I bought the LC-32GA5U, which mounts the speakers on the side. This TV has the same LCD panel as the highly rated (and highly priced) LC-32D6U and LC-32D4U model TV's, but without the pricey and arguably optional extras.

This TV was a compromise purchase. I wanted a large flat panel plasma TV that showed a true HD picture, but most of the plasma TV's being sold today (with the exception of the most expensive sets) do NOT display a true HD picture (at least 1280 by 720 pixels). This is not acceptable to me. If I'm going to spend several grand on an HDTV, it better be a REAL HDTV. Also, my current place is not big enough for a TV bigger than 35 inches and no one produces plasma TV's under 37 inches. After a little research I decided on a 32 inch LCD TV. It's a good stop-gap TV until the big plasma HDTV's become affordable, at which time I can use it as a bedroom/den TV in the future.

Picture:
High definition pictures are impressive on this TV (I get HD signals through a HD cable box). The colors are vivid and life-like. The high pixel count shows every detail clearly. The picture was brighter than I expected, and I had no problem watching this TV with the lights on or with the curtains open. Black levels could be better, but I knew from research that LCD TV's had relatively poor black levels. The viewing angles are very wide, almost the same as tube TV's.

DVD pictures (progressive scan through component input cables; 480p) were also very good. While obviously not as good as HD, the picture was still quite sharp and the colors were well rendered. It handled action scenes very well and I didn't notice any pixelation.

Regular cable TV is average looking (straight cable connection to the TV, not through a cable box). No better or no worse than tube TV's.

Sound:
The sound was much better than I expected. I was expecting a tinny, no bass sound, but I was surprised at the decent bass and midrange the speakers had. I still prefer to use my surround sound system for movies and most HD broadcasts, but I use the TV speakers when I'm watching regular TV.

Other Features:
There were enough connections for me to hook up all my video equipment. There is a separate HDMI and DVI hookup, each with it's own video input. This is a good feature although I would prefer the DVI plug replaced with an HDMI plug. All the connections are recessed into the back and they are covered with an easily removable back panel. This makes the back of the TV look very uncluttered. There are no front video hookups, which does make attaching a temporary source like a video camera a bit of a chore.

The menu system was relatively easy to use. It's very similar to a "Windows" style menu interface. Some of the menu options were not easy to deduce and I had to look them up in the manual. The picture controls were straightforward although the whole menu remained on-screen when I was adjusting the picture, which obscured a portion of the TV screen. It did have an advanced picture control menu for adjusting things that only dedicated videophiles seem to care about.

Switching video inputs was very quick and easy with this TV. Unused inputs were automatically de-selected from the menu which was very convenient. The TV also keeps track of the volume and picture settings for each input which is also quite convenient.

The remote control was alright. It was laid out well enough although the volume and channel change buttons could be much larger. Some of the lesser used functions like the mute needed some searching for.

The control buttons of the TV are placed on the top of the set. In addition to the power, volume and channel buttons, there is a button to change between video inputs. There are no buttons on the TV to access the menu functions. This is a minor gripe, but important if the TV owner loses the remote control.

The picture can be stretched or zoomed to fit a 4-3 picture into the 16-9 screen. There were enough picture display settings(Standard, Movie, Dynamic, etc) for most uses and each one was adjustable through the menu. They are stored separately for each input too which was nice.

It would be nice if there was an HD converter built in, but I couldn't justify the extra $700 Sharp was charging for a TV with that option. I can buy a set top HD converter box for less than half that price.

With the exception of the minor criticisms I mentioned above, I found no major faults with this TV. Yes, it is quite expensive, but the picture quality is so much better than most of the competition that I feel it's worth the extra price.

The TV is attractively designed. It looks quite impressive on the TV stand. It's relatively light at around 47 lbs. If you have decent strength, you won't have much difficulty carrying around the TV yourself.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 2099