Home audio & video forum: please specify (technical) reasons for the Vizio hate...

YOU CAN'T SOMETHING FOR NOTHING.

PARTICULARILY "QUALITY."

River.

I bought mine last summer. A 37" LCD Flat TV (High Definition), including its HD tuner and after almost a year I still think I made a great choice.
I did compare it with major brands before I bought it, and of course, the saving was big enough to convince me to go with (for me, then) an unknown brand.
The only thing I'm not sure about it is its tuner. I have a simple indoor antenna and I don't get good signal with it, but since I had just moved here when I bought this TV set, I don't have a reference to compare so I don't know if the signal is too week in my TV room in general, or if it is a thing with my TV set in particular.
Other than that, HD signal looks really beautiful, and regular programming could look good or not, depending on the channel broadcasting quality. I have an HD package from Dish Network, so I try to enjoy as much HD programming as possible.
After months of use, I have realized that there are noticeable picture quality differences between HD broadcastings, but when they are broadcasting "first class HD" like Discovery HD, or some sports, and sometimes some movie channels, the image is astonishing.

Olevia makes insignia for bestbuy
I bought two insignia and although good value they are not as good as my large Sony: 1) menus are not as intuitive (you cannot jump directly to a single one of the seven feeds/connections, you have to cycle through them all; on sony you can select a feed or even disable unused connections),
2) although they advertise a high resolution, when you connect to a computer it refuses to work on anything but a lower resolution 1024x768
3) it does not autodetect widescreen dvds, you have to select it yourself (again cycling through every other option), and even when you do, there is no mode that does not either distort the picture aspect ratio OR cut off part of the picture. The sony auto-detects, and fills the screen perfectly without any lost picture.

Excellent set. I bought a 32 inch for $500 at Circuit City during the Xmas rush of 2006. No regrets.

We have the Olevia 37 inch flat panel Tv and we love it!

We have had it for 8 months now, and the picture quality is excellent. We haven't had any issues and it is a stylish design that adds to our living space. We did get an extended warranty, but haven't needed it. And even with the warranty, the TV was priced well below Sony et al. And to our eyes the visual clarity, contrast, etc. is as good or better than some of the expensive models.

I have heard complaints about the remote control seeming so cheap quality but given the price difference in flat panel HDTVs, a not-so-chic remote is a small price to pay. [And we use the Tivo remote more than the tv remote anyhow.]

The only bad thing is... now we watch more TV than ever!

I think I have seen that Vizio is made by Sanyo on a box in Wal-Mart.

I've had a Vizio 37" for about 8 months, and have not experienced any problems with it. Hanging it on the wall was a challenge for me (I had trouble finding the studs), but other than that it's been smooth sailing. I'm not an audiophile or a videophile, I just like to watch DVD's and some TV programs now and then. Picture is stunning, and the sound is acceptable (I don't have a home theatre system).

I especially like watching Sunrise Earth on Discovery HD - gorgeous sunrises and high-definition nature photography from around the world. I enjoyed seeing the natural green turf in Comerica Park, when the Tigers won the American League pennant this year: the action was probably better than being there.

I saved several hundred dollars over the big-ticket brands, and have no regrets thus far.

I've been in the TV repair business for over 40 years and have seen it all. This new crap thats hot now will remain hot until you get a
repair bill which will probably amount to more than 50 to 70 percent
of the purchase price. Plasma being the most costly to repair if it can even be repaired. Have a nice day: Edoid

I bought a Visio 37" LCD from Sam's Club about a month ago to use in my bedroom. It is an awesome television for the price. Contrary to some reports I've heard, the picture and sound are great. The connectivity is incredible - 2 HDMI and 2 component video, plus VGA - WOW! And the price - unbeatable! I have a 55" Sony in my living room. It's a great set. But if I had known about Visio two years ago when I purchased the Sony, I'd probably have 2 Visio TVs in my house now. I have connected my laptop to the VGA port. It is a better computer monitor than the Sony is. I don't have a cable box for the Visio set yet. But the SD picture is very, very good. The one HD channel I get OTA is fantastic. I can't say enough good things about this Visio set. I am telling all of my friends that they should strongly consider Visio for their next television purchase. I think I should work for Sam's or Costco - I could sell these things with absolutely no reservation.

First off let me say this. I agree totally that you get what u pay for. That being said here is what I paid for. I purchased the 42" Vizio flat plasma from costco last christmas (05) and paid 1399.00 (which was a great deal at the time) What I got was a 1080i t.v. that Cnet rated an 8 out of 10, a TWENTY year plasma life expectancy, a life time warranty from american express (since i used my amex for the purchase) and oh yea a lifetime warranty from costco. I could not even tell you what the warranty was from vizio (dont care). Now that being said, I am the less techy must have collector of my friends (who always have the latest and greatest, I can't afford to keep up) and they were amazed at the quality of picture (one friend so much so that he bought the 50" vizio for his Bar) In the 15 months that I have had my Vizio, I will honestly tell you that I did have a pixel go red about 6months into it. (Life time warranty thru costco no questions asked replacement.) Have had no problems with the replacement over the last 9months (and I have two children so that tv is always on!).(my buddy's 50" that has been hanging on a wall in a public bar for almost a year... looks as good as the day we hung it!) I have always tried to be smart with my money when I spend it, and in this case I believe I was. By the way, my other friend's sony plasma just took a dump (one month out of warranty) and it cost him almost 50% of the cost of the tv to have it repaired. Should have purchased that extended service plan but didn't because he felt it was too expensive. Oh yea that costco lifetime warranty... FREE

I bought a Philips 32 inch at Costco and took it back 9 months later to upgrade to a Vizio 37. We love the TV and it was $300 less than the Philips. Like the guy said, Costco took it back no questions asked. Just keep the box and the receipt and all of the manuals.

It may not be the best TV in the world, but it meets our needs and has a built in exit strategy.

We were at a store the other day and looking at the big screen, flat, digital, lcd's, etc. when we noticed a Polaroid. I have to tell you that we were very impressed by the picture, sound, contrast, color, etc. It was beautiful. It was a Polaroid 37" Widescreen LCD HDTV w/ Built-in Digital ATSC/NTSC Dual Tuner and cost $997. We wanted to buy it right then and there but we stopped and said we wanted to research it some more. Try to find anyone who might have one, check out consumer reports, etc. However, I still want to go back and get it.

If anyone has this or knows anyone who does, please let me know of your/their experience.

Thanks ever so much.

I own one and love it! I made a post comment about it [somewhere in this thread] I gave alot of good points on the TV.

I agree that name brand is no guarantee. My Samsung crashed three weeks out of warranty and the replacement cost was half the purchase price. Samsung did relent and pay for it but the fact remains it crashed at a high expense.

BACK IN THE 1960'S I BOUGHT A USED OFF BRAND "RICE BURNER" NAME DATSUN. IT RAN FOR OVER 15 YEARS BEFORE I SOLD IT TO SOME COLLEGE KIDS FOR ALMOST WHAT I HAD PAID FOR IT. PEOPLE HAD SMIRKS WHEN I BOUGHT AN ORANGE "HONDA" CAR IN THE LATE 1960'S