Sharp AQUOS LC-32DA5U 32" LCD TV

32" hdtv

Strengths: great sound and picture quality

Weaknesses: i wish it had more component inputs

Summary: for the time i have had this tv it has been great. the picture and sound quality is awesome. it is also very easy to use if you want to change settings with the tv. the only thing i wish the tv had more of is component video inputs. it only has two so the cable box and dvd player fill up the slots. i would definately recommend this tv to other people for its quality.

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After careful consideration...

Strengths: Sound (believe it or not), design, inputs, price

Weaknesses: Proximate viewing

Summary: 2005-12-15 10:01:12 I'm completely a compulsive purchaser of semi-expensive goods, i.e., I review, review, review...after looking at a variety of articles, mag. reviews, online reviews, I decided to spend a bit "extra" and purchase an Aquos. It was well worth it.

The pic., as described above, is a bit distorted up close. However, viewing from 6 feet beyond is gorgeous. The user-friendly options (e.g., pic. positioning, automatic lighting adjustment, one-touch surround sound, one-touch input select) make the LC 32DA5U a great buy, esp. at the price of around $1,300.00. Why buy an inferior brand for $200.00 less??? I'm not sure, and I'm glad I didn't.

I read numerous reviews about the sound not living up to expectations. However, after viewing HD DVDs and regular programming I was impressed w/ the surround sound the Aquos offered. I was intending on adding a 5.1-quality stereo, but to decrease clutter I don't consider it mandatory w/ the sound of the Aquos.

A great buy, esp. considering the newer 32' are about $500.00 more.

Of note is that Sharp has considered a variety of user-friendly (see above) devices, such as collection clips on the back of the TV for organizing cords.

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Awesome picture

Strengths: Black is black, not grey, and there is great definition. You don't lose the picture in dark scenes.

Weaknesses: None so far, except maybe really close up viewing.

Summary: First of all, I am using regular digital satellite, as I haven't yet upgraded to HD. The picture through Svideo is awesome (from a reasonable distance). I pulled the unit out of the box and immediately hooked it up to make sure it worked. It was on the floor about 1 foot away from me and my heart sank. The picture quality wasn't great. Then I realized the screen was stretched so I fixed that and the quality got a little better, but not like my 27" Sony CRT. Depressed, I sat down in my chair a few feet away and looked again. WOW, what a difference a few feet can make. The picture quality was awesome, much better than the Sony. Apparently, you just can't sit a foot away. The further away you got, the better it looked. I didn't notice any pixelating (even when fast forwarding the TIVO). The one thing you always hear about LCDs is how poorly they display dark scenes. Not true of the Aquos. The picture quality is great in even the darkest scenes, whether your room is bright or dark. You definitely want to adjust a little from the standard settings, but it's easy enough to find whatever satisfies your eye. The set has OPC (Optical Picture Control) which senses the surrounding light and adjusts the screen brightness. It seems to work fairly well for me except when I have the room completely dark. Then it brings the backlight down a little too much for my taste, so I shut it off in that instance. The smart stretch works OK (better than many I've seen), but for most things in 4:3 format, I'd rather have the bars on the sides and no picture distortion. The zoom feature works great for TV shows displaying in wide format, and it's just 1 button you have to push to make the change. Sound quality is perfect for a bedroom or other small room. All in all, it's a great TV and a great buy. The whole reason I got the LCD was to mount it on the wall in the bedroom. Haven't gotten it mounted yet, but that should be done this weekend. If you're looking for a 32" LCD TV, and you have a cable or satellite box that you'll be using (i.e. you don't need a cable tuner card), this is a great TV which you can get for just a little more than brands with not nearly as a good a reputation.

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Aquos LC-32DA5U, a Strong LCD TV

Strengths: Very crisp imaging. Many adjustable features to optimize picture. Good black levels for LCD

Weaknesses: Price. Does not include ATSC

Summary: This is a very good LCD TV with brilliant picture quality. I did a lot research before buying this set and was pleasantly awarded. Of the models I was considering were the Syntax Olevia LT32HV 32" LCD TV, ViewSonic N3250w 32" LCD TV, and Hyundai ImageQuest HQL320WR 32". I decided to go with the Sharp based on their dedication to producing a quality LCD set.

Longevity

As I discussed with many A/V sale people, I found that the sharp aquos had the lowest return rate (although fewer sharps were being sold because of its price) as opposed to the Syntax Olevia. I looked on several websites for refurbished Sharp Aquos LCDs and was happy with the lack of refurbished LCDs that were sold as in contrast to LCDs such as the Phillips and Hyundai LCDs. Ultimately, I wanted to invest in a TV that would last for a long time whether it be used in my apartment's living room or in my future townhome's bedroom and beyond.

Picture Quality

When dealing with the picture quality, with the naked eye, its very difficult to differentiate these LCDs now. However, cheaper sets tend to compensate for the lack of color by increasing the contrast (don’t be fooled). The Sharp definitely has brilliant color production and balance without having to crank up the brightness or contrast. When viewing HDTV or DVDs, the picture is phenomenal. The TV will even make see the difference between 480i (interlaced) vs. 480p (progressive) and higher (720p) video outputs by DVD players.

The black level on this LCD was another component I was impressed with. Although, LCDs fall short in producing pure black tones, the Sharp did a good job in wiping out as much of the grey as possible. It did the best when compared to the Olevia. There was less of a difference, but still notable difference, when compared to Viewsonic.

Features

In terms of features, The Sharp has the Quickshot feature and 3D-Y/C which improve on an already fast response time for fast images. The viewing modes are good at zooming into widescreen DVD movie screen proportions vs. TV 4:3 / Letterbox. I have heard horror stories about horrible viewing modes by different cheaper sets with different video inputs.

Other

The lack of an HDTV tuner imbedded in the TV is not always a negative. HDTV Tuners are becoming more affordable these days. In addition, if that component were to fail some time in the future, I can just replace/repair the Tuner without having to send in the whole TV to get serviced.

Also, the Aesthetics of the TV are good with the sleek design and antiglare screen.

Conclusion

You get what you pay for. At an est. price of $1599, the Sharp is a much more expensive 32” LCD (15%-50% more expensive), however with the impeccable picture quality, features and reliability, I find that this LCD TV is well worth the money. I have more peace of mind buying this set then buying a cheaper set and having to worry about the expensive repair costs further down the road. (I did, however, purchase a 3 year extended warranty for good measure. One should invest in a warranty plan that is no greater than 20% of the price. Just like your health insurance plan, be sure to read the fine details of what is and isn’t covered.) I feel that Sharp is the Benchmark of LCDs. Hope this helped.

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We love our Sharp TV

Strengths: Its ease of use, color, size, clarity and looks

Weaknesses: I am sure in time I will find one, but after 3 weeks of use, I have yet to find one. Oh, maybe the price, but even with that you get what you pay for.

Summary: I am the type of person that reads Consumer Reports, and product reviews before I buy expensive items (expensive being anything over the price of $150 :p ). For the most part I have only ever owned Sony Televisions and assumed that Sony would be on the name of my first flat panel, but that was not the case. My husband and I had compared many sets side by side at alot of different locations. We continually kept coming back to the Aquos.

We hooked it up the night that we brought it home without a hitch. We were a little taken back at first when the football players that were on the screen had on bright neon pink leg tape, but were relieved when it was that way on our other sets. We have an excellent picture and have not had any problems with our blacks or our reds, as mentioned in some reviews. Our son came home from college, and just loves it. He has been playing around with many of the features and is very impressed with it.

We are in the process of researching the best satellite service for HD. That makes me excited to think that the picture will only get better with HD coming in. I think that it is great already I feel that it will leave me spell bound after it is receiving in HD.

So, don't take my word for it, but go out and compare TV's side by side and see if you don't agree that this is a great set.

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• I have had a 37" Sharp LCD for over 1.5 years and absolutely love...

So far so good

Strengths: High brightness, pure color, crisper image, sleek design

Weaknesses: price, speaker is not detachable, no HD tuner, lack of VGA port

Summary: That's right, you get what you pay for.

After comparing side by side with other brand in the store, I finally picked sharp because it's showing the best picture to me.

By the way, you will need a HDMI DVI Cable to hook it up with your computer.

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Like my own private theater

Strengths: Great picture, reception, and colors. It looks great too -- very sleek and modern.

Weaknesses: none yet

Summary: I'd buy this tv again in a minute. It's got a great picture, reception, and colors. I hooked the sound up to my stereo speakers, which enhances the audio. It looks great too -- very sleek and modern.

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Good HDTV

Strengths: Good Picture on Standard Def Signal, Picture quality in general, Ease of use

Weaknesses: Not enough component inputs

Summary: I researched LCD TV's for several weeks before deciding on the 32" Sharp Aquos. And I was not disappointed with the decision. The TV is beautiful. We have standard def DirectTV programming that is filtered through a Monster Powercenter and and the picture quality is very good. It may take a little while of watching tv and adjusting it but you can get the colors and quality to look very good. If it's this good with SD I can't wait to see what HD looks like on it. DVD's look absolutely great as well on it. about the only thing I'm not happy with is the number of component inputs. We have a DVD video feed, S-Video feed for the DVR, and a PS2 hooked up to it and that occupies all but the monitor inputs. It would have been nice to have at least 2 more component inputs but what can you do.

I also felt very good about the purchase after I saw that the recent Consumer Reports LCD issue rated this as the #1 32" LCD TV.

Overall, I was very impressed with the TV.

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AQUOS 32" LCD TV LC-32DA5U

Strengths: easy setup, great hdtv picture

Weaknesses: too much redness on regular cable, no detachable speakers, could use more inputs, switching from input to input is a pain on this tv

Summary: i bought this tv based on all the reviews i've read. i also have seen the acquos in action and loved the hdtv picture. however when watching regular non hdtv sources i was surprised at how bad the picture looked. 2 weeks and i still can't get a picture that isn't red. and if you are like me you have a bunch of components hooked up to your tv. i'm constantly switching from source to source through my tv. i like to use a universal remote and program a macro to switch between inputs. i'm used to pressing one button and everything sets up my sound and video for whatever i'm going to use. with this tv you have to press input and select which input you want by pressing input again or the up and down keys. just very annoying and there is no way for a universal remote to know which input you were last on to set it up that way. the hd quality is great like everyone has said but the redness is my biggest problem.

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Great HDTV

Strengths: PERFECT quality pictures and images in any format!

Weaknesses: No PC input. Lack of other inputs. Price for size.

Summary: Tryed useing as a PC monitor useing HDMI as the input. Well that didn't work... It did display probably the best quality "XBOX" and "XBOX 360" images of all the TV's I've reveiwed.

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