Reviewed: Sony 32" Bravia XBR6 LCD TV

Earlier this week I told you that Sony had its line show in Las Vegas, unveiling its 2009 models that should hit stores soon. As such, there are sales on a number of the 2008 models, and being in the market for a smallish LCD TV for my office, I decided to see what I could find. I wound up buying a 32-inch Sony Bravia KDL-32XBR6 for $749.99 at Best Buy (just marked down $250 from $999.99). I've always liked the XBR series but found it overly expensive, which is why I never bought one.

I decided to spend a little extra and go with the 1080p XBR even though conventional wisdom says that at 32 inches you won't be able to see a difference between 1080p and 768p/720p. That may be true but I'll probably use this as a [very large] computer monitor from time to time, a task for which 1080p is better equipped.

My initial impressions of the 32-inch XBR are very positive. I'm watching the Denver-Portland NBA game on TNT HD right now and it looks absolutely fantastic. Interestingly, when I watched a college game yesterday on ESPN HD, it didn't look as good as I thought it should -- but the TNT HD feed for NBA games looks great. The TV's color is very nice, contrast ratio is outstanding and lack of motion blur is a welcome sign. Even the black levels look good, something for which LCD TV's aren't generally known.

I'll post more thoughts as I log more viewing time but I am so far quite pleased with this TV.

UPDATE: I just checked BestBuy.com and the price for this model has gone back up to $999.99. I wouldn't worry too much if you really want it at $749.99 because the new XBR9 models are coming out in a little over two weeks (March 22) and are marked at a pre-sale price of just $100 more than the old XBR6's. I'm sure the XBR6 will go on sale again very soon.