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"Best LCD for under $1000" on by frjamesglass
Pros: good picture from any source
Cons: the stand is a bit flimsy
Summary: I just purchased this TV and am very pleased overall. Right out of the box, I could tell Vizio takes little steps to satisfy its customers, like providing a lttle lint cloth for the screen and printing a nice full color manual. I plugged the comcast cable directly into the TV (no digital set box), and hooked up a DVD player with HDMI connector, and I was in business. The TV automatically found all the standard cable channels and tuned in about 8 airwave channels, some of which are definitely HIDEF and look great. This was a real surprise, that I can get terrific HIDEF images over the tuner without cable. (OK, so this is my first HIDEF TV.) The standard analog channels all looked smooth, not grainy at all.
I reduced the backlight and set the custom color controls for best picture as indicated in this CNET review, and watched a Star Wars DVD upconverted to 1080i (which the TV then downconverts to 720p?) and it looked terrific. I just plugged in the HDMI connector, set the Vizio to widescreen and the TV did the rest. (I noticed widescreen looked much better than zoom. Zoom fills the screen completely but must add more processing). At no time--from DVD, air, or cable did I notice any pixelation or video noise whatsoever.
Yes,the contrast was a little better on my old 31" CRT, and I have seen "blacker" blacks on plasmas and the very best LCDS, but overall the widecreen and higher resolution make for a much better viewing experience than a standard TV, and the scenes from star wars in space looked black to me, not grey. The colors and shadow detail all looked good and bright to me, even after I spent hours looking at Panasonic plasmas and Sony and Samsung and Sharp LCDS in the showrooms, which are considered "the best" and rigtly so. But I believe this TV really can stand its own against them and for the money, it definitely deserves the "best buy" that it rated in a recent pcworld review.
The remote is nicer than I expected, it has small buttons but is backlit and has a very nice feel to it. My only nitpick is the stand is a little flimsy, and I would prefer a black back to the white, but all in all it looks real good and the little logo on the front looks so nice, you would never guess this is a "budget" TV. I'm happy. Go get one. -
"Actually quite good, for the money" on by miniguy
Pros: Picture is equal to 37" 720p compitetion but costs significantly less
Cons: Typical LCD issue with less than steller blacks
Summary: In the master bedroom where I've forced my wife to watch TV, soshe can Tivo girly crap in there and it doesn't confict with my manly recordings on the BIG TV. Plus she likes it in there. We had a 38" RCA CRT HDTV with built DirecTV, which really looked good, but weighed close to 250lbs and won't fit in any furniture and probably can't be hung on the wall, which she wanted.
So I went over to Costco and was actually going to pick up the 42" Panny plasma, but it wouldn't actually fit in my car. So I looked at the LG, Sharp, and Vizio 37" LCD's, I'd have picked up the Panny 37" Plasma if they had it. Once I adjusted the brightness, sharpness, and colors to a slightly more sane config, all looked pretty similar under the lights, the LG probably the worst and I couldn't tell the difference with the other two, so the Vizio was it. Basically $899 vs $1199 and equal performance is a complete no brainer, only $200 more than the 32" Vizio.
I should have got a commission since they had a giant pile of 32's by the front door that people were picking up, I told like 10 people that the bigger one was only slightly more expensive so they switched, and then Costco ran out.)
Once I got the set home and hung on the wall, which was a HUGE pita, it actually looks really nice, as in styling. They've rounded it a bit so it's somewhat more streamlined than the competition, which doesn't make the picture look any better. With HD DVD and DirecTV the picture looks quite good. With DirecTV's HD Lite picture 720p really is about the best your going to get. HD DVD is better, blacks still don't really exist on this set, but with the lights down and the backlight toned down you can see a fair amount of black (read dark grey, charcoal really) detail. The old CRT looked better in my opinion, I don't think it resolved as much detail but it was really smooth and film like. I've really noticed that the CRT had quite a bit of overscan and the Vizio shows a pit more of the picture. So that's about it, great value, picture is competitive, why would you buy something else in this category? Sony has some 40" 1080p's but for more than 2X the price there is really no way to justify it at any normal viewing distance, over this unit.
On a side note, the Plasma's do look significantly better than LCD. Not really the resolution, as LCD's are typically one step higher in each size, 1024X768 vs 720p and 720p vs 1080p. But the black levels are much better, so much better that I've decided to not replace my 61" CRT rear projection with DLP or LCos (JVC's 61FN97 was my choice), I'm going to go with the 58" Panasonic plasma. Of course, I'm not buying till March, so I reserve the right to change my mind and go REALLY big, like 70", more power. -
"Great Deal---Look no more" on by armysteve
Pros: Price, picture quality, design
Cons: Speakers (2 at 10W), not energy star, smal font on menus
Summary: Just bought mine today at Costco. Paid $899 for the set which is a steal for a TV of this quality. For this price you could also get a Polaroid, but think the Vizio is better.
It only took about 10 minutes to set the TV up. That includes opening the box, setting the TV in place, and connecting the cables.
I had a Philips 32 inch LCD prior to this TV. It is amazing to see what a difference the 5 inches makes in terms of viewing pleasure.
Would recommend this TV to others without reservation.Updated
The guy at Costco said that Vizio is their top seller. He also said Good Morning America featured the Vizio as a good deal for HDTV on one of their programs. -
"Very Nice!" on by blangton
Pros: Great colors, sharp, easy set-up!
Cons: None yet...
Summary: Just picked up the VX37L from Sam's Club. I was looking for a reasonablly priced, 37" LCD with dual HDMI inputs. After reading numerous positive online reviews of the Vizio products, I went and saw one for myself. It meets all my needs for an affordable price.
Hell, I was impressed with the box it came in - nice, glossy finished and well constructed. The documentation is first rate, written in actual English, and easy to figure out. The quality of the printed materials was also very nice.
Set-up was plug and play. The TV looked great from the moment I turned it on but was able to finely tune the picture easily.
Performance on the local HD channels is outstanding with smooth transitions, great color, saturation and sharpness. Even the standard def channels look great.
All in all, I'm quite happy with the TV. Of course, the warehouse clubs still offer great return policies and extended warrantees are available for reasonable prices.
For $899, you can't go wrong...
Bill -
"Very Nice. I am impressed!" on by Ramopoly
Pros: Very good HD PQ, lots of inputs, easy set up
Cons: None really. SD isn't great, but its SD.
Summary: For people interested in buying this TV I want to clarify that I am giving a 9 rating because of what you get for the price.
IMO, Its not perfect or spectacular, but it is very nice. And when the broadcast is excellent the PQ is excellent. Discovery Channel HD is impressive on this set.
Out of the box my PQ was a little rough, but adjusting the settings made a world of difference.
My settings stay close to:
contrast: 74
brightness: 46
color: 36
tint: 0
sharpness: 03
color temp: normal
The backlight is usually around 30 because our living room is a little dark.
If you don't need the very best, this is an excellent buy. If you are on a budget, this is an excellent buy. I could not be happier because I am getting excellent PQ and stayed well within my budget.
If this TV were over $1500, I'd give it a 7 and would not be disappointed if I paid that much for it.
I am particularly impressed with the way my 480p DVDs look. Not HD quality, but now I am in no rush to get a HD DVD player. Monsters Inc looks great and Troy and LOTR looks pretty good too. Good enough that I'll gladly wait for the prices to drastically drop before I buy a HD DVD player.
I have no cpmplaints.
The set has a ton of inputs. I am only using two, but I know I am pretty well set for future purchases.
I use the RGB component cables for DVD and HDMI from my cable box to the TV. I have a Sony 5.1 surround sound system. The "theater experience" is good.
Plus, if I want to upgrade in a few years, it would make a great computer monitor or it would be nice on the wall in the bedroom.
For the money it is "Spectacular"! Its very good no matter what your budget is. I was on the fence for a while and I am very, very happy with this puchase. It looks nice too. I was afraid it would look cheap, but it looks almost elegent and seems very well made.
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