Vizio VF551XVT user reviews

Pros Picture quality truly exceptional one of the best out there with oodles of features and fully adjustable, full array back-lit LED (Smart dimming), truly complete connectivity, lower power consumption and should hold good life longevity (LED-LCD)

Cons Smart dimming feature does occasionally fluctuate, Doesn't have any internet features (If you care for that crap, I don't), Does not support 3D as this is a just pre-3D TV and uses HDMI 1.3 (Again if you care about that crap, and again I don't - I think 3

Summary I moved into my new house a little over a year ago and I had brought with me my 37" Sharp Aquos 1080P 60hz LCD model. I thought the picture on that TV was phenomenal; it was the top of the line at the time. LCD's had many drawbacks which I had taken notice of; the motion trails and the lack of proper blacks. However I loved the crisp image the LCD's had that Plasma didn't. I very much enjoyed my Sharp. But this house I'd moved into has an open living design and the distance my couch became from the TV made my 1080p experience barely discernible from a 480i standard def. So after suffering having a very expensive HDTV and not really benefiting from it for over a year I finally got around to looking for a new one. I decided now that 3D is becoming the new big fad the pre-3D top of the lines would come down in price. I started looking at what was available I didn't really want to spend more then $1000 so I didn't know how long I'd have to wait to find a great large TV. Well an Open Box outlet near me had listed this TV for $1000 and I thought how often you get what you pay for. So I started researching all the pre-3D LED LCD's including this one. Thank God for unbiased reviews because if they only cared about name brand this TV would have been badly misrepresented. To be honest I think it is still a little misrepresented I did my homework on this TV and others in it's class and a good few field trips to stores playing around with the TV's. Honestly this TV is the BEST TV in it's class anywhere near that price range. Local dimming LED full array back-lits are rare and among the best, this is with those guys. Honestly the ONLY TV I'd want over this one is the current Samsung 8500 full array back-lit TV which retails for over $5000 right now. I would NOT want any of the Edge-lit LED's by Samsung or anyone else over this Vizio as I like to make my own personal home theater with my TV. The edge-lit's if all your lights are off and it's night time the light bleeds out from the corners of the screens. This is something to remember when you're looking at these TV's in the store with LOTS of ambient light. You may look at the Samsung edge-lit and go "That's the best TV here", but what you need to know is it's set to Vivid and fighting the store lighting. You get that TV home and turn your lights off to immerse yourself into a theater mode and you'll want to cry. The edge lits also tend to have a lot of flickering visible if in low light. Bottom line if you always watch TV with medium level of ambient light or more then edge-lits will be great for you. But if like me you like to make your own home theater I can assure you this TV will NOT let you down. I can not say enough great things about this bargain TV. The Cnet review was pretty accurate although a bit picky. I will say the backlight can at the odd time fluctuate with the picture but honestly you have to really be looking for it to notice. The shadow detail is adjustable you just get your blacks a little lighter I'm sure you'll find as I did that there's a perfect level the black level is very deep but shadow detail is good too. This TV simply blows the socks off my Sharp completely, the 240hz SPS although it is not as good as the other type of 240hz. It still works fantastic I don't notice motion trails at all and this feature is adjustable. I can promise you won't be disappointed with this TV I'm loving it. There are oodles of features you can adjust, some people don't like the smooth motion feature you can turn it off if you don't. I suppose I should mention that the cabinet is as CNET said a 5" bulky cabinet as for the styling I don't know what people's problem is I think it looks great actually. If you want to hang it on a wall you'll probably want to get one of the latest TV's out there as they're paper thin even the newer full array back-lits are much thinner then this one. But personally I want my TV at eye level. Bottom line is, this TV is GREAT and is by far the best bang for buck out there. You can get a better LCD right now but it would cost you far far more and really I don't feel a need to have better then this. I only wish it had come in 65" =)

Pros Great picture while it lasted. If you want to spend about $100 per month for a TV, this is the set for you.

Cons Bought Nov. 1, 2009, Screen went out Christmas Eve, 2010. Hours on hold with Vizio tech support, cutomer service plus numerous emails. Bottom line " Sorry, out of warranty. Have a nice day. Would you like to buy another one?"

Summary Great picture but I will NEVER buy another Vizio product. I would expect to have a TV set costing around $1400 last a little longer. I realize things happen, but I would expect the company to be more customer freindly on these types of issues. Count me as "NEVER VIZIO AGAIN"

Pros Inky blacks. Bright whites. Great color and detail. Amazing smooth motion processing (yes I'm one of the freaks that actually likes the way it looks). Nice remote. Big screen and a great picture for the money.

Cons housing has minor imperfections when you look at it from an angle - making it look slightly cheaper than the Sony and Samsung sets. Speaker bar looks so so and I dislike like the chrome bits between the screen and the speaker bar

Summary Ok, on to the picture quality of my 551 vs my 550,,, in a nutshell, the 551 is a big jump in PQ and in my opinion very much worth the upgrade,,,,, or, if your between getting the 550 or a 551,, spend the extra money and get the 551 !!!!!

I put on the "Coraline" BD to see how it compared with the Samsung 8000 I watched it on the day before and the 551 held it's own in comparrison to the Sammy 8000,,,, the 3D look, the colors, the black's, everything looks great on the 551 and without the glossy screen of the Samsung 8000.

So far I have spent the entire night playing my favorite BD's on the Vizio 551 and I gota say I am really knocked out. I was kinda thinkin I would wait and check out the Vizio 552 with all the widgets and internet stuff, but then I got to thinkin, am I really going to use any of that stuff? Perhaps not. I have a computer 10' away from my TV, if Im watching a movie Im watching a movie, not doing FaceBook or emails,,, beside's, I have a DVR and video on demand, and not to mention all the BD players that are out and coming out that all have those features.

As those features grow and change and expand I figure its alott cheaper to buy a new BD player than a new TV,,, that's another reason I figured it was a stupid idea (for me) to wait for the 552.

Anyhow, in closing I just gota say I am so very glad I decided to get the Vizio 551, for me, to my eye's and in my opinion the PQ of the 551 blows away the 550

Pros The product specs are very impressive and compare with far more expensive sets. Out of the box, it does not disappoint.

Cons A little heavy compared to some other comparable sets.

Summary I'd been waiting awhile for this TV to be available to be purchased locally. It arrived in my local Costco in Clearwater, Florida and I was immediately convinced this was my next TV as soon as I saw it. I bought it and had it delivered. I got it out of the box and connected to my devices. The 2M:1 contrast ratio and 240Hz refresh rate are delivered as advertised. I am equally impressed with its performance with Blu Ray movies, DirecTV HD, and video games. I was considering the Samsung 8500, but I am very satisfied with my decision to purchase this set instead.