Sony KDL-46XBR8 46" LCD HDTV 46-inch 120Hz 1080p LCD HD Television

I brought this tv on Amazon used. It hasn't been out very long and LED have a long life span so I decided to give a shot plus you will never see this tv for under 1800 new. Another note, a guy returned it claiming it was scatched on the side. I can live with that. I got my tv and it looked scatched. after removing the plastic it wa in perfect condition. Hooked it up and the picture is truly beyond belieft on this tv. The only picture complaint I could have with SD. Once I hooked it to blu ray the picture took a whole new life that I didn't realize I was missing from my old hd sony that I moved to the bedroom. I have found myself changing the settings every night looking the best picture but no setting is wrong.... maybe vivd. After Having about a month to really play around my biggest problem is too many picture options and a book that doesn't explain everything in detail like how to know that your using the 24p mode

I have yet to find fault with this great LED tech HDTV .
The picture is fantastic , the on-screen menu controls are well designed and intuitive , the built in sound is as good as could be expected ( and is vernier controllable at very low levels - great at night when others are sleeping ) . The 120 Hz refresh rate is good enough for my needs .
I am surprised that Sony has not followed up with more offerings of this technology . I am pleased that I bought when I did .

Eight speakers, P&P, LED, 4 HDMI connects, 18mo. warranty and it's a Sony the one and only, need I say more. Combined with my Denon AVR 2807 & 2500BTCI BD player, the Blu-Ray and DVD HD images and HD sound are spectacular. I purchased the Sony Bravia KDL-46XBR8 LED TV from a Sony retail style store. The manager was agreeable to price match with the "Home Theatre Store" at a wopping $1400 discount to $2299 from $3699, economic times have indeed changed. Prepare to have your eyeballs massaged, it will not disappoint.

Believe the hype. After much research (and saving) I finally chose the Pioneer 50" Plasma - just before they announced they were getting out of the TV business, so I started from square one and I don't think I could be any happier

The Sony's picture is brilliant, the sound decent for a TV set and I like the "floating" speakers on the side. I have a wall above the fireplace that is wider than it is tall and it fits (visually) well. It works flawlessly with my Onkyo 7.1 system and up-sampling DVD (haven't made the BluRay leap yet) player.

For as many features as it has, it was easy to set up and to navigate the menus for selecting inputs, etc.

Did I mention the picture? Out of the box, it was close but after tweaking it with the Sound and Vision DVD, it is nothing short of amazing. I find myself watching ESPN's Sportscenter - not listening, just watching!

Even the side-viewing angle is much better than I expected - the only negative would be the screen reflection. LCD is supposed to be better than Plasma, but you can still light sources in line with the screen (floor lamp, ceiling fan light, etc). No big deal, just takes some adjusting.

If ultimate picture quality is worth it to you, this set has to be on your short list. If you read the reviews here at Amazon, you'll notice all the relevant comments are five-star. Couldn't agree more - and not just because I am trying to justify my purchase :-)

Although the list price for this HDTV would be out of my budget, I purchased this amazing flat screen from Amazon for a little over $2,300. In my local electronics store, the Sony was my 2nd favorite (after the Kuro). The Samsung LEDs were close behind. What makes this unit ideal for me is the fact that is still has pretty decent built-in speakers. I personally hate having a sound system hooked up to my TV. I like to be able to turn on my TV and go. I made the salesman at my local store demonstrate the built-in sound to make sure it would be sufficient for my needs. (I was really planning on buying it there but they raised the price overnight and then I found Amazon's amazing price which saved me over $600!) Since we were originally thinking we were going to have to buy both a new TV (to replace our dying projection HDTV) and a home theater sound system (since none of the new flat screens seemed to have speakers at all anymore), we were able to apply that budget to this superior TV instead, which arguably has one of the best pictures available.

Now that it is installed at home, I am absolutely thrilled! I am more than happy with the built-in sound. I admit that those who are used to having booming surround sound audio would probably be disappointed, but the sound set at medium levels is very nice for day to day viewing. If you turn it up for serious BluRay DVD viewing, it is pretty impressive as well. The picture is truly stunning!

I must give kudos to Amazon for their customer service as well. The first unit we were shipped turned out to have a cracked interior screen. The box was undamaged and everything seemed fine until we powered it up. There were massive cracks going across the screen (actually a picture of cracks since the exterior was fine, just the interior screen of some kind was broken - it was obvious it had been dropped at some point.) I called Amazon immediately and they took care of it quickly and courteously and now we have our beautiful new TV. Yes, I would have rather had a perfect unit the first time out, but the money we saved over purchasing from our local superstore was more than worth it.

I bought this as a replacement for a Sony 46XBR4 that I had for a little over a year before it was irrepairably damaged during a breakin. This was the TV that I wanted but couldn't afford at the time I bought my XBR4. I can't say enough great things about this TV. The picture is incredible. I can see a huge difference with the Tri-Luminous back lighting on this TV vs. the regular backlighting on the XBR4. The blacks are deeper and richer. The contrast is stunning. I have seen some plasma TVs and I think this TV performs as well as better than many of them. I also looked at some of the Samsung TVs on the market when I went to replace my XBR4. I was very attracted to the slim profile and decreased weight, but the deal-breaker for me were the glossy screens. All of their high-end LED backlit TVs had glossy screens. My living room gets a lot of ambient light and I could not afford to put a TV in there with a glossy screen. The XBR8 is perfect. There is little to no reflection off the screen, which allows me to see a clearer more accurate picture. My only complaint with the XBR8 is that the Motionflow technology occasionally introduces artifacts. I keep it turned off to avoid any artifacts, and to be honest, I really don't see a big difference between when it is on or off. Navigation through the menus are easy. I appreciate the USB port on the side. It's great having friends over and being able to show vacation pictures like a slide show on the TV. Blu-Ray movies look incredible on this TV and the sound is pretty good too. I have read some places where people complained that the speakers on the side looked like "elephant ears". Personally, I think it looks classy. My advice to you is if you have the resources, especially now that the price has come down, buy this TV, you won't be disappointed.

I have been waiting 3 years to buy a new lcd tv and money was not an option, i was looking for the best picture available on a 46in. screen. I narrowed it down to the Sony XBR8 and the Samsung LED 8500. I viewed both hdtv's many times side by side and finally came to the decision to go with the Sony XBR8. This tv is even beter than the XBR10 from sony which just came out this year. The XBR8 is the only lcd that has the red, green and blue LED BACKLIGHT. Not even the new xbr10 has this, it has the clear led's. I think this helps with the brightness of colors and really dark blacks. As far as the reason not to go with the Samsung 8500 LED was that the XBR8 had slightly darker blacks and also had a crisper picture to it. I'm happy with my Sony and the price was not bad, $2300.00 is what i got it for and upon its original release the tv was going for $5000.00. I'll take it!

Picture quality and color quality is fantastic. This is our first LCD flat screen TV. We had a 28 inch CRT for 20+ years... We are still blown away with the colors. We initially planned on a 40-42 inch, now that we have the 46 we are not disappointed, ..50?55?..hmmm No more room actually on our new TV console.

Sound quality leaves a bit to be desired. The speakers are just to small to have any quality sound. We have a stereo system that we may have to incorporate with the TV watching.

The one feature I was initially disappointed with was the lack of USB port recognition with a flash drive. Sony claims not all USB devices will work and recommends the SONY Micro Vault Flash drive to be compatible. Well after doing some web searching I did find some helpful info on the Sony eSupport page. After learning the USB device must be FAT32 formatted I now can upload photographs (.jpg files) from even the least expensive flash drive. I just re-formatted a SanDisk 250MB flashdrive and then a "micro center" 2GB flash drive I got for free!. After re-formatting to FAT32 the SONY recognizes the drive and I can now view my collection of digital photos. I must add that when viewing good quality .jpg's (2-3meg size) the SONY displays the pics as sharp as a tack!!..the shots look the best I've ever seen. The colors are so real looking you feel as though you could touch the object as in real life. Now I can pursue getting my 1000+ 35mm slides from Germany and England while in the service (40 years ago!) converted to .jpg files. What better way to show all the slides as compared to to old slide projector/screen method...so archaic!

I did learn as well at the eSupport Site there is a software update available for the set. I'll be contacting Sony soon to verify if our set needs the update as we just purchased the TV 2 weeks ago.

Tip: Get the Support Belt Kit, Part #X21866021, to secure it to your console. You don't want this massive set to inadvertently topple over. Would recommend this set...the Sony's all outperformed other LCD's we looked at as far as color quality. At least that was my wife's opinion..she has a better eye for color I have to admit. Enjoy, Jack

This TV is excellent. The picture quality is the best I have ever seen. The sound is excellent. If you buy this TV, you will not regret it. Also, OneCall is a prompt company. I ordered this TV on the 16 of Nov and I received it on the 18 of Nov. If you have the cash, buy this TV.

I purchased this TV to replace my 13 year old Sony 27 inch. I am not any Sony buff but the old TV has given me excellent service and I am more than happy with it. This is a fine TV and have been impressed by the technology as well as appearence and picture quality... I have checked out this TV at the Sony store a number of times.. however never had the inclination to pay the mark up price. Finally this TV was at a price point that I wanted to pay and I purchased it.

Everyhting works perfectly and has exceeded my expectation, in fact I feel that this is better technology value for you buck that the souped up LED TV's that sony is trying to make a extra margin on. Again its left to eye of the beholder.

I must say that I have been extreemly happy woth Onecall from whom I purchase this in the Amazon marketplace. The price of this was deep discounted for the black friday sale and I dropped one call a note and even though it was outside he 21 day price gurantee they officed me an acceptable discount. That is the mark of a very customer oriented company. I know that I am definitly looking to reward Onecall on my future electronc purchase which are quite a bit as I need to upgrate my entire home theater system and Onecall has my business.

My one line to anyone wating to pick up this TV.. grab it before it gone for good.

TV works great & picture is stunning, can not say the same for the sound through the original speakers, they really need improvement. Everything has worked just fine for me and the merchant I purchased from was great to do business with.

Called Sony on one ocassion for a minor problem and it was taken care of promptly.

this TV is more than a expected. Wonderful picture, great with action like sports, movies etc. Sound is good for a flat screen, could not be happier!

I bought this tv about 3 weeks ago from OneCall, which was an excellent seller and the delivery was fast, easy, and reliable. They definitely put the customer in customer service.
All i can say about this TV is WOW!!! Me and my wife are still in awe of the picture quality and sometimes watch a show or movie in HD just because the picture looks phenomenal. I was originally looking to buy the xbr9 vs samsung led because of the affordable price. Suprisingly my wife supported me to spend the extra 600 bucks since we plan on keeping the tv for many years to come. I felt guilty about spending 2 grand on a television until i set it up within minutes of receiving it and saw the picture. It's as if I'm watching the action outside my window. The color richness, especially the black level is awesome. I actually bought this TV blind as none of my local electronic stores had it in stock. They only had the Samsung LED, but after having a 26"samsung hdtv for the past 5 years i knew that a reflective screen on a 46" screen was going to drive me nuts. I based my purchase on the reviews on cnet and amazon.com. You will not regret this purchase. The picture quality compared to the samsung led is much more crisp, clean and vibrant. The bright lighting in my room no longer bothers me, thanks to the matte screen.
Many reviewers have slammed the quality of the speakers, but since i haven't owned a surround system and all my friends and family listen through the tv speakers, my ears are geared towards the stand alone tv speakers. The quality is the best by far compared to different models of Sharp and Sumsung lcd. I'm more than content with these speakers and will not need the bose 2.1 speaker system i was looking at, although it would be an upgrade, but definitely not a necessity like other televisions. Even standard television looks great on this set. I think i've fallen in love all over again. Spend the extra money because the technology with this picture quality is still more advanced than almost all the led sets out there and will satisfy you for years to come.

The Sony XBR8 is as good as everyone (inlcuding CNET) says it is. Excellent black level, accurate colors and numerous picture adjustments. Whether you use all of them is another story. I tinkered around with most of them but, typically use the Standard setting for most viewing. I also duplicated CNET's recommended settings for the Custom picture mode. This setting (along with Theater is good for Blu-Rays). Even the speakers are very good for an HDTV, although they do not preclude the need to purchase a dedicated surround sound system. I have my eye on a Sony receiver and an Energy 5.1 system but, after shelling out $2,000 for the TV, I'll have wait a bit longer. The cost of the set is probably the only drawback. Otherwise, it's an excellent television and I'm very happy with it.

Although this TV is the 2008 model (design). It is a better TV all the way around when comparing it to the 2009's and 10's.
The design of the side (end) speakers is great for stereo separation. The fact that it has triluminous LED backlight(s) is a plus all the way around as well.
Only one (largest one)of the "NEW' Sony TV's use the LED technology which is superior to the Fluorescent tubes in most LCD TV's.
You just can't beat the colors on this 2008 model

I love everything about my new TV! Not only is the backlit LED the best-of-the-best for LCDs, but Sony's Triluminos RGB LEDs are even better than the standard state-of-the-art LED backlighting!

Sure, it was expensive, and I probably could have been happy with a cheaper TV, but I have no regrets opting for the top-of-the-line Bravia.

The menus and on-screen graphics are top-notch - super user-friendly, especially if you have PS3 experience.

The number of inputs for composite, component, and HDMI cables is outstanding, especially compared to the Samsungs that we were also considering. I used one of those inputs to link to my computer's video card; WOW what a huge improvement over my old 32" Philips CRT!! HDMI is such an improvement over S-Video!!

I am very satisfied with the 46" size; people say you never regret going bigger, but the next-size-up XBR8 cost an extra $1k ... and that box probably wouldn't have fit in my car (the 46" did, with seats folded flat; we bought it locally, not on Amazon).

Having been using my old big box 27" Sony for 20 years, when it comes time to upgrade, I chose the same name brand. The 46XBR8 that I've got for over 5 weeks, shows off as an excellent TV. As it is rated in the Consumer Reports (Both March 2010 and December 2009) as the number one TV in the 46 inches class, I agree all that is true. The pictures are clear, images sharp and colors bright. It even works, with no sharpness reduction, with my old indoor antenna. However I had to subscribe to the wired FiOS from a promotion as well as more channels, the high definition images from the air proved to be a bit better, I attributed that to the Sony TV itself. The images are dazzlingly beautiful, when I watched the 2010 Vancouver, they are stunningly attractive with my old antenna reception alone. Just amazing!

The OneCall is very reliable. They are courteous and professional. Never ask you to insure or pay extra. It was promptly delivered in three days. Their delivery message is constantly updated so you know the where about and status of the order. Lastly, the local delivery company has a care and polite driver who even kindly helped me carry and move the item into my living room, when the paper agreement mentioned curb side drop off only.

Amazon is the best to order, when I want to order anything again.

I researched TVs through Consumer's Review, and talked to salesmen at Best Buy. All agreed this was one of the best pictures out there. The splurge was worth it. Super Bowl and Olympics have never been so great!

I am completely satisfied with this tv. it meets and exceeds every expectation i had for it. if you dont care about the price, i would recommend this tv to anyone. it truely is the best one out there

After reading about the Sony XBR8 all over the Internet and looking at Consumers and other reviews I decided to buy this T.V. This T.V is not the cheapest T.V out there by far, but if you are like me who demands a great looking picture then this T.V XBR8 is for you. The ease of use is great, but the picture quality is unbeatable in my opinion. I watch a lot of sports and this XBR8 is just plain awesome to watch sports on it.
I had never bought anything from Onecall before, but after this buy I would buy again from them for sure. I received an email right after the sale. The next day I received a call from Onecall to let me know the T.V was being shipped and an email would be coming with a tracking number. What really blew my mind is that when Onecall called me I was never asked to buy anything else, how refreshing that was from other buys I had made on the Internet. The trucking company called (Conway trucking) and gave me a time they would deliver the T.V; they were with in two minutes of the time they said they would be here. The deliver was for curbside delivery only, but to my surprise the Conway driver offered to help me get the TV in to the house for me.
So in my opinion spend the extra money and get a XBR8, you will just love the quality of the picture you get. As far as am concerned the XBR8 is the best and then you combine Onecall internet store and Conway trucking it was one unbeatable experience. I Rate them all A++++++++

This has got to be the best TV out there! Don't miss out while you can still get one.

I purchased this as an upgrade from a 24 inch Sony CRT, which I was happy with. My social circle wasn't so happy. Succumbing to peer pressure, I was on the hunt for a nice TV. I started out looking at the lower end Bravia lines, particularly the Z5100. In the end, I narrowed the choice down to Samsung UN46B8500 or the 46XBR8. Although I might have been happy with both, I went with the XBR8 because: 1) overall positive experience with the Sony line of TVs, 2) the very positive reviews, including recommendations from Consumer Report, PC Mag and CNET, 3) Sony was several hundred dollar cheaper than the Samsung (though not so when the XBR8 first debut). This TV is terrific. The colors are spectacular. The reds, blues, green and blacks are inspiring. I love this TV. If you buy a TV for the added gadgets, like online connectivity, perhaps the Samsung would be a better choice. The XBR8 was at least 1.5 years older than the Samsung model and I still choose the Sony model. Arguably, the later XBR lines may not measure up to the XBR8 and perhaps the Samsung 8500 would be a better choice over, say the XBR 9, 10 etc.

I bought this TV last February from one call and it arrived at my place without any dents or problems on the unit.
The packaging was good and fast delivery from one call. Want to comment on this TV, that the black and white colors on this lcd is stunning. It can compare or even surpass with the latest sony xbr model or latest samsung model. Have lots of input connection on it. I have 3 HD Hdd player, 1 Wii, 1 PS3, 2 dvd players, 1 Bluray player, and I have no problem connecting them all on this unit. The colors are stunning when watching blu ray, the RGB colors, you can adjust to your liking, but wish it can adjust automatically the colors feeding from the source.
You can see every details of color when playing Final Fantasy XIII on PS3. And I would recommend this TV to everyone eventhough there's latest models that's coming out. Great LED LCD TV.

I did lots of research. Lots. I didn't realize the impact of "backlit-LED" on picture quality because, frankly, I don't know many people who have HDTV.

SONY corporation is somewhat variable in their product lines, but their televisions have always been top-rated. I have owned five (5) TVs in my lifetime; three have been Sony.

So saying, I remember going to a [big box retail store] and looking at other brands in the [upper level] viewing room. I kept looking at the XBR8 and thinking "Goodness! That looks like a moving photograph!". Then, of course, the set was discontinued. Panic ensued. Amazon, as per its usual amazing self, had it for sale via a third-party vendor.

Got the thing. Put it up. Put on a blu-ray disk. Gasped. Maybe a little more bass would be nice, but the sound quality is good (especially since I'm deaf in one ear). Even the cable-guy who came in said "That's an incredible picture!"

The price was right. The time was right. I hope more manufacturers learn how to make local-dimming, backlit-LED sets. Nothin' like 'em, except for plasma, which are energy hogs with a limited life span.

I love this set, and I'm very, very happy with it. I understand SONY is coming out with another backlit LED this year [2010], but I'm not sure if it's an HX or an NX series.

First off, OneCall and Conway delivery were excellent to deal with. As someone stated before in a previous review, I received an email, then a follow-up call after purchasing from Amazon. No problems with shipping either. Now for the TV... Back in December of last year, I had purchased a Vizio (551XVT) from Costco. I had that TV for 3 months, then returned it because it had "shadowing" on the screen. Basically, there was a blemish in the middle of my 55" that I couldn't tolerate since I shelled out 2K. It was a good TV, not great. I then decided to try an LG (55LH90) which was also a good TV, even better than the Vizio. I decided I was going to keep that until I saw this TV drop in price dramatically. Both of the previous Tv's had the local dimming/backlit like this one, but the difference is Sony's red, green and blue bulbs that I think make a difference in picture quality. Everyone's taste is different and people will tell you that their TV rivals anyone else's...blah,blah,blah. I'm not one to go and brag about a purchase, but I will tell you to check this TV out as it is worth the price. It's two years old, but I can tell you it's as good as the LCD's/ Plasmas that are coming out today. I researched mainly LCD's because glare is an issue in my living room. No problem there as this TV has a matte screen. Ironically, I was looking at the new models this year and many of them have the ultra-clear panel, which is glossy. I think the 3-d Tv's are nice, but to me, if I'm going to watch 3-D, it will be in a theater, not in my home. Plus, there isn't much content out right now to justify dropping 3-4k. Once I got this TV hooked up and got the settings to my liking, I was very impressed and happy that I waited. It probably won't be in stores anymore as it is 2 years old. But, see for yourself, read all the other reviews and go to CNet too as they gave this TV a really good score. I am very picky and don't have any quams about returning products if their not up to my standards. I ordered this blindly and would definately recommend it. PS3 and Hi-Def are gorgeous...

We love our new Sony!! It was delivered very quickly and their customer support people were great.

Pro's

-Amazing picture in gaming and 1080p blu-ray quality video
-Matte screen, extremely helpful in preventing glare
-multitude of methods to adjust picture settings, even though the picture looks amazing right out of the box.
-Speakers are adequate
-Price is sweet considering this is still one of the best tv's of all time.
-Get full 18 month warranty
-Motion processing does its job well, and works well in fast action.

Cons
-Menu system has shown its age compared to the newer models, but its a minor issue
-SD, 720p, and 1080i broadcasting can look horrible on this tv, as well as any other lower quality video or gaming, such as the playstation 1 or 2 but thats not the tv's fault. (just thought you should know)
-This tv is pretty thick,and there might be people who don't like that, but it doesn't bother me.
-A lot of useless features that i didn't find useful, such as looking at pictures, and streaming music (but you need an Ethernet cable and modem to be able to do it)

Now the top question you all are thinking.

Is the tv worth the money?, the answer is hell yes. for being 2008 model it is better than any LED tv on the market today.

Don't understand why e1 keeps saying this TV is pricey. Just purchased one yesterday from Best Buy who was running a special to get rid of their Sony surround sound units with wires. For the TV AND Blue Ray Player & Sony surround sound, including PA's 6% sales tax, it was $1670. Now that is not cheap. But it's not out of hand compared to other TV's and packages. I hope it lasts as long as the Sony Console that we purchased in 1989 for $999.