The Sony Bravia KDL-65W5100 may not have generated much fanfare, but it definitely has many great features, particularly its interactive features, which, along with its semi-affordable price, set it apart from and above other models in its size range.
For one, the Sony Bravia KDL-65W5100 offers three Yahoo widgets. These are Yahoo Weather, which shows you the current and five-day weather forecast for your city and other cities around the world; Yahoo News, which gives you the latest headlines from top stories and various categories like business, entertainment and sports; and Yahoo Finance, which lets you create and track your stock portfolio. Yahoo News loads quickly, although it provides two lines of information at most and doesn’t give an option to read more, while the Weather and Finance widgets take a few minutes to load. The best part about the Yahoo widgets of the KDL-65W5100 is that you can move them around, instead of having them confined to the bottom of the screen, something you cannot do with Samsung models.
If you have a Twitter account, you’ll be happy to know that this Sony HDTV has a Twitter widget, too, which allows you to view recent tweets. You cannot view past tweets, though, but you can post a tweet if you like, that is, if you can find the patience to navigate through the virtual keyboard using the directional keys on the remote.
Aside from providing you with the latest updates, the interactivity suite of the KDL-65W5100 also offers built-in video streaming, which means you don’t have to spend extra cash on buying a Bravia Internet Video Link. Rather, you can watch your favorite videos from the web almost instantly (give it a few minutes to load) and some of them are even HD, like the videos on Amazon Video on Demand, making use of your HDTV’s stunning screen clarity.
You can also watch videos from YouTube and a variety of clips from other providers like Sports Illustrated, CBS, The Minisode Network, Blip.tv, Howcast.com, FEARnet and Style.com, among others. A partnership with Netflix-on-Demand is also in the works, which means that soon, you can have the chance to watch your favorite movies and TV episodes instantly on your HDTV screen.
You can also access the video content stored on the other computers in your home network, since the KDL-65W5100 has enhanced DLNA capability. You can access the music files you’ve downloaded on them, too, in addition to the music you can listen to from your favorite Internet Radio stations.
Lastly, the KDL-65W5100 has an interactive program guide. This means that by just pushing a button, you can take a look at the most updated list of TV shows and movies available for you to view, so you won’t miss out on your favorites.
Because of these interactive features, the Sony Bravia KDL-65W5100 is a tough competitor for other models in its range. Take note, though, that its picture quality may not be as impressive, although it still is good with black levels that are relatively deep and colors that are generally accurate. As for connectivity, this Sony HDTV should have everything you need. Just take a look at the side panel where you will find three of its four HDMI inputs - something new for a Sony HDTV - along with its PC input and USB slot.
Edward is an electronics expert who writes HD TV reviews. To learn more about the sony bravia kdl-65w5100, visit HDTVReviewLab.com
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