Sharp Elite PRO-60X5FD and PRO-70X5FD TVs Upcoming review/thoughts from everyone

[Suave]

Hey everyone,

We just sent a request to Sharp to send us their new Elite PRO-60X5FD LCD TV for review - hopefully we'll have the unit here within the next few weeks.

These are the new TVs produced under the Elite brand licensed from Pioneer. The new series consists of just two sets: the 60-inch Elite PRO-60X5FD ($5,999) and the 70-inch Elite PRO-70X5FD ($8,999).

As we're waiting for the set - I just wanted to ask for everyone thoughts about these new TVs. What do you guys think about the tech/price/Elite branding? You can see more info about these TVs here:
http://elitelcdtv.ca/

[Spudso]

Hey everyone,

We just sent a request to Sharp to send us their new Elite PRO-60X5FD LCD TV for review - hopefully we'll have the unit here within the next few weeks.

These are the new TVs produced under the Elite brand licensed from Pioneer. The new series consists of just two sets: the 60-inch Elite PRO-60X5FD ($5,999) and the 70-inch Elite PRO-70X5FD ($8,999).

As we're waiting for the set - I just wanted to ask for everyone thoughts about these new TVs. What do you guys think about the tech/price/Elite branding? You can see more info about these TVs here:
http://elitelcdtv.ca/

Hi Suave - do you know if either of the Elite models will be on display at TAVES? I have read only one review by a professional calibrator, and it was mostly very favourable and would seem to be the TV to beat amongst currently available models. Black levels are deemed to be better than the 9th gen Kuros with oustanding shadow detail to boot. I imagine as was the case with the Kuros, that the initial pricing of these models will be out of reach of the average consumer.

[Suave]

We just got a response yesterday from Sharp that they won't be able to supply us with a review unit until late Oct/early Nov - which could mean that these sets won't be in stores in Canada until then. Then again, sometimes TV companies are only able to send us review samples several weeks after they actually appear in stores, implying that they don't really care about reviews (it's an unfortunate nature of the TV business). By that time there are enough reviews online that it doesn't really make sense for us to review the sets because it's already old news.

If you read a review of the new Elite sets that means they're already out there somewhere.

We asked Sharp to supply us with a few sets for the Ultimate TV Comparison but they refused.

I am really curious myself to see how these new TVs perform, especially given their price points. LCD TVs have never been able to achieve the performance of plasma TVs and selling TVs at these price points clearly didn't work out for Pioneer...

[Spudso]

We just got a response yesterday from Sharp that they won't be able to supply us with a review unit until late Oct/early Nov - which could mean that these sets won't be in stores in Canada until then. Then again, sometimes TV companies are only able to send us review samples several weeks after they actually appear in stores, implying that they don't really care about reviews (it's an unfortunate nature of the TV business). By that time there are enough reviews online that it doesn't really make sense for us to review the sets because it's already old news.

If you read a review of the new Elite sets that means they're already out there somewhere.

We asked Sharp to supply us with a few sets for the Ultimate TV Comparison but they refused.

I am really curious myself to see how these new TVs perform, especially given their price points. LCD TVs have never been able to achieve the performance of plasma TVs and selling TVs at these price points clearly didn't work out for Pioneer...

The person who did the review was brought in by Sharp to do a technical evaluation on these TVs. I sent you a private message, check your inbox.

[Suave]

Thanks for the link Spudso! Here it is for everyone else that would like to read a review of one of the pre-production models:

http://www.highdefjunkies.com/showth...l=1#post263248

[Suave]

It's a bit of a shame that Sharp didn't show these new Elite TVs at TAVES - I can't think of a better event to have launched these at. We had the perfect crowd for these at TAVES - in fact many people were asking about them. Oh well... maybe next year.

[Mike Osadciw]

...please follow Rec.709 HDTV colour standards. That's all I want to say.

[Suave]

...please follow Rec.709 HDTV colour standards. That's all I want to say.

- haha! We should find this out soon enough. We've ordered one of these sets for review some 3 months ago... and Sharp's PR company keeps saying that they don't have an arrival date on these still...

[Spudso]

For anyone interested, Home Theatre magazine has a review in their current issue.

Thought I should share the link. Hope the moderator doesn't mind :-)

http://www.hometheater.com/content/s...d-led-lcd-hdtv

[Suave]

You're always welcome to share reviews here Spudso - in fact I encourage it! I read the Home Theater mag myself all the time

Sounds like these new sets perform very well. I think the biggest stumbling point for these is going to be the high price. I can't think of why someone looking for a high performance TV would choose one of these over one of the top plasma TVs like the Samsung D8000 or Panasonic VT30 series (each of these cost about half as much as these new Elites).

Nevertheless, I'm very curious to see the picture of one of these myself!