Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Let me start with this--If you're looking for the best possible high-end TV panel on the market, this TV probably isn't for you. If you're looking for a TV with a lot of features that can most likely only get better with time, I would whole-heartedly recommend this panel. Rather than write a long, drawn out review--I will mainly respond to the main criticisms about this panel as well as raise some of my own. -Many complain about the 60hz refresh rate. I'm of the camp of thought that feels that TV refresh rates are mostly a marketing ploy. You can feel free to argue with me if you wish, but I don't have any qualms at all about the 60hz refresh rate for either TV watching OR gaming. I own a PS3 and motion is fluid AND natural--I personally feel that 120hz sets look 'fake'--also, many sets with higher refresh rates typically have higher input lag for gaming and that is another reason I would rather not buy a fast 120hz TV. -I've read complaints about edge-lit LED bleed through on this set. It is there. But I've only noticed it while the screen was black when my Blu-rays were booting up. Other than that, I haven't noticed the issue--and I've made a conscious effort to look hard for it during normal TV/movie/gaming. -Web browsing. I thoroughly enjoy the browsing experience. Granted, I've only been connected through wired ethernet (haven't bothered with wi-fi and I've read people having issues via wi-fi, but the web experience is pretty snappy considering it is running an Intel Atom chip. Flash intensive sites (ones with lots of flash-based advertisements) and games like bejeweled can chug along at times (especially during scrolling), but playback of flash-based videos works great--no stutter or slow downs I've noticed. I do wish that switching between dual view and TV only view was more seamless (it currently takes 1 or 2 seconds to switch between the two, but this is a very minor complaint in my opinion. -Included 'apps'. Currently, most of what comes on the TV is filler. Most of the 'apps' are glorified web-links that show nothing more than video clips. It doesn't bother me too much only because the official Android Market isn't available yet--so I'll make final judgments once real apps are available to put on the TV. But the core apps are there (pandora, netflix, etc) and they all work very well. A big complaint is the Rovi TV guide. If you live in an area where your cable provider doesn't support Rovi pulling your program information, then you're out of luck to use the included TV guide app. And after reading on the Google TV forum, there seem to be quite a few people living out of Rovi guide-capable areas--myself included. -People have complained about the set-up and boot times for the TV. My initial set-up took about a hour to complete. The initial software update took about 15 minutes to complete (download and install) and then the rest of the time was me trying to figure out how to get my A/V receiver working with the TV. And part of the delay was Sony being 'green' and not giving me a printed manual--a minor headache, but not a huge deal. I've rebooted the TV several times so far (not due to crashes) because I was playing with the browser user-agent settings (more on that later) and it took about 20 seconds to reboot. I keep the TV set to 'quick-boot' (essentially a hibernate option) mode, because I've heard a cold-start reboot can take up to 40 seconds (according to others)--I've only done a few reboots, and they took about 20 seconds, so I'm not sure if a 40 second boot start is accurate or not. Either way, I've chosen the quick boot option and the TV is on instantly. With regards to set-up, I'd say the TV isn't very hard to get connected and up and running at all. I guess the biggest time-sink during set-up was looking up the manual online. -Remote. Remote is great. Keyboard is great and clicky. I find it very intuitive. I have noticed on two occasions the TV getting bogged down with input requests from the remote and it'll slow down for about 10 seconds (like the volume won't instantly go up or down, but take a second or two to adjust). I'm sure this is a bug that needs fixing. I wouldn't worry too much about this because while the remote control lags, the TV or whatever you are watching is not impacted at all--in other words, just because remote is acting slow, doesn't mean the video stutters--the video and audio continue to play back flawlessly. Also keep in mind the android remote app is available. I have a Droid and the remote app works well. The remote app needs polish--ie droid phone keyboard isn't 100% functional with the TV (about 90%). But using the Droid's screen as a mouse is much better than using the optical joystick on the sony remote. Btw, the optical joystick isn't perfect, but it is very usable. One last comment--I think the Sony remote is great, but it won't replace a person's Logitech Harmony remote--so keep that in mind if you plan on selling your Harmony 1100. -Panel quality. This TV is a mid-range set with a little price premium for the Intel chip and Android OS built on it. That being said, I feel for a mid-range TV it performs quite well. Sure it isn't a high-end Bravia, but anyone expecting this should've realized those sets cost much, much more. When viewing a blu-ray on my PS3, colors and picture quality were excellent after my own calibration. Obviously blacks aren't plasma/CRT quality, but I feel the black levels are good for this type of TV. I do have some very slight green-tinge when watching TV coming in via cable/QAM tuner--but I am convinced after successfully calibrating video for the blu-ray playback that this is a cable sourced content issue only, not a TV issue itself. Also it is worth mentioning that the screen is glossy. I haven't has problems so far with glare, but it may be related to the fact that my TV is not wall mounted. I have my TV on the stand sitting on a TV table about 2.5' off the ground--and maybe a 5 degree tilt backwards (a tilt I find very favorable because the TV stand sits slightly lower than my sofa). Viewing angles are not a problem in my opinion. -Speaker quality and audio considerations. Speakers are terrible, just terrible. But apparently, this is a common problem with low-profile panels these days. Speakers fire behind the TV, which sounds weak and lousy. So, definitely invest in a AV receiver and decent speakers. Otherwise, you'll quickly find these speakers aren't very good. Again, I have independent audio set up for my living room, so the speaker issue doesn't bother me at all. If you don't have a AV receiver, and are in the market for one--do yourself a huge favor and make sure the HDMI ports are at least 1.3a (that supports control via HDMI). HDMI versions below 1.3a do not support HDMI control--and I bring this up because my receiver has 1.2 HDMI ports, therefore I have to use IR blasters if I want to control my AV receiver with my remote. The IR blasters work without a problem, but it is just another set of wires to have hooked up. Receivers with older HDMI ports will work with the TV--it is just a nice feature to minimize the amount of wires needed to have things hooked up properly. Another issue I haven't quite worked out (not sure if it is a bug or I have something hooked up improperly), but if my PS3 is powered on, even if I have the source selected to my cable TV source, audio via HDMI will block out audio via other sources. Again, this could be user error on my part, but I never had this annoyance with my old Wega. Final thoughts: I knew a lot of the complaints/limitations of this television prior to purchasing it--not to mention the absurd negative misinformation surrounding this TV, so I was well prepared for the draw-backs. But I do feel it deserves a 4 star rating because it is a great and solid television. It may be true that the software should have the infamous Google 'beta' label put on it and could use some polish, but for the nerd in me these are minor nuisances. If you are looking for a highly flexible TV, then look no further. If you demand video perfection of a Pioneer Kuro, then I'd look elsewhere. I hope that I've addressed many of the questions and myths I was asking myself prior to purchasing the TV. Keep in mind when reading user reviews to gauge IF the reviewer actually owns and has used the TV--many of the reviewers on the Sony Style site sound as if they are writing a review based on a spec sheet and not the TV itself, which has to be frustrating for buyers like myself looking for real-world reviews.