Thursday, November 18, 2010

Sony NSX-46GT1 – Google TV



I got the 46 inch model in my labs for review and all these panels, except for 24 inch model, have LED backlighting. The 24 inch TV is based on standard CCFL technology. The cost ranges from $1,399 for 46 inch product to $599 for 24 inch TV. The pricing is attractive and it is on par with other large HDTVs in the market

Sony NSX-46GT1 is a TV with Google TV and it is the first panel to have this feature. The service is integrated in to the panel itself and you don’t need something like an external set top box for getting the Google TV features. Apart from that, this is a standard edge-lit LCD TV and you won’t find a lot of higher end features here like 120 Hz video processing. Google TV is the main feature here and it lets you search through internet video sources and also your TV sources from antenna, set top or cable from the same search window. You just have to go in, look for the desired show title and then browse through the results from internet, satellite, cable or variety of TV services.

Sony NSX-46GT1 is the first TV ever to incorporate all the sources in to a single search window. This TV has a unique remote and I’ve never seen anything like it before. The clicker looks very similar to a PS3 controller and comes with a full QWERTY keyboard for searching the content. Another unique feature on the clickers is the touch sensitive mouse located on the right side for moving the cursor around. This mouse area is flanked by left, right, down and up buttons which makes the selection easy. I liked the remote, it is pretty slick but also bulkier all others I have had till now. It has a learning curve. This remote is based on RF technology and you don’t have to be in line of sight for controlling the TV.

You can also control other devices AV devices or cable box through the Sony NSX-46GT1. But for full integration, you will have to hook this TV up to dish DVR. This TV is available in four different screen sizes of 32 inches, 40 inches, 46 inches, and 24 inches. I got the 46 inch model in my labs for review and all these panels, except for 24 inch model, have LED backlighting. The 24 inch TV is based on standard CCFL technology. The cost ranges from $1,399 for 46 inch product to $599 for 24 inch TV. The pricing is attractive and it is on par with other large HDTVs in the market.

Sony will be announcing a Blu-ray player called NSG-ZT1 with a price tag of $399. This player too has all these Google TV features and it is for people who own a TV and still want the Google TV goodies. Sony NSX-46GT1 has apps like Twitter, Amazon Video on Demand, Netflix, etc. Sony will be getting more apps soon like Facebook.

Another cool feature on the Sony NSX-46GT1 is its access to the internet. There is a Chrome browser built-in for surfing through the video Websites like PBS.org, ComedyCentral.com, etc. accessing these sites was easier as compared to other Internet based TVs that I’ve previously seen in the market. The only big disappointment is absence of Hulu.com. You cannot search Hulu or play any of its videos.