Sony KDL 20S3000

...at portable TVs, the 20" Sony is only for my room. I realised when I compared the Samsung and the Sony the different straight away, just by looking at the figures. Samsung 2000:1 contrast, Sony 4000:1 contrast. You also know (and it helps that I heard the sound on my sisters) that sony will always be one of the winners in sound.

Samsung 19" I can get for around £220, Sony 20" for £289.95 > the sound and contrast make ...
...they will do their best. Sony is currently £379 in their stores, I got them down to £316.

ACTUAL REVIEW:

The telly is beautiful. Sleek. For my bedroom, it is totally perfect and practical.

I have two bulky objects: my old windows '98 PC monitor, and my 6 year old 21" television. Both weigh an absolute ton and are so large in depth etc.

My Sony is to get rid of my monitor, get rid of ... more

I ordered this TV through www.prcdirect.co.uk, £280, I wanted it delivering the next day, so an extra £9.95, order total = £289.95. Standard delivery is free.

It came through, it was packaged well. Polystyrene on corners of the TV etc.

When I brought it out the box, I realised the true beauty of it's cover - in shops you are overwhelmed with the amount of televisions. I was originally going to go for the Samsung as that was the telly I originally fell in love with, and felt that the polished black coating would suit my playstation.

Realising that the first OLED was coming out in September 2008 with Sony, I knew that it would like probably 5-6 years before the market had established to this new TV. I knew I needed a TV to last at least 5-6 years.

I looked at the reviews on www.which.co.uk and looked at portable TVs, the 20" Sony is only for my room. I realised when I compared the Samsung and the Sony the different straight away, just by looking at the figures. Samsung 2000:1 contrast, Sony 4000:1 contrast. You also know (and it helps that I heard the sound on my sisters) that sony will always be one of the winners in sound.

Samsung 19" I can get for around £220, Sony 20" for £289.95 > the sound and contrast make it worth the extra money, baring in mind that I intend to keep it for at least 5-6 years.

The guy at Currys said that the contrast is one of the most important factors, when you are buying a television. It helps the picture quality.

It is always useful to remember when buying a TV, that Currys claim that they are the cheapest in the high street. If you quote an internet price, if you are friendly, they will do their best. Sony is currently £379 in their stores, I got them down to £316.

ACTUAL REVIEW:

The telly is beautiful. Sleek. For my bedroom, it is totally perfect and practical.

I have two bulky objects: my old windows '98 PC monitor, and my 6 year old 21" television. Both weigh an absolute ton and are so large in depth etc.

My Sony is to get rid of my monitor, get rid of my TV. It is also to provide HD for my PS3, for my video, for the freeview etc.

My Dad felt it was overpriced. We discussed that:

Freeview: £12
LCD Monitor: £90
Cheap HD TV: £110
- of course, these are nasty cheap so:
Sony Quality: £60
(£272)
Okay, so I had quick delivery (+ 9.95)
= 281.95

Sony is overpriced by exactly: £8.00

That put it in perspective.

I decided I wasn't going to rig it up, unless my parents were going to look at it the same time: Honestly, all LCDs are a tiny bit blocky, and movement does blur a little: you might want to double check the information on Plasma, to confirm which one is right for you, both Plasma and LCD have flaws, so it is up to you to personally decide.

On Which? sony has 65% rating.

My parents kept going on about how beautiful the image was. The sound, it was clear and detailed, and a big sound for a little telly.

The blacks are back.
The whites are brilliant white.

Infact, my parents old JVC... we compared the TVs. Theirs is one of the chunkies, not flat screen - their whites looked PINK next to the Sony.

It is such a smart television. The controls are easy to use.

One PROBLEM I had was that I couldn't get the Sony to pick up the HDMI connection. The KDL-20S3000's HDMI AV socket is AV 4.

I spoke to Sony LCD line, and I spoke to Sony PS3. They both suggested it was the PS3. I was advised to have the PS3 on standby, with the scart and HDMI connected, put my finger on the button - on the second beep, take my hand off. Sure enough PS3 suggested going onto HDMI > set up was super easy from there on.

WARNING: when it comes to connecting the PC monitor connection, don't get confused. It does NOT support HD PC Monitor cabling. I wished I could remember from the top of my head which one it is called. You also need the sound connection - None of the PC connections are included.

The Sony also has an attachment on the back where you can tidy all of the cables. It unclips open, so you don't have to mess around unpluging things if you already have set it up, just unclip, stuff the cabling in the gap, and it's done.

It's wall mountable.

One SUGGESTION for Sony is that they should make the TV adjustable at the bottom, so you can tilt it. As a PC Monitor, this does not match user requirements for ensuring correct posture when using a computer monitor (top of TV should be level with your eyes).

22/07/08 UPDATE: The monitor DOES tilt, but was admittedly a little stiff. As you can imagine, new £290 TV, I was scared to try to tilt it if it wasn't meant to. I am pleased though that it does.

Freeview is nice and clear, and the functions are brilliant. I.e. there is even an option to freeze the image, the instruction manual suggests this for if you wanted to take a telephone number or website address.

It's like they thought of everything you might need.

It is so easy to use, and in all new devices, you just need to play with the options to get it how you want.

Sony for me is the King of LCDs.

Hope my review was helpful.

Katie.

22/07/08 ADDITIONAL:
There are two sets of sound connections on the back, 1 HDMI connection, 1 PC connection (sound and visual), 2 Scarts, 1 RGB?, 1 Standard (Yellow, Red and White). Where these connections are on the TV, you will notice little numbers telling you which connections are on which AV channel.

The TV channels for external devices are 5 AV Channels, AV4 is the HDMI, and your PC will show up on the PC channel (6 device channels in total) - you can see the list by holding down the 'device list' button on the remote, and use this to select your option. 

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