Sharp's LC-52D85U LCD HDTV reviewed: at least the image quality rocks
By Darren Murph 
posted Jan 26th 2009 1:24AM
posted Jan 26th 2009 1:24AM
posted Jan 26th 2009 1:24AM
The percentage of sales people that recommend Samsung HDTVs.
Salespeople are also becoming less likely to recommend LCD sets over plasma sets, which goes against the industry trend.
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Well one would think that the main reason for buying a television is to watch it first of all, everything else is just extra. I mean why harsh on a television that gives the best picture quality you've seen?
Who cares if it doesn't have ethernet or SD slots, fact is, that this television probably has a better PQ than any other television out. I mean think about it, I've been watching television for 21+ years and never once did I care that I couldn't get yahoo news or play music through its speakers. I have other items for that which probably do a much better job.
the feature set is just not there to make this a good buy :( picture does look great, even in the store
Who cares about the SD card slot, these TV's look amazing and Sharp really have exceeded my expectations, they have excelled this time, kudos to Sharp!
I have a slightly older model 52 inch AQUOS, the picture is decent although feels a little 'ghosty'. The sound on it though is incredibly bad for built-in speakers and the menu is slow-responsive and difficult to navigate.
Learned my lesson I guess. Always stick to Sony or some other brand just as good. :|
I've really liked Sharp LCD's for the last few years, however, I have yet to find one with a decent menu/remote. Until they catch up to Sony in those aspects, I'll be paying much more for the same picture with the Sony. These things do indeed matter to some people.
Lets think about your comment and turn things around 'hopefully Sony catch up to Sharp with picture quality one day' :-)
Yeah exactly, I think Funkie missed the quote "this model provides the best picture for its price among the 50- and 52-inch sets" not sure where Funke's comment "for the same picture with the Sony" come from as it's not fact.
Too bad it's LCD, because as soon as you step to the side, that amazing image quality is going to go downhill fast.
It's all in how you use it. My LCoS has the same problem, but I have it in a corner so you never get out of the optimum viewing angles. Put the LCD on the narrow wall of a rectangle room and the viewing angle will never be a problem.
True, my bro-in-law has a Samsung in a corner and it looks okay for an LCD. For my money, I'd still rather have a VIERA or KURO though.
Honestly, if I see one more review blast a TV for not having PIP--I'm going to laugh harder than I already am. What a worthless, useless feature that is.
Why the hell do I need an SD slot on my tv? So I can look at pictures on it? No thanks.
Why the hell do I need a USB jack on my TV? So I can look at pictures on it? No thanks.
Why the hell do I need an ethernet jack on my TV? So I can look at pictures on it? No thanks.
Picture quality is king. And no TV comes with a good remote. Do yourself a favor and cough up a couple hundred bucks for a Logitech Harmony or something similar--you'll be happy you did.
Agreed... though I can see having a USB or Ethernet jack useful for firmware updates.
PQ is king though. All manufacturers should put their efforts on getting that right, and THEN worry about the other bells and whistles that are mere icing on the cake.
The real question is did Sharp fix their Banding issues?
To add to my point of displeasure, I had gotten two Sharp 64Us (46" & 52") at last year's Black Friday and they were my first entries into the world of LCD and HD. In the end, their response times are awesome and avoid any input lag in gaming situations. Yet even though that was a huge plus and the picture quality was above average even if blacks are more towards dark gray, the banding issues that Sharp has been unable to hurdle are barely visible on the 46" but still there and were unavoidable on the 52"s. I had to drop the 52D64U Sharp after having tried two models in hopes of getting a none banding set. So after giving up, I swapped out the 52 incher for my bad ass Samsung 52A750 to which maybe I shouldn't be complaining really, but I had to mention the whole ordeal.
Best Buy had the 50 inch Pioneer Kuro on sale last week for $2199.00. Is the set really better than the Kuro???
@elfjuice,
They probably meant of the LCDs (i.e., asterisk asterisk not including any Kuro product). Having said that, I would really like to see Sharp's "Spectral Contrast Engine UD (Ultra Dark) high Dynamic Contrast Ratio" word salad marketing talk stand up against Samsung's LED backlit Series 9 LCD or even the 5281F from last year.
Either way the Pioneer Kuro or the Sharp Aquos is a good buy, Sharp is the the controlling company of Pioneer anyway (since 2007), so I am sure Sharp would be happy with a Pioneer puchase also :-)
I really love my LC-42D85U. Picture Quality is outstanding to say the least. However it would be nice to have an Ethernet/USB port for firmware upgrades, I don't think its a deal breaker for me. Regarding the remote, it does suck, but I got a Harmony coming to me today to alleviate that. I'm used to the Sharp on screen menu system (while primative) from having a previous generation Aquos, if you can't figure out any TVs menu system after a day it might be due to an ID10T error.