I got a tax refund that I want to blow (I'm stimulating the economy! ;) ). I'm ready to upgrade from a gigantic 65" Mitsubishi RPTV to an 55" LCD. I've been told that the Vizio 55" is very nice, but I don't have any stores near me to check one out, so I'll be ordering online. Should I go with a Vizio or is there something in the same general price range that is a better choice?

Regards,
Julie Strietelmeier
http://the-gadgeteer.com

Julie,

based on your request it looks like your new to the new tech in regards to HDTV's. I would be wary of just going off a friends view of a product. There are alot of considerations to think about.

Viewing distance - where you sit (normally) from the tv.?
Lighting?
What do you watch normally (sports, movies, play games etc..)?
price range?
What will your source video be? (Standard or HD)
TV include speaker or not?
Pricing varies online vs. brick and mortar - usually better online but you need to find a trusted dealer to buy from. Or you can find a good deal on brick and mortar stock sometimes, especially if it is a sale and you can also ask for last years models, too. :)

Among some other considerations.

If you can go to a local brick and mortar store like best buy or others and look at various products. Mind you, these product may not look the same in home as they do in the store. Also, LCD's tend to show better in stores too vs. plasma's. But many people feel plasma's out shine LCD at home once they are calibrated to the viewers needs.

I, myself, have a 50" Panasonic Plasma (85U) and love it. I bought my HDTV after having a 32" tube tv and I am blown away by the picture. But I think I would have been blown away by lessar HDTV too. So it depends on how discerning you are on picture quality.

There are individual forum threads for both LCD and Plasma you might want to read through, also there are tons of material on the net that give guidance too. If your the type of person that wants to get the best for your dollar then research is key. Not many folks will say BUY THIS or BUY THAT they can only give their opinion how they view their HDTV.

Good luck.

NO! way vizio is POS consider a panasonic and samsung as second. if you got enough money for a pioneer/elite then by all means dont think twice. but the last poster nailed it, help us give that info

Welcome to the forum!I will definately recommend the best lcd hdtv wich will suitable to your home.If you please let us know the exact requirement and where you want to place it and detail about your budget ........Thanks.....

Panasonic 50G10 plasma or if you want a 54" it will be out in May. Best bang for the buck out there.

I got a tax refund that I want to blow (I'm stimulating the economy! ;) ). I'm ready to upgrade from a gigantic 65" Mitsubishi RPTV to an 55" LCD. I've been told that the Vizio 55" is very nice, but I don't have any stores near me to check one out, so I'll be ordering online. Should I go with a Vizio or is there something in the same general price range that is a better choice?

Regards,
Julie Strietelmeier
http://the-gadgeteer.com

Whatever you do, any TV you choose should be auditioned and not taken based on the written reviews alone.

PCMag recently reviewed > 50" TVs, there are not that many in the market.

bump not much help for this guy, better yet op any details on your end to help you recommend such a tv size and or prefs?

I got a tax refund that I want to blow (I'm stimulating the economy! ;) ). I'm ready to upgrade from a gigantic 65" Mitsubishi RPTV to an 55" LCD. I've been told that the Vizio 55" is very nice, but I don't have any stores near me to check one out, so I'll be ordering online. Should I go with a Vizio or is there something in the same general price range that is a better choice?

Regards,
Julie Strietelmeier
http://the-gadgeteer.com
No Costco in your area? Its where I saw the 55" Vizio.

Outstanding TV and value. Two thumbs up here.

I would have been inclined to denigrate the Vizio purely based on name alone.... but I actually looked at one at at Sam's club and I was blown away. They were showing "Kung Fu Panda" and both my friend and I stood there and watched with gaping mouths for 15 minutes. My friend kept saying, "It looks 3D in parts". So I challenged the inner electronics snob in me and did some research. It didn't get as high a review as I would have liked to see on Cnet but other reviews gave it very high marks. I went ahead and bought one figuring I could return it if it was dissapointing in any way. Well, I'm not disappointed and it's an amazing picture. Even the sound is OK by my standards (the sound knocks the score down for this set in most reviews). So go take a look - they have it at BJ's, Sam's club and costco. Although you probably should wait until the 551 comes out in a couple of months.

Colourful animated CGI movies are very easy to look good, so that is why the stores use them as demo, they are more like a trap, since they are very far from being a challenge like a dark movie.

Vizio 55" VF550XVT IA. The wife and I got one a few days ago.. We also have a 37" Vizio and a 46" Vizio.. We picked up the 55" based on the other sets we had and they didn't even have a display out in the store.. We got it sight unseen just loaded in in the truck.. We love this set!! 110% happy with it so far. 3D effect yes on a lot of good HD programming.. We sit 10 or 12 feet away from this giant and it still looks great.. Don't think you can beat it with a stick for the money. 1,549.99! We had the other Vizio's almost 4 years now and have been 100% happy with them both.. Hope this helps and makes others take a look at them for them selves.. You do need to do a set it up and get the setup right to optimize for best picture.. Well worth a looks see!!! Most places will give you 30 days to return it.. Best programming to look at IMO is live content. Late night shows News and music channels with concert programming.. Best of luck! George

I've heard the black levels on this still aren't too great- one of my friends has a smaller Vizio and that's the biggest problem with it- sometimes dark scenes look like they're being viewed through a cloud, though otherwise the picture is great. I'll wait for the LED model that's supposed to be coming in June.

IMO the black levels are fine..I think great in-fact! There are enough adjustment's on this set to compensate for any ill values set as default by the factory..We have had a chance to evaluate this TV a little more now and we are happy with it..One week old tomorrow! We still don't have Blue Ray yet so I can't say how it will do with that.. It does like a SD picture fed as 480i as appose to up converted to 720P,I have not tried to up convert a SD picture to 1080i yet.. But with SD at 480i I would say it does better then most HD sets I have seen again we sit about 10 to 12 feet away from this set.. Best of luck! George

I don't know why you'd buy a Vizio lcd when you can get a Panasonic 54G10 for $1700.

I don't know why you'd buy a Vizio lcd when you can get a Panasonic 54G10 for $1700.

Where do you see it for that price? That's lower than my EPP.

Hey we have been glued to this set over a week now! We are sure we made the right choice for ourselves we are 100% sure! Save your money and look at this set! George& Penny

Where do you see it for that price? That's lower than my EPP.

Search google you'll find it.

S-a-m-s, B-j-s and I hear C-o-s-c-o Got ours at B-j's last week! Fine tuning it and it's looking better and better.. Like I said blacks are fine, rich and dark! No issues here! George