I've been lurking here for research for a while, but registered just to share my disappointment with my purchase of this television.
My complaint is primarily with their tech support. A week and a half ago, before I purchased the VO42L, I read the manual online to see what I was getting. Because the manual wasn't 100% explicit about the Optical Out feature (it said how to plug it in, and that it transmitted digital sound from all sources, but not much detail), I called them to ask a simple question: does the VO42L TV's Optical Out output 5.1 Dolby Digital from devices plugged in via all of the 4 HDMI ports? The tech put me on hold to check. She came back and said unequivocally yes. Great, that'll cut down on the complexity of my home theater cabling/switching significantly. I bought the TV at CostCo on Friday the 6th.
Got it home and up two flights of stairs. Hooked up the HDMI cable to my cable box, put it on an HD station. Hooked Optical Out via an optical cable to the Optical In on my receiver. I got audio, but the Dolby Digital light stayed off. I checked the settings on the TV, switched everything so it sure looked right. Nothing. Changed channels. Nothing. Switched to my digital coax that was still plugged in from the cable to my received, voila, 5.1 DD. Back to Optical, nothing. I switched the HDMI cable to my Xbox 360, just to make sure it wasn't the cable box. No 5.1 DD.
Over the next week, I spoke to two more tech support reps at different levels. They assured me as the first one had that HDMI inputs should pass through 5.1 DD to the optical out, and that something must be broken. They set a tech repair appointment for Friday from 9-11AM.
Friday I wait and wait and wait, skipping things I had to do because I was afraid to leave. At 11:30, I call. No answer, leave a message. Two hours later, I call again, find out the rep who'd set up the appointment was out that day... and that my appointment was actually scheduled for Saturday. I'd repeated "Friday" on the phone in front of my wife, and written it down, and I knew we had errands to run Saturday morning, so I know that I was told Friday. Frustrating, but you know... it happens. I just want my TV to work.
Today, they came on time (hooray), swapped out the audio board. It still didn't work. They assured me it should. I called Vizio support AGAIN. Spoke to someone AGAIN who AGAIN assured me it should work. They started setting up a replacement. Before waiting yet another week, I insisted I speak to someone who was actually intimately familiar with the specific model of TV, not just someone who can read the manual (I can do that!). I get escalated to level 3 support.
Level 3 guy almost immediately says only the cable DTV/TV input outputs 5.1 DD through the optical. "But... five other people, and the manual, told me the opposite!" He assured me that he was correct, and to support the claim, read me the manual. Of course, it didn't say that at all, but he said he knew he was right. I asked for confirmation from someone else. Hold, transfer. New guy is in Level 3, but clearly completely unfamiliar with the television or what 5.1 is. I told him all I want is confirmation that HDMI inputs WILL or WON'T transmit 5.1 DD through the optical out. He puts me on hold to check with "a game expert and a 5.1 expert" (that's what I asked to speak with in the FIRST place), and when he came back, told me it wouldn't. I'm furious at this point, and asked him why the manual and the first 5 people told me the opposite. He asked if I'd checked with CostCo before buying the TV! "No, I checked with YOUR TECH SUPPORT before buying the TV!" He checked something and said "The V052 (or something, I know it was a 52) outputs 5.1 from all inputs!" "Great, I'll be happy to accept an exchange. Can you set that up?" Not that I expect them to, but he says I should check with "Circuit City" about that. Of course at that point there's nothing he can do--if the TV doesn't do that, it doesn't do that, and I told him I'm returning it and not considering VIZIO televisions in the future because of the horrible support.
So bottom line: I have a TV that doesn't work the way the manual says it does (check page 10 and page 27 in the online manual, show me one place where it says "optical out only outputs 5.1 DD from the DTV/TV input"). I've wasted a good 10 hours of my time on the phone and waiting for a tech (fortunately, I work at home, but I do have better things to do!). VIZIO support has proven that they don't know their products, which to me, is the greatest sin a tech support department can commit. And now I have to box this TV up, drag it down stairs again, take it back to CostCo... and start researching and shopping all over again.
I'm so very, very frustrated.
