Sony KDL-V32A12 'What Hi-Fi' only 3/5 (60%).

vallii

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Just read the review of the KDL-V32A12 in 'What Hi-Fi-' magazine (i think) it got 3 stars out of 5 thats 60%.

The Loewe Concept L32, Panny LXD500 and the Tosh WL56 got 5 out of 5 (100%).

Overall the Loewe won.

Which means the other mags (all related) will give similar/close reviews (+/-10%).

I hope I was the first to put this on.
 
Does it go on to say why? (saves me buying the mag!)

and is the Toshiba the Toshiba 32WL56 that you can get for £880 when the rest are coming up to double that? - OOOOOhhhhhh even more of a headache choosing now!!!
 
prycop said:
Does it go on to say why? (saves me buying the mag!)

Picture was not a match for the Loewe or Panny let say 75% compared to 100% for the Loewe, Panny and Tosh, they loved the styling of the Sony though. I think sound on the Sony was it's biggest let down.

Freeview from the Panny was the best even with a weak signal.

Please pop in to WH Smiths and make up your own mind.

Yes it the 32WL56 model.
 
That confirms what my local Sony/Loewe/Pioneer/LG dealer told me...

He saw them in the flesh, and wasn't convinced at all. Said he won't take them in stock, nor put them in display...

They just aren't worth their money.
 
daxie said:
That confirms what my local Sony/Loewe/Pioneer/LG dealer told me...

He saw them in the flesh, and wasn't convinced at all. Said he won't take them in stock, nor put them in display...

They just aren't worth their money.



not the first time that can be said of a Sony product.....
i'm very happy with my £810 32WL56
 
I`ve stopped going by magazine reviews along time ago and those scores seem of to me. The tosh should never get a 5 seeing that they missed of the most basic of inputs for a lcd screen, component. even though I haven`t fully demoed the panny I saw It running freeview and didn`t really look any better to my eye than the sony and doesn`t match the sonys response time either. And alot of us will be using these with hi-def in mind and can asure anyone, you aint gonna be seeing a better hi-def pic than what the sony produces any time soon.
 
My girlfriends dad just bought the Sony set even after reading the review, he watched it side by side with the Panny with DVD/Freeview he said the picture was better on the Sony after adjusting the colour etc. I have seen the set and the picture seems pretty good (dare I say my Panny PD30 CRT is still not being shown up on picture quality though) but I did noticed the very slight judder that was mentioned in the What Hi-Fi review. (This is reduced quite a bit by turning off the Sonys noise reduction)

Plugged the laptop in and hi-def is stunning on it though, I have never seen Hi-Def on a LCD set ony a projector or my PC but it still surprised me how good it was,there is zero juddering either on the D-sub input.
 
is that the november issue with the LCD shootout? or is that another mag?

Bit disappointing shootout with only 4 screens. and odd to review the W56 with the 58 just around the corner (which does have component and 2 HDMI and should be at least as good as the 56)
 
Random Hajile said:
I`ve stopped going by magazine reviews along time ago and those scores seem of to me. The tosh should never get a 5 seeing that they missed of the most basic of inputs for a lcd screen, component. even though I haven`t fully demoed the panny I saw It running freeview and didn`t really look any better to my eye than the sony and doesn`t match the sonys response time either. And alot of us will be using these with hi-def in mind and can asure anyone, you aint gonna be seeing a better hi-def pic than what the sony produces any time soon.

Overall Panasonics PQ on all inputs including freeview are better than the Sony. Having tested both side by side with various inputs the Sony looks amazing when showing a daylight scene but for dark scenes you have to drop the brightness settings down so low to cover bad reproduction of things in shadow that you miss a good part of the picture. Adjusting backlight settings do not cut it I'm afraid. That said it is all about balancing the good points and the bad points and go for a TV that suits you.

I do think though that the What Hi Fi review probably does illustrate that not everyone is happy with the product. It'll be interesting to see what the over magazines say. I for one will hold off making my decision until i see some reviews in print. Forums are all very well and good but just reading this thread you'll see a pretty even 50 50 split of opinions.
 
I just got the Sony V32, I'm quite pleased with the Freeview PQ. Not pleased about the Fans, the cloth over the speaker and the fact that the S32 is probably just as good for alot less.

I don't pay any attention at all to magazine reviews. They review old sets and often one magazine loves one set, the other hates it. I'd much rather take opinions on this forum.
 
As most people here know, I'm very very skeptical of magazine reviews, but they can't have given it that low a rating without a good reason. I'll have to read this and find out more.
 
From a copy of What Hi FI Sound and Vision I picked up at lunch they reviewed 8 32" HDTV LCDs and found the Loewe Concept L32 to be the best closely followed by the Panasonic.

They found the Sony to lack detail in dark scenes, thought the sound was too low and the picture showed too much judder even on HDMI. So that confirms my thoughts on the set after my tests alongside a Panasonic.

Having read the review the Sony got the lowest score considering the above problems and the cost.

The Hitachi had a similiar score purely because it does not compare well with the latest LCDs. An LG had poor PQ and was larger than the rest so also received a low score.
 
benlonguk said:
Overall Panasonics PQ on all inputs including freeview are better than the Sony. Having tested both side by side with various inputs the Sony looks amazing when showing a daylight scene but for dark scenes you have to drop the brightness settings down so low to cover bad reproduction of things in shadow that you miss a good part of the picture. Adjusting backlight settings do not cut it I'm afraid. That said it is all about balancing the good points and the bad points and go for a TV that suits you.

That's why i returned my v32 to k.k electronics on monday. programs like lost and horror/sci-fi movies were totally ruined during the dark scenes.:( i even went and purchased an oppo upscaling dvd player for £170 and the PQ was rubbish on the v32, the picture looked very snowy? and had macro-blocking all over the place.:suicide:

Before i even saw this post i changed my order for the lxd500. That's coming friday now, so fingers crossed i'll be a happy bunny in a few days time.:smashin:
 
Although I agree with much of What Hi-Fi has to say about various products, I lost my faith in magazine reviews as a result of one of their recommendations. (Though of course there's the usual 'personal taste' disclaimer.) For a long time What Hi-fi said that the Denon micro system was the best buy, but when I heard it the sound had a rather artificial edge compared to the Yamaha equivalent which at the time of purchase sounded better (to my ears anyway) so I bought that instead. Now WHF say that the latest Denon isn't as good as the old model but to my ears it sounds better than the old one! :confused:

The Sony 26" S-series is still at the top of my list based on price/performance and features based on the comparisons I have made so far. Maybe the Sony S-series could potentially be better than the V-series because of less picture processing as a default? (This would require further comparison tests.)
 
Yes I agree, I never take what they say as gospel. I generally see which ones they are recommending and then go and see the 'top 5' and choose my own winner ;)

No offence to the writers or reviewers but I don't really care who they think is the best, I'm going to live with the product so what I think is the best matter heaps more...
 
Agreed If your interested In a TV, go demo It and make your own mind up. I looked at the sony a month back with a freeview signal and didn`t think It was any better than my Samsung at the time. But after hearing about the response time and xanderforce impressions of the set I decided to go demo one with my own equipment and came away very impressed and have just ordered one today. As for the juddering I didn`t notice any while viewing the S series in 480p and 720p, perhaps it`s something to do with the DNR turned on (which I had off during the demo) or perhaps a slight issue with the wega engine?
 
I had a Panasonic on order, then cancelled when I heard about the Sony.

I've seen them side by side on freeview, DVD and HDMI, more often than not the Panasonic was the better. Was just waiting for the reviews. Although I much prefer the looks of the Sony I'm leaning more and more towards the Panasonic.
 
For anybody unsure i would take the What HiFi review with an extremely large pinch of salt. :nono:

I bought the Sony KDL-V32A12 on Sunday & at this present time, while i sort the room out have my Panasonic TX32PD30 running along side the Sony, both are hooked to my Sky+ box, the Panasonic via RGB scart (£50 Ixos lead) & the Sony LCD by a £8 Maplin S-video lead.

After watching various different programmes including the Monday night football on Sky, i can confirm the Sony produces a clearer & sharper picture, any motion artefacts which are few & far between are also on the Panasonic CRT, which means this is down to the broadcaster & not the set.

One word to describe DVD's played on my Pioneer 868 at 720p - stunning, (this is with a 2M HDMI lead from Maplin costing £20)

Cannot comment on freeview, as it does not interest me in the slightest.

Overall extremely happy, compared the the Panasonic LXD500 & the Sony in John Lewis, in my opinion they both produced a very good picture, nearly bought the Panasonic LXD500, but got messed about by Currys online.
 
xrkt77 said:
For anybody unsure i would take the What HiFi review with an extremely large pinch of salt. :nono:

I bought the Sony KDL-V32A12 on Sunday & at this present time, while i sort the room out have my Panasonic TX32PD30 running along side the Sony, both are hooked to my Sky+ box, the Panasonic via RGB scart (£50 Ixos lead) & the Sony LCD by a £8 Maplin S-video lead.

After watching various different programmes including the Monday night football on Sky, i can confirm the Sony produces a clearer & sharper picture, any motion artefacts which are few & far between are also on the Panasonic CRT, which means this is down to the broadcaster & not the set.

One word to describe DVD's played on my Pioneer 868 at 720p - stunning, (this is with a 2M HDMI lead from Maplin costing £20)

Cannot comment on freeview, as it does not interest me in the slightest.

Overall extremely happy, compared the the Panasonic LXD500 & the Sony in John Lewis, in my opinion they both produced a very good picture, nearly bought the Panasonic LXD500, but got messed about by Currys online.

Sorry but what are you trying to say? You compared the Sony with a different Panasonic to the LXD500 in your lounge watching football and you say the actuall Panasonic in question was better in John Lewis as you nearly bought it but didn't because a retailer mucked you about. So you got the Sony.
 
It is a difficult one this subject.

On one hand you have the magazines that are supposedly influenced by the advertising in their magazines, so some would have you believe.

On the other hand you have the word of a total stranger that has normally just spent a nice lump sum on a shiny new tv so is generally going to defend their purchase to the hilt.

The only solution is to weigh up a number of opinions and try extremely hard for a home test.
 
When in John Lewis i compared the picture quality of the Sony KDL-V32A2 against the Panasonic 32LXD500, which were side by side after half an hour of playing around with both pictures i came to the conclusion that both produced a very good picture.

Hence as in my opinion there was no discernable difference in picture quality, i ordered the Panasonic 32LXD500 as i thought i could get it from Currys online from £1227 delivered, unfortunately despite my order going through it got subsequently cancelled due to no stock

I then bought the Sony as i got a 3 year warranty with 2 years interest free credit

When comparing the Sony LCD against my Panasonic TX32PD30 CRT, the point i am trying to make is that the CRT PD30 produces an excellent picture, but in a side by side comparison the Sony LCD wins hands down & that any picture artefacts are not the fault of the Sony.
 
Raze said:
No offence to the writers or reviewers but I don't really care who they think is the best, I'm going to live with the product so what I think is the best matter heaps more...

I couldn't agree more. Whatever I am going to buy I make up my own mind.
 
just read those reviews too. The JVC got a really good write up, then got slagged off for being expensive! Even though it can be had for around the same prices as the others. Whats the point of marking quality Vs price, especially when using the sticker price? For a shootout, give me an absolute measure of quality against the other products, and let me figure out whether a price differential is acceptable.

A potentially useful but ultimately pointless comparison of current sets IMO.
 

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