Home audio & video: please specify (technical) reasons for the Vizio hate...
Off Brand TVs Love them or Hate them?
by Ron Geiken - 2/14/07 8:53 AM In reply to: please specify (technical) reasons for the Vizio hate... by shawnlinThe only way to fully assess a TV is to have possession of it and use it on a daily basis for a while. I have a Samsung 71 inch DLP set, and the picture is very, very good. Some of the features that I don't like are,
1. Cannot set initial Volume to match home entertainment center set up. My Scientific Atlanta DVR and my LITEON DVRs are pretty balanced as is my Receiver AM/FM Tuner. When I use the TVs Tuner, I have to increase the volume to match up each time. I am not using TV speakers.
2. Every time that my Cable Company flashes my Cable Card, Stations that I have deleted from my TV cable listing are reinstalled. There is not way to make a permanent deletion that cannot be overridden by the Cable Company re-flashing my Cable Card.
3. There is not way to control horizontal and vertical size conveniently. The TV tends to overscan and text on the far right and left of the screen is often truncated.
4. A lot of Channels that are broadcast in 720P HD format do not provide wide screen, and when I go from 16 X 9 setting to wide screen, I have to reset bottom of screen to be able to see the information on the very bottom of the screen. When I change to a different channel, this setting is removed and I have to reset it each time that I move to another channel or return to the original channel.
You do not discover these problems until you actually get the TV in operation. It is almost impossible to get any satisfaction from either Samsung or the Retail Store, Showcase about being able to correct these problems.
It would be nice in reviews of sets that these kind of problems are detailed so someone could decide not to buy a certain set based on their deficiencies.
flat screens
by dvae - 2/14/07 8:54 AM In reply to: please specify (technical) reasons for the Vizio hate... by shawnlinSorry we don't get that specific make this side of the pond. However regarding flat screens, for the sake of quality would it no be better to wait for more development of SED?? Whats the opinion of this technology over with you??
Hyundai imagequest
by cazzwrx - 2/14/07 8:55 AM In reply to: please specify (technical) reasons for the Vizio hate... by shawnlinI haven't bought a Vizio, but I did get a Hyundai Imagequest Q321 LCD. I Love it. I did a lot of research. You want to get the imagequest line, not just hyundai. It turns out that Marantz sells the same TV for a lot more money. Also, the LCDs are made by Samsung.
That name isn't what matters. Just do your research... find out what the quality is then go with the best quality you can afford.
Love my 42" Vizio LCD
by thowe21 - 2/14/07 8:59 AM In reply to: please specify (technical) reasons for the Vizio hate... by shawnlinI just purchased a Vizio 42" LCD from Costco on Monday. So far there have been some postives and negatives. The negatives are that the sound/speakers that comes with it sucks. But I quickly fixed it by turning them off and connecting to my Toshiba stereo system. Problem solved, I believe they are only 10W a piece so don't bother with them. My other problem is that the factory settings for the display sucks. You can easily customize your own settings though with a little trial and error. As mentioned in other posts I haven't had any problems with the remote, just make sure nothing is blocking the lower right hand side of the tv or the remote will not function properly. Also, with standard definition TV, I found that the best way to counteract the average display is to turn off the widescreen mode and go to normal 4:3 mode.
Other than that this TV is awesome, I still waiting for Dish Network to install my 622 HD DVR and I can't wait. The display from my DVD player looks great and I just couldn't complain about the $1199.00 price. I am definitely satisfied with the value.
Sony HD vs WinBook LCD
by JoeBos - 2/14/07 9:00 AM In reply to: please specify (technical) reasons for the Vizio hate... by shawnlinTwo years ago we bought a Sony 42" HDTV from BestBuy. We also bought the extended warranty because of all the advantages that the salesman was pushing. Within 3 months we had a major failure in the control board. We were fortunate to have an excellent service technician replace the component and do an extensive alignment of the set. This was covered by the standard Sony warranty. After about a year, we called BestBuy to clean/realign the set and were told that in spite of what the salesman claimed, only repair was covered.
We just bought a 32" LCD WinBook from MicroCenter having sworn off name brands. The picture if superb and we have been very pleased with the set. The menu/remote setup is not ideal, but still ok. This is a fantastic buy for under $600 and the price was the dealmaker.
I agree with the comments about COSTCO. If you are willing to pay extra, nothing beats COSTCO's return policy. I've bought my cameras and GPS at COSTCO and have never regretted it.
WinBook
by kahunasam - 2/14/07 9:46 AM In reply to: Sony HD vs WinBook LCD by JoeBosI have to agree about the Winbook, I purchased the 37" Winbook about a year ago at MicroCenter and am loving it. I did a lot of research and comparison but for the money this was the best deal. $799, which included the stand and speaker set up.
The picture is solid and doubles as a monitor for my laptop in the bedroom which is ideal.
Aggregate Data Rules
by jeolive - 2/14/07 9:03 AM In reply to: please specify (technical) reasons for the Vizio hate... by shawnlinAnecdotal data is nice to see what individuals are experiencing, but it does not give you any definitive information that can be applied across a brands output of models. In regard to off-brand flat panel tv's Consumer Reports says their problem rate is higher then the branded models. Having said that, if the price differential is great enough it may pay for an extended warranty, or if you are the gambling type pocket the money and hope for the best.
Why pay for that expensive marketing that Sony etc do?
by blove92437 - 2/14/07 9:05 AM In reply to: please specify (technical) reasons for the Vizio hate... by shawnlinYou buy big names you pay for the marketing they do. New companies have not put marketing into thier product but in most cases a lot of heart has benn put into it.
Vizio is just fine for my needs
by dred - 2/14/07 9:09 AM In reply to: please specify (technical) reasons for the Vizio hate... by shawnlinI bought a Vizio 50 inch plasma screen from Sam's just before Christmas for $1680, combined with their offer of no interest and no payments on it until January 2008. It was an offer I couldn't refuse. I am very happy with the TV. It gives a great picture, and it is slim, so it doesn't take up much space, since this is a bedroom TV. Most of the LCDs in this size and price range are rear projection, so they take up a lot of space. I wanted a big screen because most of the viewing on this TV is the 4x3 standard Lo-Def, and a 50 inch 16x9 translates into about a 32-36 inch 4x3. My opinion is that plasmas do better with DVDs than LCDs, and all the techie specs don't mean ANYTHING to 99% of the general population, whose viewing quality is limited by a crappy 15 year old coax cable line bringing the viewing content into the house. I watch a lot of hockey, and where HD Net has incredible quality hockey games every Thursday and Saturday night, all the other Center Ice games I see in regular def are truly atrocious, and I can't even watch them on my 100 inch theater screen despite having a Mitsubishi HC5000 projector.
So my Vizio has a terrific picture, and although it might not have the latest technology like the high end sets do, it does a more than adequate job for what I paid.
WIDE-SCREAN TV's
by sunfireplum - 2/14/07 9:09 AM In reply to: please specify (technical) reasons for the Vizio hate... by shawnlinI would not buy a wide-screen tv at the moment especially if I have a premium or near premium CRT television available. There is a significent expense to being "first on the block" in having one. First, there is the cost; Second there is the quality and intermediate term life expectancy. Thirdly, technological improvements are continully being made to both improve the picture and increase life expectancy.So if you delay the purchase until some later date you can get a much improved television at a much reduced price. Lastly, I will put my "old" CRT Sony television up against any and all wide screen TV's in terms of picture quality and price. If the aspect ratio is somewhat different, SO WHAT!!! A good CRT television is much better to view. This is one man's opinion.
Ummmm Mountaineer
by entrwriter - 2/14/07 9:34 AM In reply to: WIDE-SCREAN TV's by sunfireplumUnless that set is high def, I think you've been overdosinng on the thin mountain air.
first on the block?
by pir8matt - 2/14/07 10:15 AM In reply to: WIDE-SCREAN TV's by sunfireplumUnless your comment is about 5 years old, the opportunity to be first on the block with a plasma or LCD has long since passed.
And as far as CRT being as good or better than plasma or LCD HD, you're..um..wrong.
Akai Plasma TV
by pambrose - 2/14/07 9:11 AM In reply to: please specify (technical) reasons for the Vizio hate... by shawnlinI bought an off brand (Akai) plasma TV not too long ago at Costco for significant $$ less than the name brands were going for. One of the benefits from my standpoint was that it was configured to recieve signals from a cable box. That saves a bunch of redundant electronics. On the down side, it is a bit more daunting to operate because I can't get it's code to come up into the universal remote provided by my cable provider. Picture and clarity are excellent.
Vizo TV
by mcbently - 2/14/07 9:24 AM In reply to: please specify (technical) reasons for the Vizio hate... by shawnlinI too was introduced to the Vizo brand at Costco. First off, the good thing about shopping at Costco is as long as you keep your receipt, and the product fails, they WILL take it back. A friend of kine wanted a large wide screen TV, so we did some comparison shopping. The Vizo had an equally, if not better picture than the name brand TVs. He purchased a 47" TV, we hung it, and he has had NO problems with it. It was November 2006 when we made the purchase. It installed nicely, functioned nicely, and had great sound and picture. When I go to buy a large flat screen I would seriously consider the Vizo brand.
I prefer a projector
by MiracleInspirations - 2/14/07 9:31 AM In reply to: please specify (technical) reasons for the Vizio hate... by shawnlinI have a projector, which I find much more versatile than a TV screen. It can be used to view television and dvd's with a larger image size than most screens would provide, with excellent quality. And it can be easily connected to a computer. We have been watching movies with friends on it, and they now want a projector.
| Forum legend: | |
 |
Locked thread |
 |
Moderator |
 |
CNET staff |
 |
Samsung staff |
 |
Norton Authorized Support team |
 |
AVG staff |
 |
Windows Outreach team |
 |
Dell staff |
 |
Intel staff |
