Sony Bravia KDL40EX43BU 40-inch Widescreen Full HD 1080p LCD Internet TV with Integrated Blu-ray Player and Freeview HD

INTRODUCTION:

Had this TV for a few weeks now, as I wanted to wall mount with concealed cables. I also don't have/want Sky so this attracted me for various reasons. Here are a few pros and cons:

PROS:
- Screen is excellent at this price point, surprisingly the 50mhz has very little lag (unless you're sitting too close)
- Has a built-in DVD player WITHIN the TV (side-loading, like an iMac)
- No wait, that's a built-in BLU RAY player!! Excellent quality, quiet as a mouse
- It also has Freeview HD built-in, only BBC HD and ITV HD at present, but they look stunning (if your reception is up to scratch)
- The software is superb, and the remote - whilst not as good as the one for my Bravia 2 - is nice
- The TV itself is very stylish indeed, a real looker, albeit chunkier than the new LED ones (but don't worry about that, having the Blu Ray player built-in makes it worthwhile)

CONS:
- The software, although brilliant, is quite slow and from switching on to actually viewing your selected channel takes a while
- The speakers are pretty good, but with "hidden" speakers, they are never going to be amazing, let's face it
- The ports at the back aren't an issue for me, but they are not intelligently positioned (HDMI, especially)
- The "wireless" function requires you to buy a Sony-only dongle which is almost £70, that's plain crazy (hence why I cannot accurately review how good the wireless streaming of YouTube/Five etc is)

SUMMARY:

I am truly delighted with this purchase. At this price point, including a built-in Blu Ray/DVD player that gives great performance is a real game-changer. Freeview HD is also included, and if your reception is good enough, watching ITV or BBC HD is a real eye-opener. They have packed in a lot of features into an attractive looking TV, and this will easily do me at least 5 years plus until OLED units become widely available and affordable.

I also have to commend the settings - watch a film, then hit the "Theatre" button. At first it looks weird, then you become totally immersed and think you're in your own private cinema. It also intelligently adjusts to the "correct" screen much more effectively than any other TV's I've used.

Completely redecorated my living room, so I got the electricians to put a power socket and TV aerial socket right where the TV was going to be wall mounted. As I mentioned, no plans to get Sky, so I love having a single 40" TV on the wall, with no need for a separate DVD player or Freeview HD box. All you see is the TV, no dangling cables and just one remote.

40" is also more than enough. I firmly believe you shouldn't overawe your living room with a gigantic screen beyond the realms of common decency, and 40" is perfect (unless you have a massive room to fill). Yes, the cheek of Sony to try and get you to fork out £70 for their wireless dongle is unacceptable, but hey, I have a laptop/iPhone for watching YouTube etc so I'm not bothered at all.

Also, as a brief update, I tried playing DVD's created on my computer which had films on them. Unfortunately, it only recognised it as a Data DVD and didn't want to play anything. Needless to say, I was a bit upset. Then, however, I tried playing the original source file on the USB stick (as the TV has a USB port). It played the films and TV shows (in AVI format) PERFECTLY! I'm delighted, as this cuts out the need for me to create a DVD in the first place. Any films on my laptop can be put onto a tiny USB stick, plugged directly into the TV, and played. That's awesome, right?

All in all, I can wholeheartedly recommend this TV. I'm delighted, and to put it in perspective, just try and search for a similarly specced product anywhere - there isn't one, as this is entirely unique. It is also a fantastic product - not perfect, but good enough in every respect.

I looked long at hard at different TVs and chose this because of the built in blu ray player and the internet connectivity. A new feature for Sony is that you can get BBC iPlayer, which we started using the same day the TV was delivered. A great TV at a good price. NOTE: If you have a wired network at home (eg with the very useful Devolo routers that go through the mains electric circuit) you don't need to buy the Sony Wireless dongle to get the internet connection.

I echo the above comments regarding the TV. Super PQ (after calibration) and lots of features.

Here are my calibrated settings for the TV (Freeview). Hope these help.

Picture Mode: Custom
Backlight - 5 (less if needed).
Contrast - 92
Brightness - 51
Colour - 51
Hue - 0
Colour Temperature - Neutral (Warm 1,or 2 depending on personal preference).
Sharpness - Min
Noise Red. - Off
Mpeg Red. - Off

Advanced Settings - All Off, except I prefer Live Colour - Low.

Sound Settings. (After much tinkering I think these settings offer the best bass, to treble balance).
Sound Mode - Dynamic
Treble - +1
Bass - Max
Surround - S-Force Front Surround
Sound Enhance - On
Auto Volume - Off.

The pq through dvi-hdmi lead on PC is actually better than my PC Monitor.

5/5 So far after a week.