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"Did you turn it on David?? (CNET editor)" on by kev448sc
Pros: Color is MUCH improved from older model. Detachable speakers for wall mounting. Brighter back-light
Cons: Bad news for Sony and Panasonic stockholders...
Summary: First, let me start out and comment about David's review. I also work at a wholesale warehouse and work with many makes and models all day long. If you compare the Gallevia and previous 42", there is no comparison. Vizio did their homework, found what could be improved from the last model, fixed it and still kept the price down and VALUE up! The colors are much improved, back-light is much brighter and detachable speakers are brilliant! Overall, I am very pleased with this model. I would really have trouble splurging for the 40" Sony Bravia for almost TWICE the price. Don't pass this gem up...it's really worth a look.
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"Vizio - The Next Best Thing!" on by SlingBox
Pros: Great Picture - Comfortable Remote - Nice Price
Cons: Picture need to be adjusted from default settings to find sweet spot.
Summary: I purchased this television from Costco a couple of days ago. I have been quite pleased with it so far. The default settings show the blacks a little to dark. Once I customized the settings I have been quite pleased. There are two settings for the speakers. Standard and Surround. You can adjust the treble and bass. With certain shows I find the sound to be a little boxy. However this only happens with about 10% of the shows I have watched so far. I do not get the full rich sound as I do with my Vizio 50 inch Plasma. However these speakers are removable and if you are conecting it to a home theater then who cares? As I have learned that SD does not look good on HD TVs, but SD on this Tv looks just a good as it does on my other SD sets. If you havent heard of Vizio please do not feel that you are buying a cheapy. This campany stands behind all of its products providing a 1 year in home service guarantee and with Costco's 100% return policy you can't go wrong. I now own two Vizio's and I am keeping them. Proud owner. My friends and family are Wowed when they see these Tvs.
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"Big Bang for the bucks" on by Pnarcisse
Pros: Display is as good or better then much higher price models
Cons: Remote really needs a rework - No HDM cables included
Summary: Okay, first off let me start by letting you know that as a professional System Engineer doing working, a major NYC TV brocaster, at Rockeffeller center. I am very keen on working with HD equipment needed for broadcasting.
I have been on the market for a couple of years now trying to pick a HDTV set for the family but never got around to doing it because of such a busy schedual. having an assitaint now things are better balanced now. So the first day I had off I fulfill that need of picking up a new HDTV set.
I went to two retailers to compare sets- Best Buy and Circuit city (looking for a 37 to 42 inch display) I saw some really beautiful models from Samsung, Philips, Toshiba and Sony - all of these (32-37 inch) models were the price of a GOOD SMALL USED CAR. I compared all of them and settled on getting either the Philips or Sony and at that point the Philips was ahead. It wasn't untill I was dragged along by my wife to our local Cosco for some shopping did I see this Vizio Model next to the exact 32inch Philips model I had settled on getting. There side by sided I noticed how the Vizio picture quality actually looked as stunning as the Philips display.
Both sets were connected to an HDTV feed off of cable in the store and both looked equally good. I then looked at the price and saw that the 42 inch Vizio was the same price as the 32 inch Philips. This was a no brainer. My wife found me at the check out counter with the Vizio.
Once home I opend the box and pulled out this very beautiful TV (the Paino black Ebony frame and silver meatallic speakers gave this set a good modern feel though not as attractive as some other sets).
I hooked up this baby to my cable feed with out the cable box as I wanted to test its ATSC tuner. I placed the batteries in the remote, which by the way I have to say the remote is really lousy as it's buttons are just to small to read any of its text < the backlight feature is nice on the remote but this really does not help when you can't make out the text on the buttouns>.
But this is no big deal as I plan to use a Logitech Harmony remote anyway which will run my DVD player and sound system.
Well the sets connections are a pain to get to as there are no side mounting inputs. All connections are in the back facing down but there are more then engough of them and once you set them up you should not need to get back there again.
Word to the wise use the HDMI inputs-there are two of them which really helps with cutting down on wires and eases the setup ( No HDM cables are inclued with the set but you should be able to get one included with a upscaling DVD player for 49 to 80 bucks).
Well, I was not disappionted the sets OSD (On Screen Display menus)were very easy to navigate. I scanned for channels( across my cable coaxial feed) and picked up 68 SDTV(Standard Definition TV) and 68 HDTV feeds.
Well I knew that we broadcast our morning show and eveing show in HD so I natually tuned in to see how this set handled our feed. Absolute heaven The Vizio captured our broadcast as good as the expensive models.
Yes, some tweaking was required in order to get it just right for me (since I deal with brocast feeds all the time I am always tweaking color and brightness Gamma etc....) but to the average veiwer this set is wonderful!!!
My wife right away commented on how beautiful the picture was.
I then tuned to PBS'HD feed and watched a NOVA program in stunning deatails. The sets picked up the local broadcast channels in HD like CBS,NBC, ABC,FOX, CW11, My9 PBS, as well as their Standard Def versions including the sub multicast channels that provide region specific(weather and local event calanders)programing.
Test 2
Hooking up to the cable providers box gave a so so picture even their HD programs looked dull. But knowing how cable operators Digital boxes process these feeds (I have the scientfic Atlanta box form my operator)
I hade to tweak the cable box to bypass its handeling of the feed and let the set do the work. in the cable box defense I was using composite connection from the box to the set and had the cable box set on upconvert option 1)
I switch from a composite connection to a HDMI and Wah La a awesome picture again.
The two HDMI(High Definition Multimedia Interface) inputs on this set are a real benefit.
Test 3
I connected a upscaling progresive scan DVD player into the second HDMI (told you it was a benifit)
Using the Video essential DVD I tewak the set some more (the way a normal person would and not a the way a brocast industry geek, like me, would < I could get the heavy guns out and etc.. but that would not help anyone reading this >
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here are what the optimal settings for this set should be in order to get it as close to other big name brands or even over them.
Backlight 77
Contrast 68
Brightness 53
Color 52
Tint +2
sharpness 4
Color temp normal
The advance settings should all be turned off
After the tweaking I popped in Episode I of Star Wars and was really amazed as to how well this set displayed the movie. One thing I did notice was that this set needs a bit of back lighting to view so do not turn down the lights to low as the picture seems to suffer a tiny bit.
Test 4 sound
Sound from the Vizio's 10 watts speakers are okay but don't buy it for that. like most HDTV sets from other major manufactures sound is really lacking but that's okay most of us have Home Theather Systems we brought with out DVD players. My advice is to connect the sound from the DVD player and Cable box to the AMP of you sound system as this will produce the best results (use and optical cable for the connection if possible).
I appreciate the fact that the speakers and the TV stand that this model comes with are removable for wall mounting( the set looks absoultey Gorgeous mounted on the wall)
I think the guys at Cnet are looking at this set from their perspective as professionals who have developed that keen eye and see things that the normal Joes would not ever realize so take their review with a grain of salt ( I remeber the keen eye I had during the betamax and VHS wars Beta max was superior in display quality over VHS we Geeks could see it but to the masses they looked almost identical).
All in all I think the major brands need to look out for Vizio because for it's price it blows the doors off Sony, Philips, Toshiba Samsung, LG etc... These guys better take a note and match the pricing or they will not win the masses. -
"better than the rating would suggest" on by Maxihard
Pros: stellar picture - removable speakers - low price
Cons: needs a bit of tweaking to look its best
Summary: Take Cnet's rating with a grain of salt when considering this display. They seem to prefer plasma across the board which is pretty provincial, considering a single technology can not do all things well under all circumstances. Put in context, comparing the Vizio with much more expensive lcd panels, the Vizio is almost a no brainer for anyone who appreciates value and this panel has it in spades!
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"I recommend Vizio" on by checking27
Pros: Value,, Brightness, Sound, Look, Weight,
Cons: Black Contrast, Tuner
Summary: I did my research over the past two weeks and I am happy with the decision I made. Here are some of the points I'd like to bring up that I hope helps others making a similar decision.
Where to buy:
I went to Best Buy, PC Richards, and Costco to do my hands on research. This site along with others for reviews, etc.. Best Buy staff was very helpful. PC Richards seemed to work off of a commission and you felt like it when you entered the store. At PC Richards I inquired about extended warranties and prices were about $100 for each year of service (i.e a 5 yr warranty = $500). Costco's excellent return policy played a major factor into not only where I bought but what (Vizio GV42L).
LCD vs. Plasma
I wasn't biased toward either going into it. I know friends that have a plasma and I thought the picture looked great. In the stores I always thought the LCDs looked best. In the end I was actually choosing against a 42" Panasonic Viera Plasma vs. the Vizio 42" LCD. Both were $1299 at Costco. Each salesperson had a bias on LCD vs. Plasma. I heard the Plasma its gas and it wears down stories and I also heard the LCD blurs w/very fast motion, black levels, etc..story. I'd then spend time in the store comparing the two technologies. LCD just looked better to me. When I got the TV home it performed as expected and was ecstatic over the picture. That being said, I have noticed the black level issue. With sports shows no, but with movies yes. I don't think its a huge issue and I didn't then have a plasma to compare it to in the end when I noticed an issue.
In the end I went with Vizio because of the reviews I've read, how it looked in Costco (great picture), and Costco's return policy. I can return this anytime if I am not satisfied. That to me takes the doubts and uneasiness with a lesser known brand name out of the equation. The picture is outstanding and the packaging left me feeling this was a company that was really trying to woo its customers.
I mentioned the Tuner as a negative to the TV. This is probably due to my lack of knowledge on the subject but felt it was worth noting. I was under the impression that out of the box I could receive HD chanels via air. However after choosing air in the menu settings and doing an auto scan none appeared.
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