now and rectified it if they could. Anyway, all they are doing is selling it at the price it should be sold at. You can get it for that price in some stores in the UK. Their 'correct' price is a complete ripoff.

They do stand over the price in the catalogue. I know as I, and others on here, have bought them!
The price difference is actually closer to €1800 too cheap going by their X3500 price!:eek:

Their "proper" price is in-and-around what you'll pay in b&m shops in Ireland. Alliance Electric have the 46X3500 for €4500.

Gonna post this in Bargain Alerts since the cat's out of the bag.

LFCFan

Soarer wrote: »

They do stand over the price in the catalogue.

Thought so. In the first store I tried ordering if from, the assistant went off for a few mins and then came back with some cock and bull story about not being able to put that much money on a chip and pin card. I knew she was lying to try and put me off. The 2nd place just put the order through, no hassle.

Soarer

When I bought mine, the girl was like "That's a very expensive tv, isn't it?". I couldn't help thinking "if only you knew the price it should be!".
Shur God love us, she even waived the €30 delivery charge 'cause the set was "so expensive"!:D

Have you received yours yet?
Tis a delicious piece of kit.

LFCFan

Yep, got it last Monday. They screwed up on the delivery though and I had to drive to Navan to pick it up from the delivery truck but I wasn't going to argue, just in case It's a class TV. Really looks the business and the picture is fantastic!

Soarer

Another happy customer then!:D

I'd love to be there when they finally go through the books or whatever, and see how many sets they've sold because of the price!:p

bk

I've asked this question over on the bargain thread, but it probably makes more sense here:

Anyone any opinions on how this would compare to a Panasonic 50" Full HD Plasma, TH-50PY70 for €2499:
http://www.allianceelectric.ie/produ...d/th50py70.htm

I have Smart Telecom IPTV service (average SD service), many DVDs, Divx/Xvids, Xbox 360, wii and will also get a PS3 and start getting Blu-Ray discs.

I can't get Sky HD, live in an apartment

Given that most of my current viewing is SD, I'm worried that it will look awful on a big LCD, Plasma is supposed to be better for SD, but then I'm worried about burn in from games, etc.

BTW I currently have a 32" Sony CRT

My normal viewing distance is about 10 feet, but normally sit at about 7 feet for games.

Soarer

I posted this reply over on the Bargain thread, but it probably makes more sense here:

Don't know much about the Pana. Maybe Big Moe will fill us in before he rings Argos and complains about their price of the X3000!!

The Sony has 3 hdmi and 2 component slots, as opposed to the pana's 2 and 1.
Also, the Sony allows 1080/24p over all inputs and displays in its original format. I'd imagine the Pana wil accept 1080/24p, but it'll do it's own processing before displaying, thus maybe degrading the picture slightly?

All the above is including the fact that plasma is pretty much dead, so I'd go with the Sony!!:D

bk

Soarer wrote: »

All the above is including the fact that plasma is pretty much dead, so I'd go with the Sony!!:D

I don't understand what you mean by it being dead?

From everything I've read on AV forums is that Plasma gives superior picture quality to LCD, particularly for SD, the downside being it is generally more expensive then equivalent sized LCD's and the possibility of burn in?

Soarer

bk wrote: »

I don't understand what you mean by it being dead?

From everything I've read on AV forums is that Plasma gives superior picture quality to LCD, particularly for SD, the downside being it is generally more expensive then equivalent sized LCD's and the possibility of burn in?

Fujitsu have packed in making plasma's.
Pioneer have pretty much packed it in too.
So the only mass producer left is Panasonic.

Whereas every man and his dog is producing LCD's.

sofireland

LFCFan wrote: »

Thought so. In the first store I tried ordering if from, the assistant went off for a few mins and then came back with some cock and bull story about not being able to put that much money on a chip and pin card. I knew she was lying to try and put me off. The 2nd place just put the order through, no hassle.

Nope that happened me too, told me the max i could put through on Laser was something like €1500. This stacks up cos i asked a few retailers what the max was, and even my bank, so they weren't lying

That shouldn't apply to credit cards, cos they can ring for manual authorisation, i just took the money out and paid in cash the next day!

Great tv

bk

Soarer wrote: »

Fujitsu have packed in making plasma's.
Pioneer have pretty much packed it in too.
So the only mass producer left is Panasonic.

Whereas every man and his dog is producing LCD's.

But from what I understand, it isn't because LCD is better, it is because Plasma is much more expensive to make then equivalent sized LCDs and it is hard to make Plasma in the smaller sizes that people were buying until recently. So LCDs were naturally selling much better.

In my experience people just want to get the biggest TV they can afford, they rarely look or think about the quality of the TV, it is almost a status symbol.

I still have my 32" Sony CRT, while I've been able to afford a HDTV for a few years now, I haven't been happy that they give a good enough SD picture and to me PQ is more important then status symbol.

To be honest, if it wasn't for the nagging doubt about burn in, I'd buy a Plasma in a heart beat, they seem better in every other way.

sofireland

Well SD performance on the X is very good in my opinion.
Especially after the set has had bedding in time, and the settings been tweaked.

bk

sofireland wrote: »

Well SD performance on the X is very good in my opinion.
Especially after the set has had bedding in time, and the settings been tweaked.

Thanks sofireland, can I ask what SD TV service you are using?

shayser

Is the 46x3000 at Argos the best value out there, LCD or Plasma? Just about made up my mind to get one of these tomorrow, unless anyone knows of better.

Thanks.

LFCFan

shayser wrote: »

Is the 46x3000 at Argos the best value out there, LCD or Plasma? Just about made up my mind to get one of these tomorrow, unless anyone knows of better.

Thanks.

Well, considering the 40" version of this TV is €2,699 in the Sony Centre, you can pretty much be sure you're getting a good deal

Soarer

Seconded!

Buy it!

GrumPy

LFCFan wrote: »

Watced some of the Planet Earth 1080 24P BD on it and it's such a leap over SD,

Planet Earth is not 1080p, and pretty sure it's not 24 frames either? It's deffo not 1080p anyway.

shayser

Paid me monies today. 14-21 days they said. Did it take this long for anyone else?

Irish GrumPy wrote: »

Planet Earth is not 1080p, and pretty sure it's not 24 frames either? It's deffo not 1080p anyway.

I don't own this but I've read in a number of places that it's 1080p (&1080i) inc. blu-ray.com, amazon.co.uk.

GrumPy

shayser wrote: »

Paid me monies today. 14-21 days they said. Did it take this long for anyone else?



I don't own this but I've read in a number of places that it's 1080p (&1080i) inc. blu-ray.com, amazon.co.uk.

Well I have it on hd-dvd and it;s 720p/1080i only. Certain it's the same with blu ray version

ShaneU

Irish GrumPy wrote: »

Well I have it on hd-dvd and it;s 720p/1080i only. Certain it's the same with blu ray version

wrong, 1080p

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/movies.php?id=384

GrumPy

ShaneU wrote: »

wrong, 1080p

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/movies.php?id=384

American version. Also coulda sworn the american version was miss labelled 1080p. (Think I read that on av forums, will try find link) Cant see how the hd-dvd version (same show, same cameras etc) wouldn't be 1080p if blu ray is.

mathias

The american version is 1080p , but only four discs ,
The European version is 1080i , but five discs including the making off documentary ,
I specifically wanted the 5 disc version so opted for that.

The show was originally shot on 1080i ( its in the documentary ).

Either way , with a good set , there should be no difference in quality in the final output , its all down to the de interlacers !

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6449_7-6361600-1.html

http://blog.hometheatermag.com/geoffreymorrison/0807061080iv1080p/

mathias

Regarding the earlier post about plasma being dead .... Sales would say otherwise ,
According to Panasonic , who have a commanding percentage of the market , plasma are leading edge quality products , while LCD are aimed at the more budget end of the market , Plasma sales are " brisk " nonetheless and the tech is far from dead. As a matter of fact , if quality is your aim , and with a product your going to be looking at for 5 -10 years it should be , then plasma is the only way to go.

No company thinks LCD is the better tech. Even sony , who have ditched plasma ( they were too late to the table ...they stuck with CRT too long and were rubbish at making flatscreens back then! In my opinion they still are , but thats just my opinion ...) , are concentrating huge amounts of money into OLED , hoping to have the first TV sets available for 2010 , because LCD's just dont cut it when it comes to movie picture quality , The tech is inherently unable to do real blacks.

Fujitsu are having problems alright , and are concentrating on cheapo 32 inch LCD's as they have been wopped in every other section of the flat screen market. Competition is fierce in the flat screen business.

Pioneer are not discontinuing the Kuro Plasmas , they have instead decided to buy screen parts from Panasonic to cut costs. The brand will still exist.

All this is on the left of the homepage on AVforums if anyone is interested, in the case of Panasonic there is a video interview.

LFCFan

If the TV displays 1080/24P when the BD loads, does that not mean that that's the feed it is getting?

LFCFan

shayser wrote: »

Paid me monies today. 14-21 days they said. Did it take this long for anyone else?

I ordered mine on a Thursday and had it the following Monday week so that was 7 working days. They had told me 10 working days. You will get a call from Argos Direct to arrange a delivery date. Also, make sure they know exactly where they are going because they put my TV on the wrong delivery route based on my address (it is misleading) and had to go meet them in Navan to pick up the TV (luckily was able to borrow a hatchback with plenty of room as the Box is Massive). Obviously, if you're in a large town or Dublin you'll be fine but our wonderful postal address system in the country can be very misleading.

shayser

Guys, who all got the 46X3000 in Argos? How's yours for backlight bleed/clouding. Mine is terrible! It's all over the screen. Changed my W2000 last year which wasn't nearly as bad. Only watched one dark scene so far and could see the clouding coming through in the bottom right quarter of the screen. Very disappointing.

LFCFan

shayser wrote: »

Guys, who all got the 46X3000 in Argos? How's yours for backlight bleed/clouding. Mine is terrible! It's all over the screen. Changed my W2000 last year which wasn't nearly as bad. Only watched one dark scene so far and could see the clouding coming through in the bottom right quarter of the screen. Very disappointing.

Haven't had any issues with mine at all. Very happy with it