SONY | SONY STYLE.COM

Excellent 52" HDTV for Home Entertainment

Pros: 52" screen. Stylish and simple design. Internet Connectivity. Widgets. Rich colors. Bravia Engine 3.

Cons: Playstation3 style TV menu slow only at power on. Program loading for Internet Videos and Yahoo Widgets a bit slow.

The KDL-52W5100 is all you will need when it comes to a 52" LCD HDTV. I have this TV paired with the SONY DAV-HDX589W, Bravia Theater System, and PS3. Blu-Ray media looks stunning. Rich colors with deep blacks and bright whites blow the lower end S and V models out of the way. The built in speakers are good. It is best to attach a surround sound system to the TV, you will enjoy it all the much more. If you don?t have one, they still do a good job. I really like how SONY made the speakers invisible. The design of the TV looks much more beautiful without the speakers built around the borders. The borders and screen are glossy, but I there is not much glare to the screen. The back of the HDTV comes with a cable organizer which helps the mess that is usually comes with a home theater setup. Regular cable TV looks as expected, a bit fuzzy and grainy sometimes, but watchable. However, this TV is able to scan for digital channels so you can enjoy basic broadcast channels that offer HD versions. For example, Fox has a HD channel available to those with a digital cable box, but I pick this up without the digital box. So I have channel X as regular FOX broadcast, and X.1 as the HD version. The TV menu comes in a Playstation3 design. It takes a bit to load when you first power on your TV, so I give it a bit a time, otherwise the menus will lag. The menus are great for a TV. I have to give it to Sony for making even something such as a menu, which is usually dull and uninviting; into a welcoming center for much easier navigation with a pleasant stylish touch to it. You all remember your dull menu?s on your Tube TV right? I could never figure them out and they looked horrid. The HDTV comes with an Ethernet port for online connectivity. This allows you to watch online channels such as YouTube without a computer. Also in the TV is TV Guide. This is an incredibly useful feature for a TV user such as me. I have basic cable but no digital cable box. TV Guide does what the digital cable box would have done. However, I find that I like it much more than the digital box. I was thinking I would have upgrade my subscription package with Time Warner and get the digital box to make the best out of my HDTV, but the TV does it all for me! Granted I don?t have HBO, Showtime, etc., and a DVR, but I have basic HD channels and TV Guide to tell me what?s playing. Now I don?t have to spend more money to enjoy my HDTV! The inclusion of Yahoo Widgets is also a great feature. I use it to check the weather in the morning especially if I missed it on the news. The speed of the software is a bit slow when it comes to the Widgets and Online videos. The hardware could use an upgrade to have the loading speeds much faster, but I would assume that will only increase the price of the TV as well. HDTV?s these days are offering more and more functions. Whether you feel it is important to you to advance your TV watching experience is subjective. I find the inclusion of the widgets and internet a step in the right direction for Home Theater entertainment as well as a breath of fresh air. When you look at the specifications, the W model states a 100,000:1 contrast ratio. Although there is no standard for these specifications, you will see the numbers have merit to them. Compared to the S and V models of the lineup, you will notice the improved contrast. I noticed that the blacks in the S and V have a grayish color to them, and more of a grainy look to the picture. The V model contrast ratio has 50,000:1, but you can't beat twice the contrast ratio with a W at 100:000:1. The S and V model also only use the Bravia Engine 2. When you compare the W to the higher tiered models such as the Z and XBR, specifications don't change much. The W, Z, and XBR use the Bravia Engine 3. On Screen Display is the same throughout with 3D XMB. Contrast ratios are 100,000:1. One difference is that the W model uses an 8-bit panel while the Z and XBR use a 10-bit. However, in the end I found myself unable to tell the difference between the 2. I am not a professional in this area. Also the Z and XBR have 240hz Motionflow when the W only has 120hz. The only other stated differences of the 3 are with the XBR model. The XBR model comes with a WCG-CCFL backlight and the inclusion of Live Color Creation technology. All other features are identical. Use Sony?s comparison feature on the website to see for yourself. However, printed specs on paper are never the best reason to getting the TV you like but they do serve as a great guide. I personally was looking for a contender with the high end models of LCD HDTV's such as the XBR and 8000 series from Samsung, and I found the W to be within my budget as well as my favorite. I wasn't able to see a W in person since Best Buy didn?t carry it in store, but they did have the Z model and the specifications are identical, minus the 10-bit panel. Put next to an S and V model, there was no way I would go with the lower end. The picture quality improvement is there, the price is right, and it is comparable to the top 2 models. The W deserves to be the model right in the middle of the lineup. It offers a noticeable upgrade from its younger sibling the V, and a major improvement from its baby brother the S model. It also lets you sit at the table with the big brothers the Z and XBR models. I?d like to think of the Z model as the W?s twin brother, where the Z was born a seconds before the W. They share a lot of the same features, but they will never be the same person. (8-bit panel for the W and 10-bit panel for the Z). But a W will never be an XBR, which is the brother in charge. The XBR has some better genes. The KDL-52W5100 is the brand spanking newest W model offered by SONY. If you are looking for a mid level TV from SONY, the W model is the answer.