Sharp Aquos LC37XD1E (37" 1080p HD Ready) LCD TV - €999 [Currys]

Basq

Just bought this today and am very happy with my purchase. Haven't collected it yet though as i'd no car with me when i bought it!

Reduced from €1399 to €999.. and got 5 year extended warranty for only €199 (which is very good value for this size TV.. and the salesperson was convinced it was a mistake). And got a very nice sturdy stand for it too which he took over €100 off.

Reviews (1, 2, 3 - the first 3 results i got in Google) for it i've read are generally very positive and for a 1080p, it's a bargain!

Amazon are selling it for £750 sterling too so price is obviously fairly decent.

6digitnumber

That does look like a very sweet offer. I've been thinking of getting a Samsung LE37R87BDX because it gets great marks for its standard definition performance, can anyone tell me what this Sharp TV is like with standard def?

Basq

Funny you say that as apparently it's weakness is with standard def. It's not terrible but i think the 3rd review brings attention to it. Best give it a read!

From the third review:

The majority of your viewing schedule is still likely to be taken up with standard definition material. The LC37XD1E does the best it can with the signal, but there's no escaping the fact you're watching a low resolution source. Freeview images were sharp, but there were noticeable artefacts from the compression visible.

It's really supposed to be used for HD material.

Will be collecting it tomorrow so will give you an opinion then but don't watch enough standard def TV to even notice it.

Qwerty?

Just home from setting one of these up for my Father in law. Standard def as far as I can tell so far is not brilliant. Apparently reviews say in HD it's amazing. I have hooked it up to a Upscaling DVD which is excellent. I'll have some more tweaking to do tomorrow.

6digitnumber

basquille wrote: »

Will be collecting it tomorrow so will give you an opinion then but don't watch enough standard def TV to even notice it.

Please do:) I don't have SkyHD, only crappy chorus so having decent Standard def is important for me. Great price for a Full HD 37" though, for an Irish store anyways!

Basq

Just found a massive thread (almost at 40 pages) all about the TV over at AVForums. Various peoples opinions and images from the TV in operation.

Only on page 2 but plenty of lovely images of it showing crystal clear standard definition (couple of images here of the TV showing standard definition: http://www.avforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3954499&postcount=33).

The full thread is here: http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=437300

Definitely buy it if you can.. but like i said, i'll try and give a more comprehensive review tomorrow.

EDIT: It's £699 on the Curry site here!

6digitnumber

Well that bloke in the avforums thread seems dead pleased with the SD picture! I am very interested in this set now...Let us know how it looks for you when you get it all set up:)

shanethemofo

Anyone know if pcworld are selling these as well?

brightkane

wheres our review!

Basq

There'll be problems with a review for Standard Definition as i don't have even an analogue service in my apartment as i'm waiting for Chorus Digital to be setup in the coming weeks. But there's plenty of positive opinions on the AV Forums of Standard Definition saying it has a knack of making "SD look close to HD" (quote from the forum).

So it's definitely worth a buy!

Currys in Sligo had 5 of them left when i was in there. But i had no car with me so was gonna get it delivered but he said i'd to wait for one from Dublin and it'd be a week or two. And he checked on his computer and said there was none in Dublin, none in Galway but can be back-ordered (but no guarantee i'd get it) so i bought it there and then. And it's put behind for me to collect today.

It's on the front of their catalogue which i got in the store anyways, so i'd imagine there's bound to be a few left around the country irregardless of what was said.

Will give a review of the set later for DVD / HD TV Rips but like i said I can't give much of a review for SD i'm afraid.

guest

basquille wrote: »

It may have been a mistake. I used to work for Currys. The Coverplan is drilled into the salespeople...they'll do anything to sell it. See they have to reach 8% Coverplan of their total sales or they are in serious sh1t.

Sometimes the wrong Coverplan code would come up, i.e. I'd bring up a €2500 TV on the computer, and the Coverplan associated with it would cover a TV worth between €1500-2000.

Legally, they must provide you with full coverage if you need to make a claim. I don't mean to worry you. Most of the staff are good people and again, it MIGHT be a mistake. Just if you do need to make a claim and they try to fob you off by saying it was the incorrect category code, remind them that the legal system doesn't sympathise with a silly computer system!

On another note, a good buy. 1080P is always the best way to go and I personally find the picture on Sharp LCDs to be even crisper than other brands incl Sony.

End of rant!:)

Basq

Cheers for the insight into the CoverPlan JossisBoss.

Yeah, the salesperson expected it to be around €420 - €450 for the extended warranty. And was amazed when it showed up €199 which he said is the price for the 5 year warranty for a standard CRT. The only reason he could come up with was when they reduced the TV, the price for cover was also reduced.

My brother bought a 42" Philips last week in there and said the warranty they quoted him was around the €400 mark so he didn't go for it but for €199, i had to go for it really!

PS - currently in the process of tearing apart my sitting room in order to make room for the new TV and stand. Absolute nightmare!

Akula

Bought this last week. Its a great set, sd and hd images are amazing. Only limitation is the strange input configuration... but if you are happy to put everything through hdmi then you have everything you really need.

Basq

Yeah, read about the inputs alright. I've got a scart box which will accept 3 inputs of scart cable but isn't there only 1 component connection in the back? I've got an XBOX and Media Drive which could both use that.

Going up to collect it in about 20 minutes anyways.

6digitnumber

JossisBoss wrote: »

It may have been a mistake. I used to work for Currys. The Coverplan is drilled into the salespeople...they'll do anything to sell it. See they have to reach 8% Coverplan of their total sales or they are in serious sh1t.

I rang the Currys store in Cork earlier today, they told me the prices for extended warranty for this set are as follows.

2 Year: 169.99
3 Year: 179.99
5 Year: 199.99

Very strange pricing scale there. 30 Euro diff between 2 year and 5 year! The 199.99 for 5 years seems to be what they have on their system though, mistake or not.

Basq

Alright so it's fully set up and all.. will take pictures tomorrow of it

First impressions: the sound is magnicent, video needs a bit of tweaking. Looks great on DVD's (just watched some of 'Planet Earth' on it.. phenomenal!). But my HDTV rips were are slightly off but it may have been settings on the media drive i was playing it off. The XBOX looks stunning on it.

Like i said, i can't really test SD.

All in all, can't go wrong for the money as the set is true HD and it does HD amazingly well. There's a couple of people giving optimal settings for picture over at the AVForums so gonna input them and see can i get the best out of it.

Took a few low quality pictures on my camera phone just to show my setup.. will take some better ones tomorrow.

1, 2, 3, 4

Basq

HOLY CRAP!

I just had my XBOX plugged in via Scart and it looks great. I plugged it via Component Cables and it's possibly the cripest clearest image i've ever seen!

Probably why my HDTV rips from my media drive looks off.. they're scart. Will try component for them too.

Shame there's only the one component input!

banchang

basq that looks great - well done & enjoy

what are component cables ?

Basq

banchang wrote: »

basq that looks great - well done & enjoy

what are component cables ?

Cheers.. it is a lovely piece of kit but minor quibble is i tried watching something on my media drive tonight and during bright scenes, the brightness would be pumped up and during dark scenes, it'd be lowered. Quite odd. But it's fine on DVD's so i think it's just the media drive itself. Might look into it a bit!

Oh.. and component cables are 3 cables (blue, green and red) which you recieve with most video equipment nowadays but not all TV's support it (hence the need for scart). Image of them below.. the only problem is i have my XBOX and Media Drive component cables (and only 1 input so have to look into some kind of switcher to switch between the two).

shanethemofo

anyone know if currys deliver in ireland? Living in waterford and we dont have one down here.

Edit: or any online shops?

Makaveli

basquille wrote: »

the only problem is i have my XBOX and Media Drive component cables (and only 1 input so have to look into some kind of switcher to switch between the two).

You could get the VGA cable for the 360 and connect it using that. Some people claim the colours are slightly more washed out using VGA but it's still a viable option. I have my 360 hooked up to a 19" LCD monitor using the VGA cable and the picture looks really good to me.

6digitnumber

What exactly does Currys extended warranty cover? I've heard it said before that it's not worth the paper it's printed on. Not my words, but the opinions of some other consumers on other websites.

Can you choose to purchase the extended warranty sometime after you buy the TV? So as I can take the terms and conditions home and see exactly what's covered

Stokolan

shanethemofo wrote: »

anyone know if currys deliver in ireland? Living in waterford and we dont have one down here.

Edit: or any online shops?

Have a look in PCworld. Pcworld, Curry's and Dixens are all the one afaik the offers might carry over to the other shops or they might not. worth a look tho!

tman

Makaveli wrote: »

You could get the VGA cable for the 360 and connect it using that. Some people claim the colours are slightly more washed out using VGA but it's still a viable option. I have my 360 hooked up to a 19" LCD monitor using the VGA cable and the picture looks really good to me.

I'd advise on getting the VGA cable as well (or even HDMI if possible... can't remember if basquille managed to get a 360 with HDMI or not...)
From my brief testing, VGA seems to be a good bit better than component for the 360
Bear in mind though, that some backwards compatibility games (namely Halo...) wont work with the VGA cable, so it might be worth hanging onto the component cable as well

Basq

Sorry, the component cables are hooked in via VGA. There's no direct component input.. there's an adapter provided with the TV to plug your component cable into and then the adapter plugs into a VGA input. It looks great that way though - i'll try and take a good picture of it later. It's crisp and colourful. Looks amazing!

tman: Oh.. and HDMI on my XBOX is a no-no. I got my XBOX just before they started releasing them with HDMI. Yes, i was pissed about that!

6digitnumber: The Curry's extended warranty covers any non-malicious to the screen. Basically, if the screen fails in the next 5 years - you'll get vouchers to the value you paid for the TV as the LCD's are not really viable for repair. But the warranty doesn't cover damage to the frame etc. It's worth the extra €200 as if the screen fails, i have a comeback.

Will try and take a couple of better photos later but if you can get this TV somewhere, i can't recommend it enough!

lynchie

Bought the 42" version of this in January and have to say its one of the best tvs I've ever bought. Have it hooked up to Sky HD box via hdmi.. SD quality is very good and HD is unbelievable.. Even better is the tv will do proper 1:1 mapping over hdmi with a PC so u get full 1920:1080 resolution in XP.

banchang

the only problem is i have my XBOX and Media Drive component cables (and only 1 input so have to look into some kind of switcher to switch between the two).
[/QUOTE]


is this the type of adapter you need for you scart box ?

Akula

I've hooked up my pc using a dvi->hdmi adapter. The only res I can get it to work on it is 1778x1000

Running it at 1920x1080 means the task bar and an area at the top of the screen are cut off. Any ideas?

Basq

banchang wrote: »

is this the type of adapter you need for you scart box ?

That's simply to convert the component cables to a scart input (which i have), but the scart input for the XBOX looks less impressive than when it's hooked directly into VGA via component cables.

It's pretty complicated all the choice of inputs i have. Will take a photo of them all this evening and the choice of inputs at the back of the TV.

Below is how the VGA Adapter looks (that i got with the TV) so i plug my component cables (red, green, blue) into that and then into the VGA socket on the back.



The problem is that there's only one VGA adapter to plug into and i've two sets of component cables.

banchang

something like this would do it?

http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-86-49-en-70-2cs.html

Basq

Cheers for the link banchang. That looks great!

The only problem i see is i'd need 2 inputs with the YUV interface (red, blue, green) and it only shows 1 at the back (second section over).



EDIT: This (or this, or this) type of thing would do it. Will have a look on EBay tonight!

lynchie

Akula wrote: »

I've hooked up my pc using a dvi->hdmi adapter. The only res I can get it to work on it is 1778x1000

Running it at 1920x1080 means the task bar and an area at the top of the screen are cut off. Any ideas?

U need to enable underscan on the tv.. On the remote.. at the bottom, the part that clips out.. there should be another 4-5 buttons.. there is one button that looks like <-||-> or something like that.. press that and u can change from full to underscan and back again..

heggie

are these actually in stock anywhere, or do they need to be ordered?

Basq

heggie wrote: »

are these actually in stock anywhere, or do they need to be ordered?

As i said previously - when the salesperson brought it up on the computer, it said they had none in stock in their branches. But it COULD be ordered so go into a Currys and ask about it.

6digitnumber

The still have some in stock in Cork. Offer ends tomorrow though. I got mine, getting it delivered tomorrow...I didn't purchase the extended warranty right away, you have up to 12 months to take that offer up, so I can buy it in 11 months time for example.

heggie

cheers, will have a look

Akula

What does underscanning mean? Am I degrading the image by using that option?

Akula

What do you need to do to take up the warranty offer? I heard that you need to bring the tv back into the store. Any truth in it?

Basq

Akula, i'd say taking in your receipt is enough.

shanethemofo

would you say its still a good deal @ €1,199.00?

heggie

bought it today, very impressed, have 2 more left in carrickmines. (not sure if that price is over?)

Basq

shanethemofo wrote:

would you say its still a good deal @ €1,199.00?

It's a good deal at that i'd say..

As you can see in that AV Forums thread i linked to, people were racing out to buy it when it was £1100 (that's sterling) and it was sold out most places.

But if you're anywhere near a Currys, phone them and ask. Won't hurt!

PS - the only problem i'm having with is what i mentioned earlier about the brightness issue. When it's a dark scene, it lowers down the brightness overall and when it's a bright scene, it increases it. I found a feature which was turned on called OPC which is (and i quote):

A standout feature of the AQUOS line of TVs is OPC, which automatically adjusts the bulb's brightness level based on ambient light levels around the TV, giving users an optimal picture and preserving the brilliance of their TV for years to come.

I thought it might be this.. but i switched this off and it's still doing the same thing. I'm gonna figure it out eventually. Annoying though especially when watching dark scenes.

But nice feature of it i discovered is TruD which is (and i quote again):

Sharp's TruD anti-judder technology, which is claimed to boost picture, contrast and sharpness, as well as producing smoother playback from DVDs.

This is amazing.. there's an option to split the screen to show one half with TruD on and one with TruD off and the difference it makes is nothing short of phenomenal!

6digitnumber

Mine is arriving tomorrow. The only source I have to test it with is a DVD player, wont have chorus installed till next week. I will let you know if I have the same brightness issue as you basquille...also let us know if you find a solution for it!

Basq

6digitnumber wrote: »

Mine is arriving tomorrow. The only source I have to test it with is a DVD player, wont have chorus installed till next week.

Similar situation to me so but even reception through my rabbit ears is excellent. Will take a picture tomorrow just to show you how good even a signal from rabbit ears can be. And you'll need to bear in mind that the reception in the same place using the same aerial on our old TV was brutal.

DVD and HDTV looks magnificent though.. that's for damn sure. First thing you do when you put in a DVD is try the TruD feature.

To do this, put in a renowned DVD transfer that you know will look good (Spiderman, Lord Of The Rings, The Matrix etc). Start playing it, open the little hatch at the bottom of the remote and click TruD. The screen with get a white line up the middle with the left hand side having TruD disabled and the right hand side having TruD enabled. And wait til you see the difference. More LCD's need this!!

6digitnumber wrote: »

I will let you know if I have the same brightness issue as you basquille...also let us know if you find a solution for it!

It's obviously the OPC feature but trying to get it to behave is what's tricky. I put in a post over at AVForums about it so will let you know if i get a response.

pauly3

I bought this TV last week and have it connected to a Sky Digibox. The SD quality is very good, after some tweaking of the settings. Watching CSI, Prison Break, Lost or any other programs originally shot in HD is amazing, almost like watching HD itself. Very crisp, clean images, almost no pixellation. Would recommend it to anyone for the price!

heggie

is the brightness issue not to do with the av mode? turn it off dynamic?

replytohere2004

basquille wrote: »

........ and got 5 year extended warranty for only €199 (which is very good value for this size TV.. and the salesperson was convinced it was a mistake).

Apparently we have up to 6 years protection on goods in Ireland.

there was a discussion on the Consumer Issues board a few months back:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055136579

Basq

heggie wrote: »

is the brightness issue not to do with the av mode? turn it off dynamic?

Tried all AV modes.. results are the same.

replytohere2004 wrote: »

Apparently we have up to 6 years protection on goods in Ireland.

there was a discussion on the Consumer Issues board a few months back:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055136579

That whole area is questionable of whether it applies here.. i'd rather pay (what works out at €40 a year) and be sure of a comeback.

aidankk

have this tv for almost a year 42" model and altough its great in general, watching sport in SD is not great, there is a lot of smudging etc, must get my HD sub ASAP..

The pitch can look like one huge green smudge but this is often dependant on which station you are watching..

I also have this conected to quality upscaling dvd player and it is top notch with upscaled dvds looking like HD material...

Buy at this price, but maybe make sure and get the Sky HD if football is the main viewing...

replytohere2004

basquille wrote: »

That whole area is questionable of whether it applies here.. i'd rather pay (what works out at €40 a year) and be sure of a comeback.

Sale of Goods and Service Act 1980 is Irish law so naturally it applies here.

According to the email 'Elessar' received from the National Consumer Agency:
"The two-year limitation period provided for in the Directive was not transposed into
Irish Law (SI No 11) as to do so would have lowered the threshold of
consumer protection where the limitation period is six years."

Personally, I don't like these extended warranties. For this TV it's 20% of the price.

Some good comments here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2005/oct/21/personaleffects

conzy

Where is the nearest Curry's / Dixons to kilkenny?

Their website is down atm

What kinda inputs does it have basquille?

VGA, HDMI, SCART.... does it have DVI?