Rated 
Nice set, if it works
Started Jan 25, 2007
Strengths: Price, good picture
Weaknesses: Unreliable, poor customer service
The Good: the price is reasonable, the picture is probably as good as any HD LC on the market. The Aquos has a "fine motion" setting to avoid jaggies for quick movement, but its usefulness depends on the program.
The Bad: unreliable! I have not encountered the banding problem, but then again you have to be able to turn the unit on to see flaws like that. When mine was delivered, it failed to power up right out of the box. A set-up screen flashed for a second, and then the only thing I saw was a blinking green light. I did a little research and learned that this is a chronic problem, due to power supply failure. In fact, p. 8 of the user's manual has a special note stating that if you can't get the unit to power on, call Sharp (if you doubt me, download the manual from the Sharp site). Who includes a note like that unless they expect problems? So I called. Then the real adventure began.
The Ugly: dealing with Sharp. When I called Sharp, the rep walked me through the reset procedure, with no luck, and then gave me the number of an authorized repairman. Sharp guarantees on-site repairs, but the repairman said he had to take it to the shop. It was Nov. 13, and little did I know at that moment that I would not have a new Aquos in my den for six weeks. So my old Sony Triniton (20+ years old, never been to the shop, as good as new) went back on the shelf. A few days later the repairman said that Sharp wanted to arrange a replacement set because the power supply was defective and they couldn't find the proper part number. According to their own manuals, the power supply cost considerably more than the entire unit, and that had to be a mistake. Then a day or so later they did manage to find the part, and said it would go out the next day by UPS ground. I said please, not ground, because it would take a week. The rep said no, only two or three days. The part was sent out a day late, and then took a full week to arrive. After installation, the repairman said the set needed a new main board as well and ordered it. I called Sharp to say please, not ground again, but they claimed it had already shipped. Four days later I checked with Sharp and learned that it had not been shipped, nor was it even scheduled for shipping. A supervisor promised to express mail it. Eight days later the part still had not arrived, and after calling I eventually learned that it was on backorder for at least two more weeks, so they had opted to replace the unit instead. No one had called to inform us. By this time it was the weekend of Christmas, so we had to wait four more days before a replacement could be arranged. When we called Sharp, they said it would ship by ground, and this time we were told that Sharp does not ship large LCD TV's by air. So by the time the replacement finally arrived, six weeks had passed. About two hours of that was spent trying to repair the original Aquos, and the rest of the time was waiting for parts to arrive from Sharp via UPS mule train. Sharp never called us, and if I had not been persistent in calling them, the original unit would still be in the shop. Also, no apologies from Sharp at any time. Rep's were polite but not much help, and two or three of them gave us false information. I'm hoping that the replacement unit lasts for awhile, because I don't look forward to going through all this again. The Sharp CEO supposedly has made LC flat-panels his flagship. I have a suggestion for him: hire a couple of people to turn these things on before they leave the factory, and reorganize customer service.
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