First off, this review is based on the TV, price paid, and features it has, i.e. "value for the money". That said, this is a great TV with a good picture (but I have not done a side-by-side comparison with other HDTVs). Games play fine, not sure why others had problems...maybe they did not do the set-up correctly. TV does have a "Game" mode which is supposed to help any lag one might experience, and under advanced picture mode, you can set the "Smooth Motion Effect" to various levels. One of the main reasons I purchased this TV was that Vizio is one of the few manufacturers that list the power usage of their TVs without having to do a lot of searching, which was important to me. I have owned this TV for about a week.
Side note: Too bad one of the first reviews gave this TV a bad rating based on perceived lag which is not true. But first reviews always get the most votes because they are automatically put at the top, which is a catch twenty-two, because that tends to keep them at the top (people vote most for the first few reviews they see, thereby keeping them on top).
PROS:
Price
Great value
Easy setup
Light weight (this thing only weighs 67 pounds, but TV is about 5" thick)
Picture quality...very nice picture (but did not check out 1080P)
Energy Star 4...uses only 138 watts (THIS IS A BIG ONE, will save you a lot of money!) Edit 12/19/2010-see below.
CONS (minimal):
Sound is not the best, but still pretty good
No direct hookup to online media (i.e. Netflix, etc.) (but of course I knew this, I just use my DVD player)
Style is good, not great (but still much BETTER than the original Vizios)
Minimal connections, 3 HDMI, and only 1 composite & AV, really s/b two each
No side connections-(except for 1 HDMI & USB) worst con in my opinion
Poor onboard TV controls (without remote) ...but I guess this is normal nowadays
And this is not part of the overall rating, but the Amazon TV information (specs), purchase, checkout, truck delivery time (to inside house) and setup was top-notch, I knew when the TV would be delivered (2 hour time frame) at time of purchase! No problems!! I would definitely buy this TV again.
Edit: 12/19/2010
I tried the video games Quake 4, Serious Sam and Super Mario World, still cannot perceive a lag. I am no game expert, but I have not found any problem.
Also hooked up a "Kill A Watt" to check power usage, watts used when off = 0...Good! Watts used when on and using zoom (full screen) ranged from 160 to 200 with the average in between (mostly 170 to 180)...Not so Good! This is higher than I hoped but still good for such a large TV. But I wonder how they got the advertised 138 watts?
Edit: 1/23/2011
Per the site: [...] this TV is rated at 152 watts. The maximum wattage an energy star 4.1 TV of this size can use to qualify is 178 watts. VIZIO E550VL 55-inch Full HD 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV
This is a good, low priced TV, no frills but a good basic big TV. The problems the other reviews talk about, with video lag and processing that takes away the film-look bothered me right away as well, and give the images a very weird effect. I thought maybe it was just me, or I wasn't used to a good quality picture, but whatever it was was not good. I really noticed it with fast motion sports, a football in the air was jittery and choppy. But there is a solution - on the second page of the TV Picture setting (select "more" at the bottom of the first Picture screen) there is a setting called Smooth Motion. Turn it off, and turn the Smooth Motion DEMO off. Problem solved, no more lag, jitters, and the film grain is back in the image.
We purchased this from a different retailer for 1399 around Jan 2010. It looks amazing in hi def with broadcasts like Glee, Marriage Ref, or regular DVDs.
Counter to the other reviews, The playstation looks awesome too, Full 1080P. I haven't noticed unplayable issues of lag, & I game online all the time. There was lag when I went through my receiver first via HDMI enough to notice in guitar hero or rock band, so I plug in directly ps3 to TV now for video because of that. I can't help but wonder if that kid knew how to hook up his game console. Hint: if it isn't with an HDMI cable, then you aren't seeing HiDef 1080 correctly. We've had nothing but jaw dropping fan reviews from our picture, people always want to come back and play/watch some more.
Vizios also have ability to turn off speakers and have more adjustments to audio, this is good, as I rarely use the TVs speakers. Had a friend tell me his new Sony wouldn't let him do that.
Cons: this TV can see through green screens... making fake shots look even more fake. I've tried to adjust it myself, but came back to default settings which looked better than mine. It brightens movies, losing that film effect, making movies look more like soap operas or camcorder shots. I suspect 'backlight' to be the cause of this, but again, I was never happy with my adjustments to make it better. another thing, when the screen is really bright, and I can see a fault in the 'plastic film' near part of the screen, a fold. I'd have to point it out to you it's so minor and you wouldn't see it 99 percent of the time, but it was a fault in my particular tv.
My panasonic Viera picture is slightly better & less bright, but I would make this purchase again over & over.(especially at the new price!)
I wasn't TV shopping when Amazon last had this TV on Cyber Monday for $899. When I started shopping, it was up to $988, which was still good, but I didn't pull the trigger. I ended up buying locally at CompUSA/Tiger Direct during a 2-day sale for $899. So even with tax, I was happy to be able to bring it home immediately and avoid the possibility of delivery issues other reviewers have mentioned.
About the picture: Right out the box, with the factory settings, the picture is crisp and very nice! Looked better than it did in the store! Set up was VERY easy. Take it out, set up to the cable box, pull off plastic, turn it on, watch TV. Took just a few minutes. Now that I've had it a few days, I've experimented with all the settings other have mentioned. There are enough picture options for standard viewing, movies, different sports, and games that everyone will find something useful. Picture will be a matter of taste, so use other reviewer's suggestions to narrow down on settings to your liking. I still have to swap out my current cable box for HDTV programming, so I can only imagine how good it will look if regular programming looks this good!
As far as limited inputs, that is true, but all I needed was a good looking big flat panel TV. I plan only to add a blu ray and Wii, so this TV more than fits my needs. I compared plasma, LCD, LED, and looked at TVs with internet applications. If you plan to add a lot of equipment and want all those internet applications, you may need to go with something with more HDMI input. I decided against plasma because I found dwindling availability. It seems LCD/LED is the way to go. I went LCD over LED for cost, and I prefer the less glossy picture that it offers over plasma. This TV replaced a big (but nice) 200lb HDTV rear projection, which costs me $2000 6 years ago and is worth just pennies today. At that time, plasma and DLP started at $4000. Very few DLP being sold, and similarly sized plasma can now be had for $700, so I'm glad I didn't spend $4000 back then! I didn't break the bank to go LCD, and saved quite a bit over a similarly sized LED.
It's big, it's nice looking, it has a crisp picture, and it's not a heavy monster. This TV will fit most people's needs. But whatever you decide, don't overbuy. Don't spend hundreds for features you will not use. Prices continue to come down as technology evolves. - Hdtv - Vizio - 120hz - Lcd'
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