Vizio XVT553SV

Pros: It is hard to beat the picture for the price. Clean and smooth. There are better screens out there but they cost 2x as much.

Cons: Vizio implies that this screen will support USB connections. It ONLY supports jump drives and it DOES NOT support ANY video formats via USB.

Summary: Here is a copy of the conversation I had with Vizio's tech support:

Kelly: Thank you for contacting VIZIO Live Chat, the home of Entertainment Freedom for All. This is Kelly in South Dakota. Have you ever contacted us before?
Joe Stevenson: Nope
Kelly: Here at VIZIO we pride ourselves in providing best in class customer support and all of our support is U.S. based, and I can assist you with that.
Joe Stevenson: Thanks
Kelly: What is the model of your TV?
Joe Stevenson: I'll have to check, its a 55" lcd I got from costco
Joe Stevenson: XVT553SV
Kelly: Thank you. Can you go into the VIZIO menu, select help, then system info? I need the version.
Joe Stevenson: VIZIO_C3.2.3_RC3
Kelly: The USB flash drive does have to be formatted in either FAT or FAT32. The TV will show either pictures or play music. (this means it will not recognize an IPAD, cell phone, keyboards, videos, etc.)
Formats supported
• Photo's - .JPG, .JPEG, .BMP, .GIF, .TGA
• Audio - .MP3, .WMV
Kelly: There are two ways of accessing the media portion, first is to just plug the flash drive into the USB port and it will auto detect. Or - The VIA TV's do not show the media as an input, they show as a widget. You would need to access the Media Widget.
Joe Stevenson: Ok, I have made sure that the drive is formated as fat32
Kelly: If these steps do not work, unplug the USB and plug it back in. Keep the TV turned on.
Joe Stevenson: I also have plugged in a jump drive. . . it works fine
Joe Stevenson: but the HD drives don't work at all.
Joe Stevenson: I'd rather not have to copy things onto a jump drive just to view them on the screen
Joe Stevenson: It still says no media detected
Kelly: Unfortunately the TV won't be able to read off of a hard drive.
Joe Stevenson: What?!
Joe Stevenson: It says it can. How is a HD any different than a jump drive?
Kelly: A jump drive is smaller than an HD drive.
Joe Stevenson: Nope,
Joe Stevenson: (Same size)
Kelly: The HD drive has more levels that the TV may not recognize. IT appears the TV is working as you are able to view your files with the jump drive.
Joe Stevenson: It appears that the TV is NOT working since I can't access any of the files on a comparable HD. What are the options here?
Kelly: Unfortunately your hard drive is not going to work with the TV
Joe Stevenson: I really like the picture, but if this thing can't do what it claims to do it may have to go back.
Kelly: It only supports a flashd drive.
Joe Stevenson: Can you show me where it says that?
Joe Stevenson: Manual etc?
Joe Stevenson: Then I wouldn't feel like I got duped.
Kelly: Unfortunately the manual is not updated with new information showing what the USB port on the side of the TV supports.
Joe Stevenson: That is not true
Joe Stevenson: It says it that it supports FAT32
Joe Stevenson: that's all
Joe Stevenson: What can one expect
Joe Stevenson: ?
Kelly: When this TV was originally manufactured, the USB ports were only used for service and reserved until this firmware update that we released.
Joe Stevenson: If there are limitations they should be listed. . . I got over it not working with video. . . I saw that on the blogs. . . but how can you say that. . . 3 usb ports, and you're going to claim they were just for SERVICE?
Joe Stevenson: What like 2 of them are going to fail. . . better have a 3rd for firmware updates?
Joe Stevenson: come on?
Kelly: Yes, they were just for service until the update was released early this last January.
Joe Stevenson: What is Vizio going to do about this?
Kelly: I apologize we were not able to accommodate you. VIZIO is always willing listen to its customers. We appreciate the feedback and I will be more than happy to pass this along to our development team.
Kelly: Do you have any other questions for me at this time?
Joe Stevenson: Are you kidding? I don't mean to take my frustration out on you. But this is ridiculous. Your product has a know issue and its been 8 months since the last firmware release. . . how can you not fix this kind of a problem.
Joe Stevenson: The only question I have is when will the next firmware update come out?
Kelly: There is no known issues with model. Unfortunately it does not support what you are trying to do with the TV. Firmware changes are evaluated on an ongoing basis. Updates will be provided as deemed necessary by the VIZIO product management team.

Joe Stevenson: So, no video support and issues accessing a normal sized external drive are not 'known'? And they are not important?
Kelly: Joe, I do apologize, but the features you are looking for are not supported by the TV.
Kelly: Is there anything else that I can assist you with today?
Joe Stevenson: You haven't helped me.
You have disconnected.