Tillie says:

This is the first LCD television I have purchased. Like most, my familiarity with LCD’s has been with computer monitors (Apple, in our case). Our other televison, which I would describe as the primary viewing unit, is 42 inches with 1080i cable and 720 DVD. As such, it provides a good basis for comparison. BTW: this set will be used in a “media” room, where I keep the stereo gear; sort of a second TV.

First, with any relatively complex technology, purchase from a reputable dealer. While I did pay more (over 10%) than “mail order”, the advice was top notch and there is a 30 day return policy; no questions asked.

Second, when you view (side by side) units in a store, make sure the source material is similar to what you will utilize. If you do not have 1080 digital and you make your selection with only that programing, you will be mightily disappointed. Take a DVD that you are familiar with and have the dealer play it. This will give you a good basis for evaluation.

In our case, it was appropriate to compare with 1080 and normal analog signal. As such my utterly subjective analysis is:

-The Sony Bravia (XBR) was, as it should be, excellent; however, there was no discernable difference meriting another $800.00;

-The Samsung was also quite nice; but, again, very similar to the Sharp and Toshiba; also, it was a few hundred dollars more.

-The Toshiba and Sharp were, based upon my observations (yours may differ) identical, with a negligible difference in image quality compared to the Sony and Samsung. All sets were the most recent models, some with build dates in July. (Curiously, the Panasonic was inferior to the other four.)

Why, then, purchase the Sharp? Glad you asked:

-It was the least expensive of the four I was considering. I usually do not look for bargains in electronic gear; however, if the quality is the same, money is still money.

-6 ms rate; this may be irrelevant, but to my PS2 (soon to be PS3) colleagues, it sure is a neat conversation piece (”What does your set do? Only 8 ms? You poor sloth”).

-Excellent accessibility to component plugs and jacks, and a goodly number of them.

-The salesman, from whom I have purchased a number of toys, gave it his thumbs up (it is nice to know that Eric has thumbs).

My initial reactions are that this is a first rate piece of electronics that will do the job very nicely. It is quite likely that several other brands would have performed just as well. Much of the nuanced talk of subtle differences in LCD’s (particularly the nature of the manufacturing process) is worthless jargon; trust your eyes and, if you are lucky to run into an intelligent and well meaning dealer/saleman, trust his/her opinion, as well. They do spend most of their waking hours ruining their retinas on these things.

One bit of advice: when in doubt, go larger. The 32, viewed from about 9-10 feet is very impressive. A 37 or 40 would be more impressive, still. If I was to do it over, that would be my only alteration. The $400-$600 difference is worth it. However, if you are on a budget, do not shy away from the 32; but, if you are able, spring for the larger unit.

Curt says:

1.0 out of 5 stars
No picture at all, not resolved through sharp.
I bought this TV on 10/9/06 and in 5/08, with the warranty expired, the TV began to lose the picture completely, no menus no picture.

Huela says:

I’ve had this TV for a few months now, and it’s performance has been flawless. The picture is gorgeous. (NB: Change the “mode” to standard instead of dynamic, which is the garish factory setting.) The 6ms response time means no blurring. Not a single bad pixel.

My usual picture, which I receive through Dish Network satellite, is very good, but I got an extra bonus that I didn’t expect. I stuck an old rabbit ears and bow tie antenna to the antenna jack just for laughs, and lo and behold, I now receive fabulous High Definition broadcasts from all the local stations. This was totally unexpected, because I barely got standard TV signals (thus, the satellite). Caution: Most of the source material isn’t recorded in high-def, even though it’s a “high-def broadcast”. But when you have a real high-def picture, believe me, you’ll notice the difference! Watching sports in high-def is a revelation.

Final advantage: HDMI jacks for the best possible connection to your DVD player, etc. Highly recommended.

Murphy says:

4.0 out of 5 stars
AQUOS 32D41U
Color, sound, looks all fine. Found the manual to be overly complicated. Still dont know if stereo sound is working as the indicator keeps changing from mono to stereo.