- Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 16 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
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4 out of 4 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"This TV is a balance between good price and performance. Haven?t seen a better deal anywhere else."
Pros: Price. HDTV 1080 & 5ms Response Time. Good Colors and bright (500 cd/m2). 4 HDMI and RGB PC. PIP & POP. Illuminated Remote. Surround Sound. Detachable Speakers and Base for Wall Mount. Nice design.
Cons: Is not the best LCD in the market, nor is intended to be at the current price. Not for those who want a perfect picture... but what did you expect for the price?
Summary: If you are interested in this TV set, read my review.
I got this TV right after it came out. I was debating on which 52? LCD to buy when I saw Vizio released this new TV.
I am very picky when it comes to audio and video, but I am also picky when it comes to many other things, like price, quality, performance, and choosing good deals. I was lucky that I didn?t get to choose a TV when this TV came out. I was in fact going to try to buy a Sony.
Lets face it, if you want very good quality and performance, you need to pay for it. As I am writing this, as per my own research and in accordance to most reviews, Sony has the best of the best on LCD TV (and more when it comes to 52?). But Vizio has the best of the best when it comes to a good deal. This is why I chose to buy this TV.
I saw many Vizio TVs before, and I knew their quality, which is not the best, but is fairly good. I must say that after turning ON my new 52? Vizio TV I was surprised. The colors are so good and bright, that I thought I was looking at a Plasma TV. It is just amazing.
Since I haven?t have the TV for too long, I can?t say it is perfect when it comes to any problems with the hardware, but as I said, I know what I am getting into, so I got my extended warranty just in case. This is the best deal for the price. And again, unless you are very picky about the picture in your TV and you are looking for a good deal, this is the way to go.
About the TV itself, it is very nice all around. The colors are very bright and even, you don?t see a fade effect anywhere. I connected a new computer (HP) with Vista to this TV using the RGB connection. I tested multiple screens with different colors and to my taste, it passed with A+ (and to my surprise!).
Video is a different story. The Response Time is claimed to be 5ms, still, I see it a little slow (don?t forget I?m picky). Compared to the Sony TV, if you give Sony A+, then Vizio deserves a good A-. I am based on the fact that most LCD TVs out there actually look about just the same, so it would be unfair to give it a lower score.
When watching 480 resolution programming, you can see some defects on the image, but it is expected and most HDTVs out there have the same problem (if not all). 720 Resolution looks just as great as expected. No complains there.
1080 Resolution from both Satellite and DVD is very good. I would give it an A. I should add that the Default Video settings out of the box (Custom Settings) are pretty good, but you might want to use the Movie option for watching DVD movies (assuming you are on a dark room) as the settings are darker.
There are other Video settings to be adjusted too, but after playing with them, I didn?t notice too much of a difference with most of the changes, so I decided to leave it Factory Original as it looks pretty good.
Sound is very good as well. The small detachable speakers actually generate a very good and clear sound including bass signals (to my surprise again!). The surround effect is very good and you do actually feel like you are getting sound from behind you. Very impressive. Of course, if you wish to have real sound, you must use a Receiver with 5.1 or 7.1 speaker setup in order to re-create the Movie Theater effect. But for regular everyday TV the speakers are very good.
I was also surprised to find 4 HDMI connections on this set, together with 2 AVI, 2 Components, 1 RGB PC and both RCA and Optical Digital Audio Out. I have tested each connection and they all deliver a very good quality of both picture and sound according to the type of connection of course.
I have not tested the HDTV receiver part as I do not have an aerial antenna in my house and I only use satellite (DirecTV) but I read in the manual some things about it, and I?m sure most people will find it each feature very nice including the on-screen guide and the Parental Blocking as well.
Watching TV is a little tricky on any wide screen HDTV because you have to choose what format to watch, and how to display it on the screen. I particularly like to watch anything on the screen with the original or ?Native? aspect ratio to preserve the original picture size. This has a good side and a bad side. The good is that you get to see everything the way it was meant to be (no ?fat? people on 4:3 format using the Letter-Box option). The bad is that you will get the black (or gray) boxes on each side of the picture.
Another bad thing is that many 4:3 TV shows are now displayed as ?widescreen? as they were filmed like that. I get in this case black boxes all around the picture, but it can be fixed using the ?Zoom? mode so it fills up the screen (sometimes the edges will be cut). Again, this is more of a personal preference so each individual will have to play with the settings and choose what fits their taste better The viewing options are Normal, Wide, Zoom and Panoramic.
For those that have DirecTV like me, I recommend that you set the DirecTV Receiver as ?Native? Resolution, and set the TV type as capable of displaying all 480, 720 and 1080 formats. I found out this is the best way to watch TV as the Receiver will switch to whichever resolution the channel is, giving a better picture, at least for the combination of DirecTV and the Vizio 52? HDTV. Otherwise, if you set the Receiver as 1080 only, lower resolution programming will look weird and with a lot of ?digitalization? very visible.
Hardware wise, I put the TV on top of a table as I didn?t want to hang in on the wall (I don?t trust hanging 110 lb on the wall, but that?s just me), so I didn?t order the Wall Mount Hardware. As per the TV itself, it comes with a small strap or metal cable and a screw to attach the unit to the wall behind to avoid tipping. I didn?t use it as I don?t think a small screw (even using an anchor) will stop 110 Lb from tipping and falling to the floor. The weight is good enough to keep the unit stable and I don?t think anything else is needed. But again, each individual will decide on their own.
I liked the Vizio logo right on the Middle under the screen. When the TV is OFF, it lights up Orange (just like the remote), and once you turn ON the TV, it lights up pure white, and fades to low white in a matter of seconds. Same effect when you turn it OFF but with the orange color.
I don?t know if the TV has fans inside or not, but I would think it does. Anyways, I haven?t heard them at all, so if it does have fans, they are very silent. The screen itself gets hot after watching TV for awhile, but is not very hot compared to other LCD and Plasmas. And I like the fact that if on RGB mode, if the PC shuts down or the video goes down (PC goes to sleep or Stand By), the TV acts like a regular monitor, and it also goes to sleep, turning OFF the screen, and will wake up when the PC is awaken just like a regular monitor again.
On my final thoughts, I do think that if you want a nice TV set, you want an LCD instead of Plasma (to avoid image burning), and you are looking for a good deal inside a ?small? budget to buy a 52? size HDTV, your answer is Vizio. If you need to find out more, I suggest doing a lot of online researches, looking up at the different TVs physically inside a store, and reading the documentation for each set (you can find the Owner?s Manual for most brands for Electronic Equipments online under the Customer or Technical Support). Vizio has each Manual online in case you want to look at it.
Assuming you are reading this because you are considering this TV, I can tell you that is a very good set and you shouldn?t be disappointed. Just be sure to understand that you are not dealing with a top brand like Sony, Samsung, LG, Pioneer, etc, so buying an extended warranty is a good idea, and also will help you if you do get a defective set from factory (is not the first time it happens, even with top brands).
Now let me go and enjoy my TV (when my wife decides to let me use it of course?)
