Customer Reviews

Sharp Aquos LC46D85U 46-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's a great set and I would compare it favorably to any Sony that my peers have. No problems thus far.

Like a previous poster I was very concerned about the not too good CNET review, but bought anyway based upon my son's recommendation. I am very satisfied with what I've seen so far. It compares very favorably with my Sony Bravia that I paid considerably more for than the Aqous.

Set has excellent sound and provides very good audio output for surround system. The picture, onced adjusted away from the factory settings, is very vivid with great colors.

One caution to anyone ordering who might not be physcically able to lift a 51 pound tv set, the stand for the set must be assembled and attached to the set.

The "White Glove" delivery guys will not do it for you. They also will not connect any equipment (cable box, dvd, sat box, etc.) to the set. So, be prepared to have else available to do those things on delivery day.

All things considered, I'd do it again.

I ordered Sharp Aquos LC46D85U on 12/23/08 by Amazon.com and received it on 01/02/09.
PROS:
I mainly bought this television for gaming, animation, and as a home theater tv, let me tell you it didn't disappoint. Gamemode actually works, I did a test with Super Smash Bros. Melee with composite cables there seem to be no lag in gamemode, with component cables it looks much better and there seems to be zero lag in any of the tv's AV Mode. Unlike the Samsung I had, game mode didn't work with either cables that is if you're an advance player and you do all your "L-Canceling" with your f,b,u,d-air. I wanted to know how this tv will fair against a HTPC, so I connected it to one though via HDMI instead of VGA. I was testing HD out and the color was so bright and deep anime(720p) in HD is awesome!! 5 HDMI ports and 120Hz is a bonus, free blueray player is just a promotion, I would have bought this tv without it. YES YES picture quality! Digital Channel's look great, analog is okay too.
CONS:
Unfortunately my tv came with a defect with the power supply. On the day I receive the television I was excited to give it a try, so I hooked it up tried turning it on it just wouldn't turn on until 15 minutes or so. The tv works fine afterwards until you leave it OFF for a FEW HOURS , the same problem would occur. It wouldn't turn on a " cold start" so I decide to contact customer service. I emailed Amazon and waited 2-3 hours for a reply, I didn't get one so I called them. It was rather difficult to understand because I was talking to someone living OUTSIDE of US, she only asked for my info it took quite awhile she finally tried to redirect me to someone who can help but she said they were off. I was very upset, the next day I received the email from AMAZON, they told me to contact SHARP first and have a "case number" with them. I called Sharp, their customer service was terrible they told me if the dispatcher comes and nothing is wrong with the tv I had to pay for service on a BRAND NEW TV. With the defect I had the dispatcher could have came and said nothing was wrong with it if he/she was able to turn it on. I was extremely upset at that point, but I decided to put up with it and continue this daunting chain. Dispatcher called me the next day, he was on his way but Sharp gave him incorrect address and info for both of his customers that day including myself. Only thing that was correct was my "case number" and my "cell number." The dispatcher took my tv and told me he'll have it fix within 3 days. Three days now, so I give him a call he told me the part was on backorder now this really upsets me, he told that he will contact the part he is ordering and call me back. Never called me back so I called back, turns out he didn't even make the call, finally I was put on hold and he told me that the tv will be finish tomorrow. Hopefully it will be finish.
CONCLUSION:
I've been an Amazon customer for about 2 years now and have never been disappoint up until now. Amazon and Sharp's customer service was not helpful. I don't mind waiting a little, but calling and waiting for a response was very time consuming. Amazon should just arrange for a replacement, not make me contact Sharp first. 4 Stars for Tv's quality minus 1 star for defect, but mainly for customer service from Amazon and Sharp. I apologize for the long compliant, but I'm extremely upset with customer service and had to make sure everyone knows. Although I recommend this television I don't recommend buying it here as customer service was terrible. Good Television otherwise, amazing picture quality like some reviews have stated. Take my word if you have the money spend an extra hundred or two and buy it in stores.
UPDATES:
The power supply was replace on 01/09/09 as promised, but problem was not resolved. It was rechecked and delievered once again on the 01/12/09 but the problem was still occurring. He told me from day one that the problem could either be the power supply or control panel. So my local dispatcher replace the control panel board and delivered the television the next day. Everytime the dispatcher delivered the tv, he was always reassuring me that he will get it fix, if not Sharp will personally replace it. After a few days of testing the issue is finally RESOLVED on 01/13/09. The TV came back with some minor scratches (only visible up close) on the frame which doesn't concern me and no visible scratches on the LCD. I was concern about the quality of the tv after repair, but I guess it still okay now. Sorry, this is not really a good review on the tv itself but just some issue you might encounter.
FINAL COMMENTS:
2D fighting games seems to be lagless on ps2 with component cables, I'm pretty sure DDR and Guitar Hero will be lagless too. Cables Matter. Oh, I forgot to mention that yes this model has a 10 bit LCD panel. Not really sure what this is yet, but I'm pretty sure that it has something to do with the quality rather than a 8 bit panel. Thank you for your time!

Regards Diana

I'm completely satisfied with the Sharp Aquos LCD TV. I looked at many brands, including both the Sony and Samsung. Both are considered top of the line TV's. The only problem is you're going to spend several hundred dollars more. I think you're paying for the name and to me it wasn't worth the extra money. The Sharp picture in my opinion is excellent. The 10 watt sound system is a bit weak, but if you're going to hook it up to a home theater system, it doesn't really matter. Sharp has a 1 yr warranty that they'll extend to 15 months just for enrolling in the Aquos Advantage program. They also have a dedicated toll free number for the Aquos line. I called a couple times to ask questions on setting the TV up. The calls were answered promptly, i.e. no answering machines, and my questions were answered. I would buy this TV again.

We have had our eye on Sharp TVs for a while. I started looking at a similar item in walmart LC46SB54U only to find out the reason it was so cheap is because it was only 60hz. So I started looking at the 120hz Sharp TVs. The picture in Walmart was enough to get me started.

I found this model on Best Buys site and was a little concerned there were no reviews of it on here or Best Buy, so I did all my own research. It had everything I wanted; PC input, HDMI, Component in and Optical out. I kept my eye on the prices for a while and finally jumped on it when it came down to $1212 and then we added the free Blu Ray player. AWESOME DEAL!

The TV itself is very handsome. Clean frame with nothing flashy. We used the base for a short time until we picked up a new stand that hung the TV.

Initial impressions; awesome picture. But we knew this ahead of time by finding the same model in the Best Buy store. Picture was either just as good or better than most others on the wall. 46" is perfect for our room.
Some mention the sound is weak, I cant comment on this as I do not use the TV's speakers as we are hooked into the home theater all the time.

DVD impressions, I was a little disappointed in the quality. Although this is not the TV's fault I am still using a 4 year old Sony DVD player with 480p Progressive scan. I am told they will look better on the upconverting Blu Ray player.

Still waiting on the Free Blu Ray player, but I imagine it was on back order, so I cant comment on Blu Ray picture yet either.

I also have this TV hooked into my computer via VGA cable to watch movies from the computer. Sure they are not as high quality, but I really cant complain.

The only downside I have found with this TV is there is no clock function to be viewed on the screen. I miss that from my SD RCA 32". The only reason I am giving this TV 4 stars is nothing is perfect and can always be improved upon. I would give it 4 1/2 if that was an option.

I am not disappointed in this TV. We did our research and believe we have found the best product for the money. I have also compared this to my Father in law's HD 60" DLP and a friends 52" DLP and the picture again is just as good or better. You will not be disappointed!

Update 1/21/09: I have found something that is slightly bothersome to me about this TV and that is the Black Levels. During the day and in the light the TV looks fantastic. However, at night in a totally dark room, the black levels are not that great. Sure the color and everything is uniform, but instead of being black, it is more of a dark grey. I suppose this may be an issue with all backlit televisions, so I wont complain, but just something I noticed. Otherwise all is good up to this point and the bluray player gets delivered tomorrow. I will update after checking out the picture.

I have been using this set intensely for about five days now hooked up to a SONY PS3 via HDMI and I am completely in love with it! I cross-shopped this Aquos against the SONY Bravia and Samsungs for a LONG time and concluded this to be equal, or superior, in picture quality.

Pros:
- The picture is incredible!
- 1080p + 120Hz for a great price!
- Lots of inputs (5x HDMI+ others (Component, A/V, S-VHS))
- The remote has some back-lit buttons (channel, volume, menu, input-select, etc.) and can control devices by other brands (quite common these days).
- Some other reviews have complained about the speakers. I am quite a snob myself when it comes to watching movies, and like to have the BOSE up LOUD, but I watched X-Men III, LoTR RoTK, and Cars with no extra speakers hooked up and I never felt like I was missing out. There is no significant bass, of course, but vocals and music were very crisp and clear, and the "Surround" feature works quite well to expand the sound field and fill a small room. It was loud enough that my daughter asked me to turn it down, but was not breaking-up or cracking at all.

Cons:
- It seems to take a little while to change channels. This may be the nature of these TVs, I don't know, it just seems a lot slower than my old CRT.
- There is no Picture-In-Picture on this model. I liked being able to kill time on a game while keeping an eye on a show in the corner of my screen so I knew when it was back from commercial.
- The only audio outs are RCA L&R or an Optical (TOSLink) jack. My old BOSE LS-50 only has a Coax Digital in, so I needed to grab an Optical-to-Coax converter for $22 bucks.

No biggies, all-in-all. This is pretty much considered to be a "Value Panel" (by industry standards). If they have to skimp on something I would rather that it be seldom-used features, rather than quality or reliability.

I waited for the industry to settle on "1080p" and was ready to buy, then the 120Hz refresh rate came out and I was wowed. I know that LED backlit panels are on the way, and OLED (if they can get the prices down and the blues to last longer) are shortly after that, but I do not know of any other technologies "around the corner" which will make this TV obsolete anytime soon. I feel badly for the people who bought 720p sets and cannot appreciate the full experience of Blu-Ray or HD Games, it is quite breathtaking! ~Daneshep

I have a theory that a product should NOT try to be the do all and end all wiz-bang thingie of the year. This is exemplified for the LC46D85U from Sharp. It is sold as a great TV with all of the right specs... 1080P, 120hz, 4ms response time. Many of the other features that some mfg's are adding to their sets are this year's fads and will be useless or gone as quickly as they arrived.

Anyway... the TV arrived 5 days after ordering it from Amazon - CEVA (delivery company) was great. The only thing I did not want them to do is power the set on. It was -10F on the delivery day so powering anything on that cold is not a good idea.

Setup was "easy" - although every TV's menu system has its own quirks. I have it attached to a Cable set top box (Comcast - HDMI), QAM through the RF connection (clear QAM on Comcast on some channels is better than through the set top box) and audio back through our aging stereo. All in time to watch the inauguration in fabulous HD.

Today I added one more feature - connected my 3 year old Mac Mini and am using it as a DVD player - not blu-ray but a commendable job. The Mac also delivers as a media center with Front Row - the TV acts as a perfect monitor. Connection from the Mac is via DVI-HDMI cable from Belkin (Apple Store - $20) - do not connect via VGA. On the first boot, the monitor came up in glorious 1080P - the only adjustment I had to make was change the TV to "dot-to-dot" out of zoom" mode. Perfect.

All in all, avoid being persuaded by certain reviews... it is in the eye of the beholder. Great TV!!

Oh man what a picture. I don't know what those cnet reviewers ment when they said the picture wasn't very good. It was geek-a-nese to me. I was concerned about the review, but the awesome deal (with blu-ray) was to good to pass up.

The Sharp LC46D85U is exactly what we expect. Excellent pictures and color. The sound is a little weak, as was reported in all the reviews. Amazon has handled this transaction faultlessly, all the way from initial acknowledgment to shipment tracking. The truckers deliver the shipment right on time and insisted on opening up the box and power up to make sure everything is alright. It is what it should be. Great job, Amazon!

The picture on this TV was great. I had to replace my other Sharp because the LCD got cracked. Was hesitant at first because of the reviews; however, the TV picture itself was great. All the DIRECTV HD channels come alive and Blu Ray movies are fantastic. No banding issues. The service and price from Amazon was also superior to anything I've dealt with. The delivery service was on time and very professional. They took the TV out of the box, tested it and got rid of all the packaging. This was really a great transaction. I would definitely buy a TV from Amazon again.