okay can someone just say YES or NO...are these Vizio's worth buying or should i bite the bullet and go with a better brand? that 50" sounds amazing

YES, get the 50inch.

Good deal.

I just bought a Vizio 37" LCD HDTV from Costco two weeks ago for $750. Couldn't beat the price, and I love the picture.

"Better Brand" is sometimes misleading. Remember that most of the big brands spend millions and millions of dollars on advertising which has to be recouped in the sale price.

120 Hz, 24p support? Not there?

That's the one thing I don't about Vizio. In the world of home entertainment, it always seems that name brand recognition is vital. The majority of people refuse to go with a brand just cause it has the mystique of being low cost. Equating low cost with inferior quality. Don't get me wrong, I'm guilty too. I'm going to be purchasing a television for our master bedroom this year, and I'm looking at the Sony XBR5 line.

Funny thing is, I should know better. I know for a fact that higher prices don't always equal greater quality. Aperion Audio is better than Bose. Standard HDMI cables are equal to Monster Cable. So why should Vizio televisions be any different?

I've looked at Vizio repeatedly in retail stores. Granted retail isn't the best place to gauge anything, but I'm not impressed. The picture quality just isn't there, and the build quality looks subpar. Theres no way I would get one of these over something like a samsung. And theres no way I would buy anything new without 120hz with motion compensation.

@tutelary:

I agree, I was shopping for a 1080p LCD, and contemplated Vizio and Sceptre. The picture quality and craftmanship were crappy. Even the remote controllers were crappy.

Picture quality just was not there. Granted all HD signals look pretty good on pretty much anything. But the ultimate test is how well a TV can produce standard Def. that does not look like shit. Another thing to watch out for is sound quality. Some of these TV's have really bad audio and need to be turned up alot.

I bought the Sony Bravia. No regrets.

@stingray:

Yeah, the ultimate test on an HDTV is seeing how well it plays non HD content, that won't be around in another year or so.

Good advice.

I thought Vizio was dead last in picture quality; a "steaming turd" according to the recent test of 1080p motion artifacting and resolution:

[gizmodo.com]

Those specs do look amazing, and I am happy to be informed otherwise, but I just don't know about the quality.

At Costco, they had a 42" Vizio right next to a 42" Sharp Aquos, both playing an HD channel. The Vizio looked like crap in comparison. It seemed blurrier that the Aquos, color was washed-out looking, and it just seemed really dim. By itself it probably would've looked fine, but side-by-side you could just see the difference.

With Vizio - and probably all the second tier brands - it depends on the particular model. The GV47FHDTV got poor ratings but the P50HDM got great ratings.

I have a Vizio P50 and a VX37. I absolutely love them both. You simply cannot beat the price for performance level. As for comparing these in the store, costco or best buy or whatever, you have to remember, this is NOT the ideal place for comparisons. Plus, of course side by side next to a Pioneer or similar set that costs two to three times as much they will look like shit. Duh. But who has a comparison lab in their home? I assure you, if getting a good deal makes you happy, when you get these sets home, you WILL be pleased. If you have money to burn, get a "better" set. But as for relying on just the name for names sake? Dont do it. I'm in advertising. You'd be astounded at the money these companies piss away. In fact, (and I'll somewhat contradict myself here), one reason that Vizio has become the number one flat panel seller in the USA, is because not only do they have a good product and kept the price down due to the channels they sell in and whatever other reasons, they HAVE done a fantastic job of advertising also. And fact is also, that most of the guts of a Vizio, Pioneer, Sony, Olevia or whatever are made in the same place anyway. So all in all, blah blah blah, specs specs specs, if you want an awesome TV that may admittedly not be "STUDIO" quality, but will save you a butt load of money and look amazing once you get it home and set it up right, get a freakin' Vizio.

Ditto on the stellar advice about sound quality. Can you honestly tell me you would buy a 50" TV and not have it hooked up to at least a $300 yamaha receiver with at least stereo sound if not surround? Can I come to your house and watch re-runs of Family Matters?

One of my buddies got married and all of us groomsmen chipped in and got a 50" Vizio. All of us are good ol' tech loving men, and we were all ready to pitch in the money for a Sony or Samsung, but the Vizio shocked us all with it's quality. It's been said before, and it's worth saying again: every TV out there does some stuff really well, and other stuff really poorly. The trick is to find out what you really want in a TV, and then go and find the set that gives you that.

In our case, we needed a big set that could show the Super Bowl in HD. Sure we're selfish pricks, but I've got a 50" set with surround sound to watch the game on.

if the glass on that fiddy is solid, this will probably be my next tv.

I have the 47" LCD wall mounted, speakers removed and the set looks fantastic. Piano black minimalist frame is great. Picture is good from all devices (I have everything run through a single HDMI from my sony receiver). Properly configured, using the THX setup program (if you have any Lucas films like starwars, it's on the DVD), the picture is great - certainly the best bang for your buck you'll get.

Best to wait for the review, but the video processor quality is directly related to upscaled picture quality, so I think that will be a strength of these sets.

When it comes down to it, most displays are similar in terms of glass(either Plasma or LCD base panels). The differentiation is in the video processor, the menus, the picture controls and service/warranty.

Remember that the name brands of today(Sony, Toshiba, etc.) were the cheap, no name brands of 30 years ago.

If you're not experienced with what a properly professionally ISF (not that pseudo calibration avia or monster DVD) calibrated HD set looks like and properly scaled SD content then you will probably be happy with the Vizio. But once you buy or experience genuine HD there's no going back in quality. The real test of a display isn't reslution.
(Hate to break it to ya'll)Black level, motion response, artifacts, color accuracy, and gradation play a much bigger role in overall PQ. Sure these TVs may have the HQV chip, but the HQV chip can make HD and SD only look as good as the technology that creates the picture allows. I have a the HDXA2 (mainly for an upscaling player) running on a TH-42PX600U and it looks very good, but the 600 series panasonic got killer reviews anyway. The HQV chip in the HDXA2 didn't make The dvds on the TV look any better than it would have been,i.e. a Blu Ray Disc or rival a picture of a Runco or Pioneer Elite, or even a new Panasonic 750 series. The HQV chip is nice but it's not a magic wand. How many features have we all seen that look AMAZING on paper but when you see it in person it's a lil' short acceptable. If you want reference quality you won't like the Vizio. Period. If you're new to the Home Theater scene and want quality at a lower price buy a
Samsung or a Panasonic. In the end you'll be happy.From what i have found online Vizio has a repair rate similar to Philips/Magnavox which says quite a bit about overall quality.BTW Philips/Magnavox are notorious for their high repair rates Be sure not to buy any of those. Happy Shopping!

Nice, sorta condescending post don't ya think? There are people with limited funds who KNOW what a good display looks like that may consider the Vizio which by the way is the first plasma to include the REON. Why not give it a chance before dismissing it, you might just be surprised.

Post back after the set is released and tell us your thoughts then.