Sony BRAVIA V-Series KDL-46V5100 46-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV, Black

My wife and I bought this from Best Buy back around June/July this past year. It started out okay for the first few days then, we started having trouble with the sound. First, it was intermittent where the sound would go in an out. Then, we started having problems where switching from HD to non-HD channels it would go black and we could only get some sound. We thought it was our old receiver we had so, we ditched that started using just the inputs through the TV and its speakers. Overtime it got worse and worse.

To make matters worse (not an Amazon problem) we used Elwin Electronics via Best Buy as the repair and it took them over two months to replace a sound board. They put in a brand new board and, guess what we're still having audio problems. The cable box works great and is a fairly new HD box. The TV is garbage. I should've trusted my instinct and gone with a Samsung. Right now spending a bit more $ and going with the Samsung LED-LCD 46". Stay away!!! (Unless you're looking for a TV with issues).

I bought this TV a couple of weeks ago after about a month of research, reading others reviews and reading the ratings in Consumer Reports. Whether in HD or standard picture the quality is excellent. Many other reviewers complained of the sound but for me the sound is great. Can turn it up high and I do not get any distortion. Was easy to hook up to my DVD player and cable and the set up and adjustments using the TV menu was very easy. I have always had Sony products and actually considered another brand at first but at the last minute changed my mind and was glad I did. I also got a great price on the TV purchasing right before the Superbowl. I am not a gamer nor do I use the internet through my TV so I cannot comment on that. I also have a window facing the TV and there is absolutely no glare. Overall, I am very pleased with this TV.

This TV didn't work from the day I brought it home. There are problems with the sound dropping and the picture quality. A Sony technician has been here twice to fix it and hasn't been able to.

Sony customer service want me to pay $200 for a different 'upgrade' model, for which I can only find a $10 price difference from the model I have.

They drove me absolutely crazy, lied on multiple occasions and the only way I can get a different TV is to pay this $200. The only other option was to get an exact same model replacement, except they would only offer a refurbished model.

So I either have to accept a refurb model or pay an extra $200 for another model, all for bringing home a poorly constructed Sony TV. And here I thought I was upgrading from the perfect Panasonic I've had for the last 10 years. You absolutely suck Sony.

Over the last few months, two different Sony service techs have replaced the motherboard on my Sony KDL-46V5100 to fix the intermittent color fluctuation called "red flashing." The red flashing also affects blues and other colors too, but it's most evident on red. Both times it did not work.

Following the second tech firm visit in early January, the tech firm forwarded a detailed email from me to Sony America explaining the issue. Later, Sony called and asked if I was willing to use my Sony KDL-46V5100 to test a prototype firmware patch. I agreed. After I installed it, all the programs that had the intermittent color fluctuation no longer did it! The picture is still outstanding but now without the annoying intermittent color fluctuations.

Bottom Line: To fix the red flash you will need to call Sony Customer Support and request the "December 2009 firmware USB patch." Sony told me this patch would NOT be available on the Sony eSupport website because the update resets the TV to factory default.

If you purchased a Sony Bravia KDL-##V5100 during the clearance sales of late, you likely have the red flash but just haven't noticed it yet. This firmware update may also apply to the similar color fluctuation issues reported in the S5100 and VE5 series.

Overall i am not satisfied with this product, not too long after buying i started having issues with the audio cutting out on my hdmi inputs, sometimes for as long as 10 Seconds, now the hdmi inputs wont detect any signal from either my XBOX 360 or Sony Blu Ray, i had to unplug the power cord in order to get it back to normal.
Sony has let us all down and its not what it used to be, i would not recomend this product, i've owned a Vizio for over three years now, and no problems whatsoever.