Wal-Mart: Sony 46" Bravia + PS3 $958 12/12-18 + Currently online

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freshzen

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"secret Saturday deal"

Confirmed KDL-46VE5

Saw this on SD, its real similar to the Best Buy ad from this week.

Still some speculation about the model of TV, since Wal-Mart only carries the S series but people are reporting it will be the KDL-46VE5 included in the bundle. If its the S series I'd say its an OK deal but with the VE5 its a great deal. Some people are also reporting this bundle being already out on the floor but I called 5 stores today and they all said it wouldn't be out until Saturday. I'll edit the post if I get better confirmation on which model of TV.

12/14 edit: The deal is actually online now
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/prod...uct_id=13045657&sourceid=40510785400285976367
 
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[quote name='freshzen']Sounds like this is almost definitely the KDL-46VE5.

Here is a review on CNET
http://reviews.cnet.com/flat-panel-tvs/sony-kdl-46ve5/4505-6482_7-33485076.html?tag=txt;page

Main cons for me is picture quality (definitely good but not the best) and design (gray sound bar at the bottom + 1 HDMI input rear but 3 side HDMI inputs??lol?). Seriously why would anyone want 3 HDMI ports on the side instread of 2/2 or 3/1.[/QUOTE]

Easier to switch from the side over the back for some.
 
I was looking at the 40" model at Best Buy today but couldn't really get a feel for the picture quality. Mainly because their loop was just a lame ad showing the eco friendly features which is the main selling point of the TV I guess.

Someone on SD posted a link to HDMI connectors that would more or less work to solve the problem on the side HDMI, but I'm still not sure I'd be happy with the picture quality. It is technically an amazing deal getting a $1200+ TV with a PS3 for $958 but I think the TV is over priced to begin with. CNET says it has minor problems with color accuracy and a bigger problem with uniformity--which basically means a corner of the screen may appear slightly more bright than a different corner or the center...which can be kind of blatant with blacks.
 
I guess the sale is through the 18th, or til sold out? Sell out will probably happen first.

I was actually able to get Wal-Mart to price match the Best Buy ad from last week to I got $7.xx off with Uncharted 2 and Pelham 123.
 
The Wal-Mart in Dale City, VA (Potomac Mills) just discovered this morning that they never opened their sealed pallet. There were six on the pallet, I passed only because of the extreme distance from me.

(discovered by fellow CAG'er Multicron)
 
This is the VE5. Best Buy is reported to be Price Matching this deal as well and not only that but tossing in the game/movie as well (and VE5 instead of V5100), but as always with a price match: YMMV.

The VE5 is essentially the same models as the V5100 Series except they are more "Eco Friendly" and this TV has no widgets or streaming. (Cinephiles: It has an 8-bit panel vs 10-bit in comparison to W/Z models; It has the Bravia 2 Engine and not the new Bravia 3 as found in W/Z models; HCFL instead of CCFL ) The best part about the whole "Eco Friendly" thing is that the TV turns itself off after it senses no motion in the room, that's pretty sick. I only worry that down the road it malfunctions and I'm dealing with a haunted TV.

The VE5 retails for more than the V5100, but a little less than the W5100.

It's important to note, not many reviewers have reviewed this TV yet, but many say it's very close in relation to the V5100 models.

Tom's Hardware Review
CNet Review

According to CNet:
Overall Performance:
The picture quality of Sony's KDL-46VE5 is solid for a standard LCD, with relatively deep black levels, accurate color, and good video processing. On the other hand we'd like to see better saturation, more neutral colors in dark areas, and an improvement in uniformity.

Black level: The KDL-VE5 delivered a deep shade of black for a standard LCD, equaling that of the XBR9 and surpassing the other LCDs, with the exception of the Samsung B750.

Uniformity: The VE5 exhibited worse overall uniformity any of the other LCDs. The sides appeared brighter than the rest of the screen, but the worst offender was brighter area in the upper-left corner, which became clearly visible dark scenes and the letterbox bars.

PC: Like the V5100, the VE5 couldn't resolve every detail of 1,920x1,080 sources via both HDMI and VGA, failing to deliver the full vertical resolution according to DisplayMate. PC sources still looked relatively crisp nonetheless, but not as good as on the XBR9, for example.
Click to expand...
Of course, I can't in good conscincous say all good about the VE5... The reason I didn't pull the trigger, aside from bank account, is that the V series has a issue referred to as 'red flashing'. You can see what I'm talking about here on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQVsQ_xAKlo&fmt=22I havn't seen anyone with VE5 report the same thing, but they use the same processing engine so... *shrug*


If you pull the trigger on this TV, make sure to turn vivid off and here are some suggested settings I found, pretty sure from cnet.
Settings:
Picture Mode: Cinema
Backlight: 4
Picture: 80
Brightness: 53
Color: 40
Hue: 0
Color Temperature: Warm
Sharpness: Min
Noise Reduction: Off
Adv. Contrast Enhancer: Off
Gamma: Low
Clear White: Off
Live Color: Off

-- Advanced Settings menu
CineMotion: Auto 1
Game Mode: Off
Motionflow: Off

-- White Balance menu
R-Gain: Max
G-Gain: -4
B-Gain: -2
R-Bias: 1
G-Bias: 0
B-Bias: 2

--Setup menu, Eco submenu
Backlight: On
Light Sensor: Off
 
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