Official KDL..EX500/501 Thread

I have had this TV (55EX501) since last Thursday and am very happy with it. It replaced a 4 year Sony 46" 1080i LCD. I have had no issues at all. The picture is very sharp when watching live sports and HD Cable. The sound is not too bad though I use receiver most of the time now.

I am hoping that someone who has the experience will get one and calibrate it and post the settings My settings are just by comparing with our other TV. I am satisfied now but I am sure there is improvement to be made.

The TV at home looked a lot better than in Costco. I have found that to be true of most stores. So I give this a good recommendation for a good priced 55" TV. Especially through Costco with the 3 year warranty from Sony.

I just recieved the 60EX500 on Friday to replace my 4 year old XBR1 with optical block problems. The pq is definetly superior to my XBR1. Unless you have to buy a Sony tv as part of a replacement deal I wouldnt recommend buying a tv from Sony.

I went to Best Buy today and saw the EX on display. They had it right next to a V5100. The EX was visiblily better. Not bad for a low end tv. Definately nothing to get excited over but not bad for those on a budget.

Got the 55ex501 friday from costco. Love it! Looks great and better than it did in the store. Olympics looks so colorful on it! Great 3 year warranty from costco with it. Hoping for calibration as well, but looks amazing as is out of the box.

I'm getting one from Sony in that SXRD replacement deal.

I'll keep an eye on this thread. I hope this set can be calibrated to get the best PQ.

The 55 is one of the TVs that I'm considering. With the one from Costco is the warranty the standard 2 year plus 1 year AMEX? Or does it actually have a 3 year warranty?

If someone knows, can you post the size of the carton for the 55ex500/501? The Sony seems to only have the dimensions for the unit itself.

If I end up buying it local, I'd rather pick it up myself than have it delivered for extra cost.

it is a 3 year warranty, says right on the box and the paperwork inside says it as well from sony. no need to use amex, we didnt. Ill try to get box size tomorrow night, its out in shed out back-just in case-but we got it to fit in a 2005 mazda 6 with no problem at all, slid right in with room to spare! its very thin, it really isnt much bigger than the set, maybe 3 inches thicker, 2 inches up and down and about 6-8 inches longer i would guess.

That's a sweet warranty then. By buying it on AMEX, you can get a 4th year. That's a really tempting deal.

I need to call to verify the 4th year. They usually add a year regardless of the length. The box I got was quite a bit smaller than the V5100 model I had first.

is the "standard" Sony 46EX500 warranty ONE year or TWO? there were some who posted on this forum who said the standard is TWO years and that costco's 3-year warranty is thus one extra year.

if the standard EX500's warranty were to be ONE year, than costco's warranty is a whopping two extra years!

I picked the 46EX500 up from Best Buy yesterday for our bedroom and I am very impressed. It replaced a LG 47LH40 which was a replacement for a couple year old Panasonic plasma. The picture quality is far superior on the Sony compared to the previous 2. I would recomend it if you are looking for an inexpensive panel.

I am quite impressed also with my 55EX501. Very sharp and the blacks are much better than my old Sony. So far so good.

Would it be possible for anyone who has this to test the input lag in game mode?

My son wants to try out his Xbox, I may let him over the weekend I have been watching to much TV to let him try yet. I do not play games so not really sure what game lag is. The TV has a game mode that I guess would be the right mode to use. I can let you know if he notices anything unusual. He had no problems with our old 46" Sony.

That sounds great! I hoping the 55EX500 will be a decent replacement for my XBR1.
I'll have to track one down around these parts. They start to show up at PC Richards next week.
Maybe I'll also take a trip to our Costco and see if they have it on display.

Standard warranty is only 1 year, buying at costco extends to 3 years instead of the usual 2 years. Paperwork from sony in box states 3 years and on outside of box as well.

How is the flashlighting on this TV compared to the v5100. I just returned my 46v5100 to bestbuy today and got the samsung 50b550(its buzzing away and looks like crap compared to the sony). The Sony has way better black levels and much better colors but the flash lighting was killing me.

Seems like all the TVs in the $1000 range have some sort of problem like Speakers buzzing or crackling, Flashlighting, 24p mode flickers, bad viewing angle.

On this model, i never heard the speakers buzz, but i have them turned off now since going through receiver, love the viewing angle, only watched about 30 mins in 24p-star trek-didnt notice any flicker, but thats the first time ive seen 24p so maybe i just didnt notice??, but i am not familiar with flashlighting? what is that and maybe i can answer for you.

I have not noticed flashlighting on mine like on the 55V5100 I had. It was visible on the 55V5100 to a little degree, I do not notice on the 55EX501. Even the corners look good, no visible light coming from that area. Sound is OK for a TV though I use the receiver a lot. My wife uses the TV speakers and her only comment was that it needed to be higher than on our old Sony (20-30 vs 40-50). The quality is fine though.

Screen is a little more reflective than compared to our old Sony. Not a major issue. Overall very happy with the TV.

Flashlighting is when the corners are brighter then the rest of the screen. The v5100s seemed to be really bad with this. the top left and right corners where very bright when the screen would go all black. Its not very noticeable during the day but at night in a dark room it stands out alot.

Mmm...my 46EX500 has the upper right and left corners somewhat darker during certain scenes, not brighter! What does that mean? Reverse flashlighting?

Did you get the 60ex500 on a sony exchange for the xbr1 or did you buy it?

Kevin

He paid $750 for Sony to replace his tv through the program. I saw this on the 50/60 XBR1 thread.

Sony said they couldnt do that....... time to give them a call back before my ex500's get here... and yes, I had two xb1's the 50, and the 60. Wonder what he said to convince them to upgrade.

Kevin

Kevin / Kdbing:

you mentioned that Sony "couldn't do that" for you. You also mentioned that you better call Sony "...before your EX500 replacement unit shows up".

I don't exactly follow. you have TWO SXRD's, right? The 60XBR1 and 50XBR1, right? You called Sony and they gave you TWO EX500's (what sizes please?) as replacements.

What might the difference be between PredatorWH, who's getting a 60EX500, versus what Sony is giving you (also TWO EX500's), may i ask?

thank you in advance.

Sony is giving me two kdl-55ex500's in replacement for my 50''xbr1 and one more for the replacement for my 60'' xbr1 as well. I fought with Sony to give me a comparible replacement to an xbr series, or atleast a 60'' model to replace a 60'' model, but didnt get anywhere. I finally settled with their standard offer of a $225 fo a 55 inch ex500 for each TV, it seems I should of pushed a little harder.

Kevin

hi Kevin and thx for your reply. it's funny because if you read your post just above this post, you wrote: "...Sony is giving me two kdl-55ex500's in replacement for my 50''xbr1 and one more for the replacement for my 60'' xbr1 as well."

It sounds like you meant that Sony is giving you TWO 55EX500's for your 50XBR1, and ONE more for your 60XBR1.

Hah. I know, of course, you really meant to say that you're getting a grand total of two new units, right? One unit of the 55EX500 is meant to replace your 50XBR1, and one more unit of the 55EX500 is meant to replace your 60XBR1, for a grand total of two 55EX500's, right?

Yes only two units. I wish they'ed give me two units for my 60xbr1. I paid twice what two of the 55ex500s cost.

Would anyone care to test for input lag?