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Home Theater Junkie - Sharp Aquos LC-45GD4U 45-Inch HD-Ready Flat-Panel LCD TV
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List Price: $8,499.99
Our Price:
Your Save: $ 8,499.99 ( 100% )
Availability:
Manufacturer: Sharp
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Batteries Included: 1
Binding: Electronics
Brand: Sharp
Display Size: 45
EAN: 0074000362475
Feature: Capable of displaying High Definition TV (HDTV) resolution with just a CableCARD from a cable-TV system provider
Label: Sharp
Manufacturer: Sharp
Model: LC-45GD4U
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Sharp
Studio: Sharp
Warranty: 1 year warranty
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Features
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Capable of displaying High Definition TV (HDTV) resolution with just a CableCARD from a cable-TV system provider
16:9 aspect ratio; 170-degree viewing angles
60,000-hour lamp life
800:1 contrast ratio
Table stand included
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: High Definition Television at its Best
Comment: The picture on this television is outstanding. We have it attached to an antenae and receive network sports in high definition for free!! We also have it hooked to a satelite dish, but are not paying the extra monthly fees for high definition as there are few channels to make it worthwhile. It was well packed, came in 3 days, and was easy to hook up. The price was far less than local stores and it is very highly rated by Consumer Reports.
Customer Rating:
Summary: great television
Comment: I recently received this monitor about 10 days after ordering it from Amazon. The HD picture quality is excellent. Personally I can't see any compression artifacts, even in scenes with a lot of movement. Also I have not noticed any dead or stuck pixels. I have not tuned the setting yet, and it seems the reds are a little too much. But the positives are the tv is very bright, I also have not noticed the lack of very "black" blacks that I have heard plasma owners discuss on message boards. From a product standpoint the TV has lived up to my expectations.
At first I was nervous about buying such an expensive and fragile purchase online, fearing damage during shipping. And while the shipping charge of $249 was a lot, it was worth it. It was delivered to my door, I could have refused shipment if the product was damaged, and it worked straight out of the box. Only 4 stars because I could not track the order online at amazon.com. I had to contact customer service, but they sent me the URL for the shipping company within 1 day, at which point I was happy.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Unreal HD Quality
Comment: NOTE: Don't buy this TV if you don't have access to an HD signal.
When the right signal is pumped into this unit, the picture is far better than either Plasma or DLP sets. From the blades of grass on a football field to the things i wish i never saw so well(newscasters NEED all that makeup, trust me)this TV tops them all.
Styling is a plus as well and the stand it comes on is just fine if you decide not to hang it on your wall.
I paid close to double what they are selling it for now 1 year ago and am now coming back for a second unit!!!!!!
Customer Rating:
Summary: I bought the next generation LC-445GD7U only available at Magnolia HIFI
Comment: The newer TV LC- 46GD7U, whick will probably be available at most big box stores soon, has a beautiful picture. However, there are problems with hooking it up to Comcast Cable if you use the cable card or cable box. There is NO documentation to tell you this in the manual so I spent more than 3 hours (with no help from the Sharp customer support) to figure it out. Most tvs require you to input the cable only to the "digital cable in" input, not with this tv. There is absolutely no documentation in the manual to help you out how to solve this problem. This TV requires a split cable cord output to the digital cable input and to the analog input. Then you must wait 24 hours for the TV to download the full digital system and, only then can you insert the cable card to the cable card slot. If you insert the cable card before then, you fry the cable card and have to get a new cable card. Sharp Corporation does nothing to help you! The manual is a joke and no where do they list a customer support telephone number in the manual or any of the documentation that comes with the TV. I had to find the customer support number on line. It is obvious that Sharp does not want you to call them or provide any customer support.
Don't buy this TV if you are not willing to put up with crappy service from Sharp. They have a long way to go in terms of manual documentation and customer support.
The reason I bought this tv was because it was not a plasma and supposedly does not have the problems with plasma tvs. But the price was twice higher than a plasma. Next time I will buy two plasmas and if one breaks, I will throw one away.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Spectacular monitor...but not nearly obsolescence proof
Comment: The 45" Sharp LC-45GD4U is a spectacular LCD HDTV monitor, with superb picture quality that stands up to anything currently on the market. Unfortunately, despite being one of the first 1920x1080 displays, it's not as obsolescence proof as you might think as it doesn't support 1080p resolution at this time without major workarounds. In English, this means that next-generation DVDs won't be displayed in maximum resolution and some HTPCs will have problems. Still, this is a marvelous HDTV; its just that if you're paying this much for it you shouldn't compromise at all - meaning I mark it down 1 star - and the one-year warranty is skimpy enough to take another half-star off. If you want better protection against obsolescence, look at the LC-45GX6U, which has an easier 1080p workaround.
LCDs and plasma each have their own camps; plasma offers better blacks and brighter pictures, where LCDs are easier to break in, have longer lives with a fairly simple repair, and don't wash out in the sunlight. (You need to watch for yourself to make up your own mind.) What's also neat is that (unlike plasma) there are now several LCDs that have reached the limits of HDTV broadcasts with 1920x1080 resolution; there are more coming in the next few months, but for now the three 45" Sharp 1920x1080 LCDs are tied with Samsung for the best native resolution and offer better picture quality comparable to the best plasmas. The difference between the models is minor. The GD4U has detachable side speakers and is silver, the GD6U has a detachable bottom speaker and is titanium, and the GX6U's tuner and scaler are in a standalone box (the GD4U and GD6U have an integrated one) and is also titanium with a detachable bottom speaker.
Picture quality is nothing short of spectacular. The blacks rival plasmas, there's no noticeable streaking, and you pretty much can't complain about how this treats any HDTV signal. There still aren't a lot of 1920x1080i HD signals out there (in fact, DirecTV and others just disappointingly cut their signals to 1280x1080i), but those that are display nicely and the 720p signals look good too. (For those slightly confused, HD transmits either in 720p (720 horizontal lines non interlaced) or 1080i (1080 lines interlaced)). One added benefit is that the hardware actually does a good job upscaling both standard broadcasts (480i) and DVDs (480p) to make them look decent. Can't argue with that, although you can tell the difference between the quality of this TV's integrated upscaling versus that of a separate $1000 high end scaler like the DVDO Iscan. Several other features are also useful. CableCARD is a good cheap second tuner (even though this version 1.0 doesn't support sending a signal back to the cable company, which means you can't buy PPV with it). This is also one of the few tuners whose Firewire connection works out of the box with the JVC DVHS VCRs - important as this will save you immense amounts of pain trying to save digital recordings. (Timeshifting is another matter as Sharp skimped on a program timer, but there are current workarounds and HD Tivo will be out in a year anyway.) Essentially, for anything you want to watch today this is about as good a toy as you can get.
So why not 5 stars?
The problem is that Sharp decided that the best you should be able to do with their hardware is to display a 1080i signal. That's fine for today, but the problem is that within a year there should in fact be numerous 1080p sources (in fact, there were several displayed at CES this year) and what's worse is Sharp is somewhat guilty of false advertising as the units are still advertised on Sharp's website as 1080p. In addition, if you're trying to hook up a PC to this the best the tuner will let you display is 1280x1024 resolution, an issue for those with HTPCs. To some extent this is a moot point - the competition is stuck at 1364x768, and it may be hard to tell 1080i from 1080p on a monitor as small as 45" - but there's really no excuse for a monitor that can display 1080p but can't because Sharp wanted to save $100 on hardware.
The good news is that the unit with a separate tuner (the GX6U) will happily display 1080p resolutions through the monitor's DVI input...but only if you disconnect the tuner and put your own source in. As a workaround its simple, but also requires a separate $250 DVI switcher if you don't want to constantly connect and disconnect. Unfortunately, with the GD4U and GD6U it's not nearly that easy as you can't bypass the integrated tuner. Furthermore, reported solutions have had notable degrades in picture quality. Sharp has mentioned they may push out an upgrade that would solve this, but I wouldn't hold your breath. Sony wants $3000 for their 1080p upgrade to the Qualia, which should tell you why Sharp hasn't yet implemented this.
Finally, the one year warranty (compared to three for most plasma units) is pretty skimpy, although reports of trouble with these monitors have been significantly less than plasma units.
Still, for today's signals, this can't be beat. I just think that if you're going to spend this much on a TV you should not have to think about buying another one for many, many years to come. Only the GX6U offers that for now, which is why I recommend that instead of the GD4U and GD6U. In any case, if you're patient, you should see prices come down on all three fairly shortly with increased competition and lower manufacturing failure rates. For now, though, the best game in town.
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Editorial Reviews:
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Sharp's LC-45GD4U is a breathtaking 45" widescreen HDTV1 that can easily enhance the decor of any family room, living room or den. The LC-45GD4U is the largest LC-TV on the market today (along with other 45" Sharp models), and it displays all content in full HD spec (1080p) resolution, the highest of the DTV resolutions. With a 16: 9 aspect ratio, unbeatable resolution of 1920 x 1080 and vivid color purity, it is a next-generation TV to carry you into the high-definition future.The LC-45GD4U utilizes Sharp's proprietary Advanced Super View/Black TFT Panel, which provides high brightness, an 800: 1 contrast ratio, and wide viewing angles (170 H x 170 V).With a fully integrated HDTV tuner and CableCARD compatibility, the LC-45GD4U is a complete state-of-the-art HDTV. This means you can "plug and play" with any HDTV-capable Digital Cable Ready cable TV system, without requiring a separate cable set-top box. The LC-45GD4U features an elegant new design with detachable speakers to ensure the sound is as outstanding as the picture. In addition, the table stand (included) can be easily removed for wall mounting applications.Other features that distinguish the LC-45GD4U: HDMI, DVI-I and 2 HD component video inputs, a PC Card slot which allows you to record and view still images and a video on a PC Card, and the next generation of Sharp's proprietary Quick Shoot video circuit, which enables a fast response time of less than 12ms.
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