Great TV but is very much WORK IN PROGRESS, February 26, 2010

FINAL UPDATE 04/01/2010:

I have to return my Vizio due to the constant re-booting, happens a lot when I try to utilize the PIP/POP feature and just tonight when I tried to activate the CC when I was using the input for TV. VIZIO tech support has said that this is not normal and wanted to ship a replacement but I said no because:

1) Weird side panel which VIZIO now admits they will be correcting in a re-design of the exterior housing by late spring 2010 or early summer 2010

2) The very unlit remote with too few special feature buttons and poor spacing between the buttons

3) Tech support unable to say when or if the USB ports will ever be turned on!

4) Tech support also said the use of LED back lighting is the reason for the poor on-screen space utilization when the PIP/POP feature is on. Tech support said this will be resolved in the PRO series which they say will have more LED zones to allow for better on-screen space utilization when POP is activated.

I do not know what I will be getting but one room is about to have no TV soon…egad!!! I will soon have some pretty upset teenagers in my house.

Updated review 03/08/2010: Since the review below I would like to add some updates for those interested. One reviewer stated something about “stains/shadows” in the right corners but I could not find any on my unit nor the 4″ shadow that from the reviewer’s description would run diagonally across the screen. I am looking but nothing. I still rate the picture a 5 and the audio a solid 4 but the remote though is just too difficult to use in the dark or even in low lighting situations. Given VIZIO’s design for the remote to replace your other remotes it is not useful as that due to lack of a glow button. The remote is still good but only for part of the day and again the remote still is lacking many dedicated “special” feature buttons.

My biggest concern though is the TV “locking up and re-booting” which it seems to do more frequently when I utilized the PIP/POP feature. I have a call in to VIZIO and several e-mails and they are currently researching the issue. I think for the price the TV is a great bargain and while I am no videophile/audiophile I think again for this price range the quality of the audio/video is excellent but they do need to fix certain issues. The re-booting, the missing glow and extra feature buttons on the remote, the side panel toggle switch functions, turning on all the USB ports, and the PIP/POP to better utilize the screen space and fix the audio shutting off from the main screen when you turn off the PIP/POP. The VIA apps rock and really make the TV a joy to use, I hope they add YouTube soon.

Like other reviewers, myself included: BE WARY OF THE REVIEWS ON THE VIZIO SITE.

The TV itself is great but not as slim as I expected it to be given how much slimmer my one year plus old VIZIO SV470XVT1A” LCD is. Let’s start with what is good about the VIZIO 55″. The remote is good and basically takes over all your other remotes and the on screen set-up of the unit is relatively straight forward as well.The wired Ethernet connection worked flawlessly but I can not speak to the wireless capabilities as I did not use that feature. The picture for me was much cleaner and brighter than my VIZIO 47″ and to me needed no further adjustments. The VIA apps were easy to access, use and more are being added such as PANDORA…added 2 days after I got my TV. One of the main reasons I love VIZIO is the PIP and more specifically the Picture outside Picture (POP)capabilities of their TVs. I believe VIZIO is the only company that provides the POP to their TVs. PLEASE NOTE as of 03/01/2010: My earlier review said the volume level needed to be very high to be heard clearly but I now realize I am “deaf” lol and so to me the sound is now very good.The price for features and quality was very good to excellent and really can not be beat but…

This Vizio 55″ was really put out before its time as many items are either not working or will be at a supposedly later time or the design layout was weird and needed to be corrected before being sent out. I think VIZIO skimped on the number of non-HDMI connections giving you just one each of Component and A/V inputs, if your like me you have several legacy non-HDMI components. I say skimped because VIZIO seems to be reducing inputs on its TVs compared to models from less than a year ago, the VF551XVT has 2 components and 2 AV inputs per the online manual. Yes the VF552XVT has Ethernet capability and VIA apps but I mean if they want to continue to be a standout from SAMSUNG and other high ends then they need to keep these extras as well.

What I think is the real design FLAW: the side panel controls in the manual on page 11 shows a logical layout of the controls but the actual TV itself does not look like…

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A great TV!, February 16, 2010

By 

M. Marks (San Jose, Ca USA) – See all my reviews

  

I bought my first HDTV nearly ten years ago. It was a pain to hook up with a mass of wires and complex antenna adjustment for broadcast reception. Took hours to set up. The Vizio VF552 was unpacked, put on the stand and hooked up in about ten minutes. I have three Direct DVRs and a blueray DVD player. Just plugged in the HDMI cable and went through the simple start up process. Even the wireless hookup to my secure router worked the first time. I think the remote is reasonably sturdy. The remote is light and easy to use. I like the input button on the opposite side of the remote from the tv on/off button. On an older Visio tv, the input button was next to the main on/off switch and I was forever turning the tv off when I wanted to switch inputs.

One problem with the sharp, bright picture is that you can see set lighting. Programs such as “Chuck” are so realistic you can tell when they are on a set.

My wife told me not to mess with the color adjustments. I think the as-received adjustments are a bit too bright with over saturated colors. I backed off the settings slightly and I think it looks better. Trouble is that programs seem to have drastically different color values and saturation (e.g. “Miami CSI” seems to be grossly saturated.) Not the tv’s fault.

I don’t understand comments about this unit’s color accuracy when the sources seem to vary all over the place. When one program looks good, another looks cold, another warm. The source gamma seems to run the gamut, and I’ve given up trying to make adjustments for each program. With my old set, I always reduced the saturation and cooled the color tem for “Miami CSI”. This unit’s dynamic range (i.e. white whites and really black backs) makes it tolerable for me.

We really like the wireless remote that you don’t have to point at the set to make changes. It has worked flawlessly. Earlier Vizio models don’t have a wireless remote. The keyboard works fine, when needed.

After several weeks, we are completely happy with the performance of this unit.

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The value here is unreal, March 14, 2010

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C. Bassett (New England, USA) – See all my reviews

  

Alright, first things first: This isn’t an 8800 series Samsung LED. Get that right out of your head. Now, this IS a XVT series Vizio that offers some serious dollar stretching for all you get.

As others have said, the remote leaves a lot to be desired. Flimsy, a little clumsy, yeah, it could *probably* use a backlight (not a deal breaker by any means, but it would be nice). The keyboard is a wonderful touch, just wish they spent more time on that hinge.

The audio is acceptable, nothing game changing at all. It provides some pretty room filling sound, though, you’d be better served with a stand alone sound system. Games sound pretty anemic; live sports sound very-very good. It’s exactly what you would expect for HDTV 15w speakers.

So, you bout a 240hz, LED, 55” HDTV for the picture, nothing else. Let’s touch on that. It’s INCREDIBLE. Yes, you can, like I mentioned above, spend thousands more and get a better picture; barely. There is absolutely no sacrifice with this monitor, it does it all and keeps you “oooh’ing” and “awwe’ing” all night. I fought for weeks about what would be the best for my money. What would provide the best experience, what would give me the least amount of buyers remorse (hey, spending this kind of money hurts these days!). This product whole heartedly delivered.

Everything else it provides is the icing on the huge cake! The apps are fantastic, especially the Yahoo integration…oh and Netflix, how can you forget about Netflix?! My 360 is going to be lonely, what, with only playing games on it =P

If you’re on the fence, I can’t really give you anything to sway you one way or another, but really, at this level of consumer electronics, you aren’t going to get anything *bad*, just some better than others. This is one of those that is VERY MUCH better than others, second to very-very few.

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