My wife and I bought this TV at Walmart for $548. It is our first HDTV. We looked at a lot of them in various stores. I did a considerable amount of research and we finally decided on this one. Thought about a 120HZ model but didn't want to spend the extra money. It fits our budget and we are very satisfied with the quality and functionality. Don't have a blu-ray player yet but have watched standard DVDs with component video connection and picture quality is very very good. Streamed a Netflix movie or two in from our PC via HDMI cable and have viewed a considerable amount of satellite and over-the-air programming for the last month or so. Both standard def and HD picture quality, very nice. The volume leveling function is not perfect but it does help quite a bit. Sound with built-in speakers is good. Menus are user friendly and easy to navigate. Overall we are very pleased and would recommend this product to others. VIZIO E420VO 42-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV, Black
I ordered this TV after hours of reseaching the different brands of Flat Screen LCD (and plasma) TV's. I chose this one based on the excellent reviews that the professional reviewers gave it. Their main comment was that it was a good value for the price. It has a lot of options that you would expect on higher end TV's. It was very easy to hook up too. I'm a 5 foot lady whose husband was out of town when it was delivered. It wasn't too hard or heavy for me to unpack and hook up. Another good thing is that I have not had to use the instruction book at all yet. The buttons on the remote are easy to understand when trying to access different features of the TV.
One thing that seems small, but is something I really like is that when you hit the 'on' button, the Vizio logo changes from white to orange so you know the TV received the signal. It only takes a couple seconds for the screen to display, but you could actually turn it back off thinking you didn't hit the button right without that signal.
Yes, that old saying is very true. Little after a year of buying the TV, it stopped working. Contacting Vizio was no help at all for "after warranty support". I received one generic message telling me that they could not do anything to help, and I should contact one of the "authorized repair vendors". It would cost $120 just to get some one to come and check the TV. If they need to replace parts, it could cost hundreds more.
This is my 5th flat screen TV. My oldest Philips plasma TV is still working after close to 8 years. My mother-in-law bought a Vizio plasma TV about 3 years ago, it just died recently too. They must have really poor quality assurance.
If you HAVE to purchase this TV, you should buy extended warranty, maybe from a local store. Personally, I would stay away from all Vizio products in the future.
Update:
In response of last comment, I decided to make an update. I took some time to take apart the entire TV. One of the board had a shorted out IC. It was a board made by LG. Searching the internet showed that there were none in stock at any of the replacement parts vendors. I also found out that it was a common problem with this TV. Without boring every one with technical details, it basically boils down to the power supply exceed the threshold of certain parts, causing they to overheat and burn out. The problem is so wide spread, that the supplier of the parts could up keep up. The price range from $150 to $200 for the board. If you pay some one to do it, the cost would be another $100 to $200 more.
At this point, I am just going to drop off the bundle of parts at local Costco warehouse for recycling. The internal parts were mostly made by LG, some were made by Toshiba and other vendors. Vizio is a relatively new company. So this type of integration issue is expected.
We got this TV a little over a month ago and are very happy with it. The TV is in a bright room (one wall is all windows) and the ambient light sensor work great; keeping the image viewable regardless of light levels in the room. There is virtually no reflection from the screen, even with the windows open. The sound is OK, considering the small built-in speakers. The high-gloss plastic shows the kids finger prints, but that's just an annoyance.
We use the HDMI-1 input for our media player and the NTSC connection for Cable TV. Both work great.
I actually was saving up for a Sharp Aquos 55" LED Edgelit 1080P HDTV from here on amazon, but just busted on a random trip to walmart. I decided to just go for this TV and spend the extra money on a new PS3 Slim, and a couple blu-ray movies. This HDTV does not have the newer tech, like advanced refresh rates (60/120/240 hrz) or LED lighting versus flourescent bulb lighting in this one, but it DOES have what is considered by most now to be the standard for HDTV viewing, and that is 1)1080P full high-def resoultion, and 2) at least 42" in viewable size. Blu-Ray disc playback via Playstation 3 worked fine, but I have seen better 1080p images on slightly more expensive sets. This TV does a DECENT DVD-upscaling job via the Playstation 3, but again, I have seen better and can notice the difference right away. My buddy's 47" Samsung 1080p 120hz does a much more noticeable job of DVD upscaling, proving its the TV that does the job, not the component (in this case, Playstation 3). All in all, for the average user, these quibbles will not make too much of a difference, as I am leaning toward the videophile side, so my eye is already trained to spot these differences. Don't let this dissuade you, this is a great HDTV for the money and will satisfy most people looking for a decently-priced ticket into the HD world. - Excellent Value - Vizio - 42 Inch - 120 Hz Refresh Rate'
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