Sony Bravia L Series KDL 32L5000 32 Inch 720p LCD HDTV Black

Get a flat screen without flattening your bank account. Delivering crisp, clear picture quality, the 32-inch Bravia L series HDTV provides vivid 720p resolution, a dynamic contrast ratio of 13000:1 and ample HD connections, including 3 HDMI inputs and 1 PC input. The perfect solution for your bedroom, kitchen or office, the Bravia L series also includes Dynamic Backlight Control, which automatically controls overall image brightness.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars great
the tv was shipped timely and in great condition. very satisfied the product itself.
1 Star Not worth it.
Today I go to Best Buy to see the 32″ LCD TVs. Sony 32L5000 is one of the worst two 32″ TVs I had seen there. (Another one is a unknown brand TV.) Best Buy play the same TV show on all the TVs, so it’s quite easy to tell the difference. 32L5000 has terrible detail. Much worse than Samsung LN32B360, LG 32LH20, Toshiba, Sharp, etc. If you really liked SONY, buy some higher level SONYs. Never never try this entry level SONY. You don’t have to believe me, just go to some retail stores and trust your own eyes.
1 Star be careful before buying – the 32L4000 model crashed
I purchased a 32″ Sony KDL-32L4000 model through an Amazon retail partner, ABT of Chicago. It arrived quickly and worked beautifully for 13 months. Then, the picture went haywire, with shimmering , curtain like things covering the screen. I have seen this condition described in other reviews of this product.
Sony live chat worked with me and concluded there was a major failure somewhere in the system. They recommended a service center 140 miles from my home. I took the set to two electronics shops in the city near me and both of them said it was not worth fixing. Mother boards at $200.00 + each would need to be replaced and even then no guarantee of reliable performance. I donated it to a recycling center. Of course it was one month out of warranty.
At the suggestion of the repair shops, I went to Wal Mart and bought a Vizio model listed as a “best buy” by Consumer Reports for $440.00. So far it is beautiful.
I have been a Sony loyalist for years, but no more. A $700.00 TV gone in a year.
This problem may have been fixed in newer models such as the KDL-32L5000. Just a word to the wise about my experience.
5 Stars Exellent!
I bought this unit through Amazon.com and it was shipped by J&R Music. It was delivered within a few days, free shipping, lightweight and very easy setup, excellent picture on HD and regular channels, excellent sound. I couldn’t be more satisfied.
2 Stars Sony Quality Control Sinks To All-Time Low
A few weeks ago I purchased a SONY KDL32L5000 720p LCD-TV from Amazon, which was shipped from one of their approved associates, J&R Elecronics, Inc.
Upon arrival, it was found the unit had (according to Sony Tech Support) a “board problem” which prevented the display of “program name and content description”, and the TV would have to be shipped to Sony (at my expense) for repair or possible replacement. (Sony would not guarantee that a new unit would be supplied, if a replacement was made.)
I elected to return the unit to J&R, who to their credit provided a prepaid UPS shipping label. As it would take approximately 2 weeks before J&R received the defective unit, give me credit for the return, and reshipped a replacement, I elected to purchase another unit so immediate shipment could be made, with my account to be credited upon receipt of the original defective return.
About a week later, the second Sony TV arrived. Upon opening the shipping box and setting up the TV, it was found that the LCD screen was “cracked” internally (not visable until power was applied) and that it was inoperable. Another call was made to J&R, and this second Sony has now been repacked and we are awaiting pickup by UPS for return to J&R for yet another credit.
I wish to quickly state that everyone I have talked to at J&R Electronics have been extremely helpful, and I would not hesitate to do business with them in the future. They are very professional, friendly and caring.
On the other hand, Sony Support (they mainly use off-shore outsourcing personnel) is absolutely horrible and these “support” people have absolutely no technical knowledge to assist the caller. (Half the time one also gets disconnected and has to call back and start at the beginning of the waiting line again.)
Call it bad luck, however EVERY single Sony product I have purchased over the last 6-8 years have had “out-of-box” problems, requiring either exchange or repair. A few years ago, my very expensive Sony “book-shelf” AM-FM-SW Radio-CD combo developed problems. It spent over 6 months in Sony’s Company Owned Burbank Service Center. They could not repair it and finally had to send it to Sony’s Engineering Labs in Arizona to be repaired, which took another 2 months to complete. To this day the system still does not work properly, with one audio channel constantly turning itself on and off, at will. I have many other Sony QC problems I could cite, but won’t bore you with the details.
It is no wonder that, today, Sony are having financial problems. Their product QC is very poor and their support even worse.
-UPDATE (23-Oct-09)-
Yesterday, while visiting a local Best Buy store, I noticed ALL of the Sony LCD HDTV’s were being deeply discounted. The KDL32L500 (above) was on sale for $429.00. They had a ton of them in stock, but apparently no takers. The 1080p version (KDL32S5100) was being offered at $544.00. Salesperson’s everywhere were “touting” Sony. Appears Sony is “dumping” all current models, most likely because newer units are on the way.
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