Review bias?

[rascal6000]

Would someone from What Hi Fi (Andrew? you love a bit of it!) please explain the situation with the glowing review(s) that the Sony KDL 40 EX503 has had (and awards) which would make a foolish person (ie one who had not auditioned) part with their hard earned cash to buy what one would believe to be the best TV sub £1000 currently.

I was in an independent store and stood chatting to the sales assistant about amplifiers whilst over his shoulder a KDL40EX503 played alongside a Panasonic TXP42G20; the difference was astounding, the Panasonic had better quality picture, better blacks (and greys and whites) less issues with motion handling, better spec (Freeview HD and Freesat HD tuners and USB capable PVR) and were well within £100 of each other at current retail.

Having now spoken to several more unrelated industry staff, and taking in to account the 5 year freely available warranty in the price of the Panasonic, and read forum reviews with tech tests to back up my visual findings I am puzzled as to why the Sony could be given 5 stars in the current climate.

Put me out of my misery WHF!

 

[jaxwired]

What you probably don't realize is that WHF is a wholly owned subsidary of Sony Incorporated. Further more Andrew's birthday is actually May 3rd or 503, coincidence? I think not... Additionally, KDL just happens to be the initials of the current WHF editor. Again, sound suspicious? Please. And if that's not enough for you Sony spelled backwards is Ynos which actually is Andrews middle name in his native Russian and when translated, mean "in cahoots". Now, I'm the last guy to yell "conspiracy", but all this seems just a little too convenient even for me.

 

[Jagace]

Come on guys. I personal have bought a sony tv that WHF reviewed and bought it alone on what they said and found it amazing evan my friend said it was amazing too. I think people like you need to use a brain and audition things first and stop blaming the good guys. I trust WHF reviews and recommend there opinon to everyone i know And buy the way i have lots on what they have said mostly sony and they have been spot on so get a life guys.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Jagace:Come on guys. I personal have bought a sony tv that WHF reviewed and bought it alone on what they said and found it amazing evan my friend said it was amazing too. I think people like you need to use a brain and audition things first and stop blaming the good guys. I trust WHF reviews and recommend there opinon to everyone i know And buy the way i have lots on what they have said mostly sony and they have been spot on so get a life guys.
Just to make it clear; Jax was being sarcastic.

To the OP, 18 posts in and then wham! Your post is flawed. You certainly noticed a lot going on over your shoulder!!

If you look at the last two years reviews of screens, Sony has won a lot of plaudits. But guess what, Sony has produced a lot of great screens! WHF review screens in much more detail and with far better conditions than we see in a store. I was in Richer Sounds at the weekend and whilst waiting to pay, saw my brother-in-law's screen (Samsung C8000) being shown up by a Phillips screen. BUT, guess what, they both looked worse than my 4 year old screen and I've seen the Samsung look way better than my screen.

 

[cstanwhf]

May I also add that the Sony TV may not have been calibrated properly.

Salesperson may be given more commision to sell a certain brand of TV compare to another brand.

In this case, they may calibrate those TV that they can earn more commision properly while leaving others uncalibrated etc.

Salesperson bias?

 

[Anonymous]

Never trust what a tv is capable based on what you see in the shop. Lighting in a shop vs at home is different and they may not have bothered to set it up properly or done so on purpose. Fiddle about with the settings on the TVs you compare and then you can make a better judgement.

 

[Anonymous]

jaxwired:What you probably don't realize is that WHF is a wholly owned subsidary of Sony Incorporated. Further more Andrew's birthday is actually May 3rd or 503, coincidence? I think not... Additionally, KDL just happens to be the initials of the current WHF editor. Again, sound suspicious? Please. And if that's not enough for you Sony spelled backwards is Ynos which actually is Andrews middle name in his native Russian and when translated, mean "in cahoots". Now, I'm the last guy to yell "conspiracy", but all this seems just a little too convenient even for me.

 

[Clare Newsome]

Max, I thought you'd be wise enough by now not to wade in, but...

I can assure you there is no bias in reviews - Sony have had plenty of poor reviews from us, even for TVs: you can see that from the review listings here

For example, we didn't give Sony a single Award for its 2009 TVs - too inconsistent - and even in 2010, when their range has typically offered phenomenal value for money, there's been the odd duffer, which we've highlighted.

Sony won three TV Awards from us this year - the same number as Samsung, with Panasonic also winning two Awards. LG has since triumphed in a subsequent Supertest for 3D TVs. All excel in different areas at their respective size/price/feature class.

The OP may prefer a plasma's look to an LCD's look - and that's why we urge people to try before they buy (and to tweak settings as much as possible afterwards!)

 

[Andrew Everard]

Gerrardasnails:Just to make it clear; Jax was being sarcastic.

No - you think...?

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Andrew Everard:
Gerrardasnails:Just to make it clear; Jax was being sarcastic.

No - you think...?

Sometimes you have to spell it out!

 

[plastic penguin]

rascal6000:

Would someone from What Hi Fi (Andrew? you love a bit of it!) please explain the situation with the glowing review(s) that the Sony KDL 40 EX503 has had (and awards) which would make a foolish person (ie one who had not auditioned) part with their hard earned cash to buy what one would believe to be the best TV sub £1000 currently.

I was in an independent store and stood chatting to the sales assistant about amplifiers whilst over his shoulder a KDL40EX503 played alongside a Panasonic TXP42G20; the difference was astounding, the Panasonic had better quality picture, better blacks (and greys and whites) less issues with motion handling, better spec (Freeview HD and Freesat HD tuners and USB capable PVR) and were well within £100 of each other at current retail.

Having now spoken to several more unrelated industry staff, and taking in to account the 5 year freely available warranty in the price of the Panasonic, and read forum reviews with tech tests to back up my visual findings I am puzzled as to why the Sony could be given 5 stars in the current climate.

Put me out of my misery WHF!

((Shakes head with dismay))

 

[Anonymous]

Clare Newsome:

Max, I thought you'd be wise enough by now not to wade in, but...

I can assure you there is no bias in reviews - Sony have had plenty of poor reviews from us, even for TVs: you can see that from the review listings here

For example, we didn't give Sony a single Award for its 2009 TVs - too inconsistent - and even in 2010, when their range has typically offered phenomenal value for money, there's been the odd duffer, which we've highlighted.

Sony won three TV Awards from us this year - the same number as Samsung, with Panasonic also winning two Awards. LG has since triumphed in a subsequent Supertest for 3D TVs. All excel in different areas at their respective size/price/feature class.

The OP may prefer a plasma's look to an LCD's look - and that's why we urge people to try before they buy (and to tweak settings as much as possible afterwards!)

clare, jax was obviously being sarcastic, and quite funny i thought

or is andrews real name vladimir ynos everardski

 

[Anonymous]

As the happy owner of a 40EX503 I would say it is worthy of 6 stars

 

[Deleted member 2457]

rascal6000:

Would someone from What Hi Fi (Andrew? you love a bit of it!) please explain the situation with the glowing review(s) that the Sony KDL 40 EX503 has had (and awards) which would make a foolish person (ie one who had not auditioned) part with their hard earned cash to buy what one would believe to be the best TV sub £1000 currently.

I was in an independent store and stood chatting to the sales assistant about amplifiers whilst over his shoulder a KDL40EX503 played alongside a Panasonic TXP42G20; the difference was astounding, the Panasonic had better quality picture, better blacks (and greys and whites) less issues with motion handling, better spec (Freeview HD and Freesat HD tuners and USB capable PVR) and were well within £100 of each other at current retail.

Having now spoken to several more unrelated industry staff, and taking in to account the 5 year freely available warranty in the price of the Panasonic, and read forum reviews with tech tests to back up my visual findings I am puzzled as to why the Sony could be given 5 stars in the current climate.

Put me out of my misery WHF!

If i had to buy one tomorrow i would buy the Sony everytime, while having a demo of the Panasonic 42G20 it was clear the screen was giving off a ficker, whether you would notice this i am not sure.

I bought the Panasonic 42V20 which had one of the dreaded Panasonic firmware updates on and the freeview tuner was dire, blu ray picture was not great either, sure the blacks are good but the pictures were too dark there was no balance like for example a Pioneer would give. I got rid of it the next day

I have seen the Sony too quite abit and yes i did notice quite abit of picture noise on the freeview tuner but like people have said this will look better at your home. Blu ray on the other had looked great and clearly better than the Panasonic for me.

If your budget could stretch abit further then i would look at a Sony tv with 200hz where the freeview tuners look better to me.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

rascal6000:

Would someone from What Hi Fi (Andrew? you love a bit of it!) please explain the situation with the glowing review(s) that the Sony KDL 40 EX503 has had (and awards) which would make a foolish person (ie one who had not auditioned) part with their hard earned cash to buy what one would believe to be the best TV sub £1000 currently.

I was in an independent store and stood chatting to the sales assistant about amplifiers whilst over his shoulder a KDL40EX503 played alongside a Panasonic TXP42G20; the difference was astounding, the Panasonic had better quality picture, better blacks (and greys and whites) less issues with motion handling, better spec (Freeview HD and Freesat HD tuners and USB capable PVR) and were well within £100 of each other at current retail.

Having now spoken to several more unrelated industry staff, and taking in to account the 5 year freely available warranty in the price of the Panasonic, and read forum reviews with tech tests to back up my visual findings I am puzzled as to why the Sony could be given 5 stars in the current climate.

Put me out of my misery WHF!

As for reading other websites reviews it was What HiFi who saw the Panasonic 50VT20 for what it was a good tv but with some issues whereas your "other websites" were lording it as the best thing since slice bread which clearly it was not.

 

[rascal6000]

Err, wow, I was asking for some help interpreting a review and I got a some (thank you Clare, a rose between thorns!)

[EDITED BY MODS - PLEASE DO NOT ATTACK OTHER MEMBERS]

Thanks a lot, a very deflated, long term reader of WHF!

 

[aliEnRIK]

I am genuinely shocked by that turn around!

 

[Anonymous]

jaxwired:What you probably don't realize is that WHF is a wholly owned subsidary of Sony Incorporated. Further more Andrew's birthday is actually May 3rd or 503, coincidence? I think not... Additionally, KDL just happens to be the initials of the current WHF editor. Again, sound suspicious? Please. And if that's not enough for you Sony spelled backwards is Ynos which actually is Andrews middle name in his native Russian and when translated, mean "in cahoots". Now, I'm the last guy to yell "conspiracy", but all this seems just a little too convenient even for me.

I absolutely loved this post! Is their a gong for Post of the Year?

 

[Andrew Everard]

Yes, and that one doesn't get it.

 

[Alec]

maxflinn:

Clare Newsome:

Max, I thought you'd be wise enough by now not to wade in, but...

I can assure you there is no bias in reviews - Sony have had plenty of poor reviews from us, even for TVs: you can see that from the review listings here

For example, we didn't give Sony a single Award for its 2009 TVs - too inconsistent - and even in 2010, when their range has typically offered phenomenal value for money, there's been the odd duffer, which we've highlighted.

Sony won three TV Awards from us this year - the same number as Samsung, with Panasonic also winning two Awards. LG has since triumphed in a subsequent Supertest for 3D TVs. All excel in different areas at their respective size/price/feature class.

The OP may prefer a plasma's look to an LCD's look - and that's why we urge people to try before they buy (and to tweak settings as much as possible afterwards!)

clare, jax was obviously being sarcastic, and quite funny i thought

or is andrews real name vladimir ynos everardski