Sharp Aquos LC

Look this way, bargain hunters! Okay, so this 80-inch Sharp TV isn’t exactly Argos fodder, but it is a hell of a lot more affordable than any TVs this ginormous.

The Sharp Aquos LC-80LE632U isn’t a ‘premium’ TV, according to Sharp, lacking as it does local dimming and 3D, Crave US reporst. Without those features it’s one for the spare room, we reckon.

We jest, of course. It’s massive. It does have 1080p HD resolution and a 120Hz mode, and it’s a smart TV too, with Wi-Fi, hundreds of apps, and a remote setup service called Aquos Advantage Live. This lets trained Sharp employees help you with setup over the Internet without having to set foot in your house, or give you clumsy instructions over the phone. It’s a little like when the IT dude at work takes control of your mouse to do something on your PC while in another room.

And of course, it is still massive, as you can see from this picture.

So what’s the damage? This set rings in at $5,499 (£3,500) — not exactly cheap, but much more affordable than other sets anywhere near this size. It’s quite bizarre for a TV manufacturer to release a TV this huge for consumers, without all the bells and whistles. Maybe it was planned as a top of the range model, but then someone remembered the world was in financial meltdown and killed a couple of features.

The set is US-only at the moment. There’s no word of a UK release but we’ll bring you more as we get it.

Would you spend three-and-a-half grand on a huge TV? Let us know down in our spacious comments section, or on our jumbo-sized Facebook page.

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Sharp Aquos LC

Sharp has obviously decided that new tellies aren’t the order of the (Valentine’s) day when a new lick of paint will do. So, with the greeting-card industry’s favourite 24 hours looming, the
Sharp Aquos LC-19D1E
high-definition television is getting a new red edition.

Going red is a good thing. LG may have annoyed the heck out of us when it turned Scarlet, but long-time Craveologists will have noticed that red became our new accent colour in CNET UK’s recent facelift. We like the LC-19D1E, describing it in our review as: “A great all-round performer at an affordable price… It’s the best-value small-screen TV we’ve seen yet.”

The LC-19D1E is a mere 19 inches corner to corner, but does boast a 176° viewing angle and 1,366×768-pixel resolution — perfect for catching up with our current favourite redhead, Mad Men‘s razor-tongued Joan Holloway.

The LC-19D1E is available from March, for a scant £250, or thereabouts. You ‘red’ it here first. Well, here, actually, but we couldn’t resist the pun.

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Sharp Aquos LC

Here at Crave we often get asked about 1080p 32-inch LCD televisions and our stock response is that at such small sizes the benefits of a high-resolution screen are small. You might as well save your money and get a 720p TV. Full HD does appeal to gamers though, who often have a limited amount of space but insist on 1080p for ultra-real bloodshed. Sharp’s tilting at this particular windmill with the Aquos LC-32XL8E.

The 32XL8E is a tidy little beast, featuring Sharp‘s new-look thin bezel, which means you can cram it into an even smaller space, which makes it ideal for bedrooms and studies. It also, somehow, manages to support 100Hz, which means more stability and less flickering on movies. Especially important for Blu-ray lovers.

The good news is that you get three HDMI sockets as well as VGA, component and a pair of Scart inputs. There’s also an optical digital output to connect a speaker bar or AV receiver to boost the sound produced by the 10W built-in speakers. It goes almost without saying that the TV has a Freeview tuner, which is essential given the impending analogue shutdown.

Hopefully the Sharp will save you money on electricity, with the company claiming that the TV only uses 0.4W in standby. You’ll want to actually turn it off when you aren’t using it to save a few more precious pre-recession pennies. You could just not buy a new TV, of course, but that’s crazy talk.

It’s not the cheapest 32-inch TV we’ve seen, at around £750, but if you simply must have 1080p and you’re short of space, your options are going to be slightly limited. -Ian Morris

Update: Read our full Sharp Aquos LC-32XL8E review here.

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Sharp Aquos LC

Sharp has announced a new range of flagship televisions with a whole host of extra features — including an integrated PVR with a 160GB hard drive to record stuff and 100Hz technology to reduce the motion blur often seen on LCD televisions.

There are two models in the range, the LC-46HD1E and the LC-52HD1E — one is 46 inches and the other 52. We’re sure you’ll be able to guess which is which. The rest of the features are no less impressive. Both screens boast a response time of 4ms. Sharp claims a contrast ratio of 15,000:1 when it’s in ‘dynamic contrast’ mode.

The 100Hz feature is becoming more common on LCD screens, as the manufacturers try to squeeze every last ounce of performance out of the technology. The Sharp 100Hz system increases the frame rate by filling in the gap between two frames based on what’s just been shown.

Other features on the HD1E include a USB socket for connecting digital cameras and memory sticks, and two HDMI sockets for hooking up high-definition satellite and cable receivers, games consoles and your choice of Blu-ray or HD DVD.

There’s also a feature that automatically reduces the volume during adverts, which should cut down on the number of people who have a heart attack when that Barry Scott bloke starts yelling about Cillit Bang without warning. -IM

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Sharp Aquos LC

Whenever a 1080p television comes into the Crave office, there is always a certain shimmer of excitement in the air. With the imminent arrival of the PlayStation 3 we don’t want to be playing our games at 1080i: these days we demand 1080p.

So when the Sharp Aquos LC-37XD1E arrived we couldn’t get it out of the box quick enough. This wasn’t entirely due to our excited fumbling as Sharp delivered this TV in, well, we’ve never before seen packing tape this tough: it appeared to be made of transparent titanium gripping vines.

When we finally did manage to laser our way in, there was delight all round: this is one sweet-looking TV. It’s finished in glossy black, a style we’re really keen on. A quick hunt for speakers led us to the underside of the screen, where a beautiful thin speaker grille is located. It was easy to fit the included stand too, which is always a bonus.

Aside from supporting 1080p, this 37-inch screen also has an integrated Freeview receiver, two HDMI sockets, the usual Scart and composite video-in, as well as an RGB connection for hooking up a PC. Curiously, despite having a 1,920×1,080-pixel panel, the Sharp can only accept a PC input of up to 1,280×1,024 pixels, which is something of a missed opportunity. That said, its 6ms response time should make the TV ideal for gamers — something we plan on testing with the aforementioned PS3. Extensively.

If we were the sort of people who judged books by their covers, we’d almost certainly say “buy this TV now”. But we aren’t, so stay tuned for a review of the Aquos LC-37XD1E soon. -IM

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