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Vizio 42 1080p LCD Full 120Hz HDTV (SV420XVT1A)
Product Description
Product Details
Video Reviews
Customer Reviews
This TV provides great capabilities for hooking up equipment... 4 HDMI's, 2 Component Video's, S Video, VGA, and importantly (for me) an Audio out. I like to run my audio from the TV to my surround sound system. The Magnavox that I returned didn't have audio out and fewer of everything else.
Setup was very easy. I had a picture on it in 5 minutes after removing the TV from the box. Overall quality of the build is much, much superior to the Magnavox and I would rate it first class.
The picture is absolutely amazing. It almost appears to be 3D. Sound from the built-in speakers is actually pretty good. I'm extremely happy with everything about this TV.
This telly was really a snap to set up. It has ample inputs (4 HDMI) for hooking up all manner of techno whiz-bangs. I have found it to have an excellent picture with color reproduction as good or better than lcd's costing several hundred dollars more and the black levels are pretty good for an lcd as well. And the sound, both quality and volume, are far better than any other flat panel television that I've checked out. The remote is functional, neither impressive or disappointing. As another reviewer already noted, the menu system could be a little easier to navigate. But on the up-side, in that menu system you will find settings for absolutely everything, allowing you to tweak the picture and sound to your liking. Also, it is a 1080p resolution although you're not likely to notice it on a 42 inch screen. But 1080p costs about as much as 720p does these days, so why not get it?
Cons-
My only complaint is the 120hz "smooth motion". Images moving slowly across the screen or during a slow camera pan are smoothed considerably. This is especially noticeable while watching something film based. However, the technology that Vizio uses to accomplish this isn't very good at handling fast moving images. Something moving quickly across the screen will have a halo around it with images in the immediate background appearing distorted. Worse yet, during a quick camera pan the entire screen appears to stutter and jump. With a 60hz television, especially when watching film based content originally in 24 frames per second, you expect a little jerkiness during a quick camera pan. But the smooth motion settings on this tv actually make that jerkiness worse, so I usually leave it turned off.
Conclusion-
The 120hz thing is pretty useless on this tv, and a selling gimmick on most all lcd's that have it in my opinion. But you can turn it off. And when you do, you have a 60hz flat screen that meets or beats almost every other lcd flat screen out there in terms of picture and sound quality. The fact that this television can be had for several hundred less than comparable models from companies like Samsung, Sony, Sharp, and LG makes it that much better of a deal. I'd recommend this Vizio to anyone looking to buy a flat screen.
I have all my movies (dvd) ripped in H 264 format and loaded on my computer and streamed to my TV via my apple Tv. I have no cable TV nor do I really rent actual DVD disks much anymore. Even if I do I tend to rip em and then stream it at my leisure rather than use the actual disk.
I was worried that when I upgraded to an HDTV that all my ripped movies were going to look like garbage and I was going to have to get an upconvert DVD player and haul my disks out of the garage and start using them again. Fortunately this is not the case.
The GOOD
- Coming from a 27" standard TV the picture on this new one is remarkable. VERY remarkable. Honestly, I think its almost too good. I watch a movie and it's significantly easier to see through special effects. I can tell that's a real object and that the scene behind him isn't actually there. So double edged sword there.
- The TV is very nice looking with clean lines. Setup was a snap too. TV autorecognizes whatever I send into the input and adjusts everything on its own.
- My ripped dvd movies all look really good on this TV I was quite surprsied. So I'm thankful that I don't have to revert back to using my disks and/or reripping everything at an even higher level. (BTW I used handbrake at high quality h.264 setting to rip everything). Now my ripped DVD's are clearly NOT high definition by any means. But they are light years beyond how they looked on my old TV. Not to mention the fact that they are not quite high def means the special effects don't suddenly become dated and cheesy because I have a new TV suddenly.
- The remote isn't overly cluttered with excessive buttons for everything and is attractive and easy to hold in the hand. Plus it lights up which my 18 month old just LOVES!
- The price simply can't be beat 799 at costco on sale. Its obvious in the store that the Sony Bravia has a higher quality picture but, this half the price and I don't have money burning holes in my pocket. Not to mention the Bravia has a bunch of internet downloading features which I already have via my apple TV. So if I didn't have that, the Bravia might be more enticing to buy for those capabilities.
- Video's all seem to play well in their correct format. Widescreen content plays wide and 4:3 content plays 4:3 and I don't have to do anything to make it happen, its all automatic.
The BAD
- The menu system is clearly designed by an engineer and not an interface designer. It's good enough to get the job done but its a little clunky for my tastes. example: If you want to edit the parental controls you MUST be on the Television input when you enter the menu system, otherwise its just not there. I spent the better part of an hour trying to figure out why picture in picture wouldn't work. Turns out parental controls were on by default breaking PIP. Once I finally found a forum post on the Net explaining about the TV input thing, I was able to find the parental controls, turn them off and get PIP working. So again CLUNKY menu system. but, its an 800 buck set you get what you pay for.
- The remote is clean and simple but its also not very responsive. I find myself clicking buttons multiple times for them to work on a regular basis. I have a universal remote which I proceeded to program manually for this TV and I will be using that instead. but, if you have a universal remote you might want to look at your code book you probably don't have vizio codes in it and will have to program it by hand. Which may or may not be a fun task depending on your remote.
- The TV has a bunch of fancy image manipulation feature. Fluid motion and a few other things. Honestly I don't get it. Either i'm not using these features correctly or they just suck. If I turn on the image smoothing feature the movie just winds up with this strange... I don't even know how to describe it... jerky quality I guess? Either way i've played with all the image manipulation and I assume that they are just like all that fancy crap on your digital camera. they are there for show but nobody in their right mind will use them regularly. but, to each his own maybe you will like them. But, IMO they add nothing to the set and should not be taken into consideration when purchasing.
MISC
- I did a comparison of my DVD player (480P via component) with a stream from my apple TV of the same movie. The streaming from my apple tv was actually much nicer looking than the DVD player is. The blacks are especially darker. So I think the HDMI interface of the apple tv is doing a lot to help the picture. I won't really know for certain until I have an upconvert DVD player to compare it too.
Summary
Great picture, Great Price, Great looks, Nice size. Can't really go wrong for the money.
Out of the monstrous box and onto the table. The footprint of this TV is not much more than the 27" JVC iArt TV that it replaces. But that is where the differences end. I spent about $500 on that CRT JVC in 2002, it was (and still is) a great TV. But the picture quality simply cannot compare. The Vizio blows away my other LCD TV's in the house as well. Why spend 2x more for a bigger brand name?
Pro's:
- Tons of input options
- Mind blowing sports smooth motion & 120hz accels here!
- Virtual surround actually sounds quite good.
- Ability to change video display modes (see Con's)
Con's:
- Remote. Weak. Not much to it, and I've had it replaced twice already and the TV is about 4 months old!
- Menu system. Not in the least bit intuitive to navigate. And not at all customizable for the top of the line Vizio offering. My 20" older LCD Vizio in the bedroom has more menu options.
- No button lockout option. 2 year old kids love turning the tv on/off.
- Ability to change display modes. This needs to be automated. The smooth motion looks great in sports, but turn on a regular tv show, and you get the soap opera effect.
- Even though Vizio is a budget LCD TV, which produces great results, it isn't highly recognized yet. I've been unable to get my Verizon FIOS remote to take any codes to replace the horrific Vizio remote. I need the Vizio remote only for power and volume which is quite annoying.
I was told, never saw it myself, that this TV outrated the Aquos in some popular Audio/Video publication. I'm not surprised, because the picture really is jaw dropping. It just takes some tweaks to get there which may not be the best for those that don't want to change modes frequently.
Last night, the set died, in the middle of watching television. No warnings, it just quit as if someone had turned off the set.
Vizio has agreed the tv is dead and will replace it, but be aware of their complicated return process:
1.I had to first phone tech support, have them trouble-shoot with me to verify the tv needs a replacement, and get a case number.
2. Then I had to email them a scanned copy of my receipt (like I'm going to walk out the door with a 42 inch tv under my arm), with my name, address, phone number, and assigned case number.
3. After 48 hours, I have to phone them back, to verify that they have entered my information into their system.
4. After that, they will mail me a replacement set within 7 days.
5. After that, they will send a technician to install the set (apparently, I'm not supposed to set the new one up myself), and cart off the old one.
This process will take a minimum of 9 days. Since this purchase is only 2 months old, I'm considering carting the whole thing back to the store and simply returning it as defective merchandise.
I loved the set for the two months that it was working. I'm just unsure if the replacement set it going to give me the same headache in a few more months.
I guess I've learned my lesson the hard way. If you can't pay for a product with one pay check, then make sure you purchase the extended warranty!
Would I buy another Vizio? Possibly, the picture was great with the short life it had...just would make sure next time I bought the warranty.
Heartbroken
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