Vizio GV42LF

Summary: I have owned this set for approximately two months, and overall I'm extremely pleased with the picture quality, features, and especially the price. Although it is probably not quite at the level of the more well-known brands
TV's of similar size, it offers a tremendous value. To get PIP and POP and a picture that even out of the box was outstanding for this price is very rare. I researched this purchase for many months, and compared many products in stores, etc. This is 1080p resolution, and with an upconverting DVD player, even my plain old DVD's look outstanding. Hi Def programming is outstanding on this set. The only exception has been some apparent minor incompatability with my Motorola hi-def cable box, provided by Verizon FIOS. That is, the cable box allows a maximum resolution of 1080i, not 1080p, and is not able to adjust based on the source broadcast. I set it at 1080i because that is the setting I prefer over 720p. However, a couple of channels' hi-def broadcasts reveal a thin green line at the left edge of the screen, which VIZIO feels may be a cable box issue, since it doesn't show up across the board. Specifically, the NBC affiliate's hi-def station has this problem consistently. Also, I needed to slightly resize the horizontal size when watching standard def programming in "stretch" mode to eliminate some video noise at the top and/or bottom edge of the screen. This may be because the set does not have any type of overscan adjustments, or does not overscan at all. Normally a good thing, but it would have been nice to allow a vertical size, rather than position, adjustment as well to eliminate the green line on the left--if I simply move the picture to the left, it reveals a white edge on the right side--I'm still not sure if this is the TV, and will probably call VIZIO soon to discuss this further, but it is a very minor issue which currently only seems to affect one station.
Otherwise, I like everything about this set. I calibrated the picture using a THX DVD, and also did some tweaking based on CNET's recommended settings--However, I prefer a stronger backlight setting, almost 50%, to what CNET and other web sites recommend, but that's me.
Colors are great, flesh tones realistic, detail and black levels are exceptional for an LCD, and since it's in a very bright room, no glare at all during daytime viewing. I'm getting addicted to watching this TV, and have trouble viewing anything in standard def anymore--although all things considered, the TV displays standard def fairly well.
The PIP and POP functions work very well--currently I am using an HD rabbit ear antenna as my PIP source, which allows me to watch one game on main screen using my cable box, and a local HD version of another channel in the pip/pop screen--nice! Later I plan to hook up a miniature PC for the pip source so I can browse the web while watching another show as well--great for getting stats on a player you are watching live at the same time.
The menu system is easy to use, and I have few complaints about it. Vizio's remote is now backlighted, but has eliminated the dedicated pip button--you have to go into a menu system to active it--but I worked around that by using my cable box remote to bring up the pip function and this works fairly well. Still, I'm probably going to get a Harmony remote soon, as I have a home theatre setup as well, and I would prefer one remote to handle everything at all times.
I would also have preferred for the set to have at least one more HDMI port--3 instead of two, but certainly one can buy an HDMI switcher, or for more $$$, an upgraded A/V receiver with at least 3 HDMI inputs would make the system even more expandable for the future. Certainly there are a lot of input options and putting together this set with my home theatre system makes TV watching exciting again for the first time in years.
Minor quibbles aside, Vizio has done an outstanding job offering a great value to consumers looking for this type of TV, and they seem to have a responsive interactive web site for support, as well. I would heartily recommend this set for anyone looking for a 42" LCD with 1080p. In my view, this is an all-around winner due to it's combination of features, quality and low price.