WOW! What a deal!!!!

For this to be rated at 4.5 stars out of 5 and then have a price like that on it... That's going to go quick. Nice find!

Looks like a great deal. Thinking on it.

Link works... TV is only 60HZ...

Pretty amazing deal, in for one.

As for the Hz arguments, if you're debating whether 60 vs 120 makes enough of a difference, just go to Best Buy or something and see if the difference matters to you. I did, and honestly any minor differences I noticed just didn't matter to me. Just wanted a great-looking TV with unnoticable lag for gaming.

The contrast ratio is garbage on this model... something like 26000:1 DYNAMIC... which is probably less than 1000:1 native. Not a high quality model, but I wouldnt expect it for $500.

i've been looking for a 42in. deal lately, and I have started paying more attention to the contrast ratio. how important is this? the 32in vizeo i ordered last week that has yet to arrive has a 100,000:1 ratio. I got that one over a phillips that was just 10,000:1 ratio. the majority of the programs i will be watching will not be coming through as HD so I figured that the better contrast ratio, the better the picture on non hd, and hd will look. is this correct?

saw another great deal for a vizio on the same site:

http://deals.woot.com/deals/details/8415f8d0-fb0a-4e78-9e8c-643d64b90735/vizio-vizio-42-1080p-lcd-hdtv

i wonder which one is better...???
this one says it has a 5ms response time compared to this models 6.5ms, what HZ is 5ms comparable to??

I bought this tv last night through their live support and they told me it is 120hz. They even sent me the chat log as I requested. Before making the purchase I checked competitor websites that also stated it was 120hz. So as far as I know it is 120hz. FYI - If you order through their live support they will give you a free upgrade to 3-5 day shipping as opposed to 5-7. Also found it cheaper by about $13 here (which also indicates that it is a 120hz unit) http://www.pcrichard.com/catalog/product.jsp?modelNo=LC42SB48UT&CID. I decided to go with Dell because I felt like they would be better to deal with should a return be necessary. They told me that they cover return shipping on defective items which I know many other places don't!

@m5fromns: Wow.. holy (mod edit: profanity)... This deal just stepped up quite a few notches in my book.

So we can confirm:

Refresh Rate: 120Hz
Contrast Ratio: 2000:1
Dynamic Contrast Ratio: 100,000:1

And that's all for $469.99

And that I'm officially a jerk for wasting the poor Dell Rep Girlie's time. She went on further after that trying to get me to buy it.

Looking at the back picture it doesn't look VESA compliant. There's mounts listed on Sharp's site, but it doesn't explicitly say anywhere that they will work...
http://www.sharpusa.com/ForHome/HomeEntertainment/LCDTVs/LC42SB48UT.aspx?print=true

FYI - according my chat with Dell, it is indeed only 60hz which would be about right for this price point. A few other sites also say 60hz (While a few more say 120). 120hz seems unlikely at this price point still. But hey! Who knows.

12/09/2010 11:33:08AM Agent (Kathrine Anne L): "While I am checking, may I ask how soon are you looking to place an order?"

12/09/2010 11:33:28AM Me: "Quite possibly today if it's what I'm looking for :)"

12/09/2010 11:33:59AM Me: "I'm on the fence and looking for just the right specs to tip me over"

12/09/2010 11:34:35AM Agent (Kathrine Anne L): "May I ask what are you going to use the TV for ? What type of viewing will you most likely do?"

12/09/2010 11:35:04AM Me: "Sports and movies mostly."

12/09/2010 11:37:52AM Agent (Kathrine Anne L): "I see . . . thank you fro patiently waiting, Captain Awesome"

12/09/2010 11:38:46AM Agent (Kathrine Anne L): "Sharp 42-inch LC42SB48UT 1080p LCD HDTV - Black is only 60hz"

I just sent a request for info to SharpUSA. Hopefully they will get back to me soon.

@antone78: sorry to break it to you but contrast ratio's are a bunk comparison method because manufacturers can artificially boost there numbers by using a black screen to measure black levels, you can read all about it here: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/12/hardware-specs/

This needs to be said:

I own one of these 42 inch Sharps sold by Dell. They are great TVs, but why are they so cheap?

They have a bit of an issue with the corners of the screen. The corners can be a little lighter or darker than the rest of the television. I can ONLY tell if the lights in my house are off and it is night outside.

It has never really made me regret buying my TV. It's not a big deal and it's not something the average person will notice right away. But after you have the TV for a while, you will notice it if you are an audio/visual buff of any sorts.

Anyway, just thought that was an important not to add to the conversation. According to Consumer Reports, that is why they don't review this line of Sharps. They are known to have just the issue that I described so many consumer reports suggest to buy something else.

As an owner, I'd say it's a good deal and reasonably priced. You get decent specs and screen size at the cost of a hardly noticeable design flaw.

http://reviews.cnet.com/flat-panel-tvs/sharp-lc-42sb48ut/4505-6482_7-34129747.html

Look at the reviews at CNET.