2009 Vizio XVT Series: 240Hz, USB input, LED backlight [NO PRICE TALK] - Page 109

how do you pair a 552 remote to ps3? It said to hold enter and start key. I don't know what key is start key on vizio remote.

Per VIZIO, the only device that will pair with the VIZIO is the VIZIO remote... That may update in the future Page 53 states it is the long green button and the red record button.

Gary

We'll I called Vizio yesterday and the 552 deal is dead from what I was told, she took my info and said there is a 10% chance they will release more. She did say there were plenty of the 472 units. I asked when the 552 was going to be released to the stores and she said late March or early April.
I was looking at the room where I want the 552 and I'm thinking it may be overkill and I may get a 472. I have a 40" Sony now and I think it's fits the area nice, so a 55 may be too much.
My wife said to wait and get the 552, I measured on the wall the size of both the 552 and 472 and I'm not sure which I should get. I'll be viewing the TV from approx 10' away. What do you guys think??

10' away, I would go with the 55".
Gary

Just got my 552 yesterday, I'll volunteer

We have a 50" Sony LCD RPTV (Grand Vega II), and sit 9' away. IMO, for 10' away you'd want at least 55", perhaps 60"-65". Don't go with anything smaller if you want to get something like a cinema experience when watching movies. I'd get the 55" and try to sit 9' away. Get anything smaller, and 2.35:1 movies from 10' away be smaller than they should be to be fully enjoyable.

That's great! Glad to hear ur Full HD experience is off the Meter! Isn't it grand! Oh I watched Cake boss last night also Yeah that Sesame Street cake was crazy! And yes Cookie Monster did lose his mind as Buddy said he would (BC he's real) LOL!

My sales rep sent me an email saying the first surveys will go out January 26.

If I dont care about the Widgets and Remote - why would I wait for the 552? I have a HTPC - so don't need the Widgets and the Remote is a Gimmeck -especially since I already have a Harmony remote...

Soo.. should I wait or not? Of course.. bearing in mind that the 552 = 551 in PQ - if that is the case I would like to know.. Does the 552 look any better?

I would like though to have a 60" and Sharp is releasing their 60" in Feb... Too many choices!!!

Feedback appreciated.

Just got my "VIP" 552 yesterday and thought I would share my experiences with you all as I enjoyed reading other peoples' comments while I was waiting for my delivery.

Likes:
-Ease of pairing external audio device control to vizio remote
-Complete Comcast/Motorola HD-DVR control with Vizio remote. I was able to use all of my guide and DVR functionality from just the Vizio remote.
-Simple yet elegant look and feel to TV. I thought speaker bar would be tacky, but it's not too bad
-Excellent picture quality, everyone that saw it was wowed. I tried HD netflix, 720p cable, and 1080p Blu-ray. Disclaimer: I was coming from a 5 yr old Samsung 720p DLP.

Dislikes:
-Glossy surface on Vizio remote is already covered in difficult to remove smudges and looks old and abused (in my defence, my hands were clean prior to using remote)
-The "enter" button on QWERTY keyboard is way too small. For a button that is always being pressed, its the same size as the smallest button (which is small). I ended up just using the enter button on the actual remote which is not really convenient
-Putting the option to turn off the tech lights (which I'm sure 100% of 552 owners will do) under the "help" menu was not intuitive at all
-There was no feedback to the quality of the netflix stream. My 360 does a quick check at start of movie and gives you a series of green bars based on the quality of connection, even going so far to call the 4 bar setting "HD." When I made my 1st attempt to watch a Netflix, it looked like absolute garbage. I cancelled it, signed out of Yahoo on the TV (not sure if that did anythign), and restarted it and the second attempt rivalled the HD cable box for PQ, perhaps even surpassed it. It would be nice if there was some sort of indicator to the quality of a stream. I use a wired connection to a high speed DSL so the connection quality is pretty consistent.
-It seems impossible to delete an input name once one has been entered. I tried everything (including reading the manual) and couldn't figure it out so I just renamed it "n/a" which will forever annoy my OCD self. The manual referred to selecting and clicking the done button after enterring new name, but my input rename UI does not have a done button like it did in the manuals UI graphic.

Lessons learned:
-Through the HDMI HD cable connection, I had a thin green column on right hand side of screen and a hard to describe thin column of "fuzziness" on the left side of screen. I was able to kill the green line on right side by changing cable box setting to RGB, but the other artifact persisted. After spending 2 hours chaning every setting, that artifact remained. I ultimately was able to adjust the horizontal position and size so that both artifacts were "off screen."
-Do not try and move this tv yourself I tried and prb permanently hurt myself

Overall, extremely happy with the 552 and can't wait to watch some more blu-rays tonight.

i heard vizios have a lot of problems

id probably not get one

All brands have their issues and this is certainly the place to find out about them - just type a model number into the search and you will find just about every gripe folks have had. Also keep in mind that on sites like these - tho most chatter is dues to excitement of new models being release and people happy with their new purchases - but also a heave dose of those that are unsatisfied because not much motivates a person to post about a product more than their displeasure.
That said - as far as Vizio's go I personally have been very happy with my 32" model that has worked perfectly for over 5 years an have relatives and friends who all have LCDs from Vizio in the 47" - 55" ranges and are completely in love with them - even after a couple years of service. I understand that the quality of a Vizio often is consider sub-par to a Samsung or Sony - but I also think that the excellent prices that most paid for their Vizio's has contributed greatly toward their happiness with the sets.
To me they seem like the best balance of price/performance out there and why they are alway at the top of my shortlist when recommending and considering a display for myself.

This is what the Better Business Bureau has to say about Vizio So this lets me know how I should judge them.
http://www.la.bbb.org/Business-Report/Vizio-13209958

Consumer Reports gives slightly different results in their 2010 Buying Guide and Dec. 2009 issue. Differences of less than 3% points are not statistically significant:

2010 Buying Guide (covers 2005-2008 purchases):

1% failure rate: Sanyo
2%: Sony, Sylvania (Funai), Panasonic, JVC, Sharp
3%: Toshiba, Vizio, Samsung, Philips Magnavox
4%: Olevia, L-G, Hitachi
5%: Westinghouse
6%: Polaroid
7%: Mitsubishi

Dec. 2009 issue (covers 2006 - first half 2009 purchases):

2%: JVC, Sony, Sylvania (Funai), Panasonic
3%: Sanyo, Sharp, Vizio, Samsung
4%: Toshiba, L-G, Philips
5%: Magnavox, Hitachi
8%: Westinghouse
11%: Mitsubishi

Philips/Magnavox has apparently given up LCD TV production and now has Funai build them.

You may want to consider a brand whose standard warranty includes in-home repair. And Vizio Provides this.

551 now or wait for the 552? Im interested in PQ - Dont need Widgets or remote...

I recieved my VIP 552 today and am mounting into a wall all components (cable box , blue ray and such ) will be mounted on inside of a closet . My question to all of you very knowledgeable posters is what is the best way to get my remote to work with cable box and blue ray with no line of sight .

I have heard of an IR receiver but would like some feedback as to how this works and how to put it to best use , also what brand to go with .

Thanks ,
Cosmo

Several have answered my question on what size to get and the 552 has it.

Now I have been reading up on the 552, some others have asked is the 551 the same as the 552 - the modem and fancy remote?
Is it worth waiting for the 552 to come out in April or should I grab a 551 now so I can watch the Big Game on a HUGH TV..
I have a PS3 and 360 to watch netflix with and I'm not a Twitter or big facebook guy and I can get the weather on a channel and I don't need a widget for that. What's the big advantage to the 552 over the 551? I've read almost everything in this thread and I probably missed it..
I'll keep reading ..
Thanks for your time...

Bob

I have asked twice.. I am interested in the response also....

I would also like to add new does not = better.. actually typically = headache.. ESPECIALLY recently it seems electronic manucaforers are releasing products prematurely and the early adopter is becoming more and more the beta tester.. I dont want to be a beta tester...

Apart from the internet apps, the 552 is identical to the 551. Hence, the "beta testing" relates to the new user interface and the internet apps which can easily be updated through the internet connection.

I don't think there is any PQ advantage from the 551 to the 552. If you don't need the interent widgets, just get the 551 which should be available at your local Costco and enjoy.

I disagree. The 551 has a working USB media port. Reports here from early adopters (VIP program) of the 552 indicate that the USB ports are all currently non-functional. Hopefully, that will change by the time that the 552 is released into the wild.

Again... if you have a PS3, XBOX or HTPC thats somewhat a useless feature... I guess what we are looking for is if you have one of the above is there any value in spending the extra $$ (small but extra) and waiting till they are in full production?

I ran in to this same issue. Just rename it exactly as its input name HDMI-1 for instance, and your custom input label will go bye bye.

I have found the media port to be an extremely useful feature, despite the fact that I have other methods of playing media. YMMV. I would not have lugged my media players into Costco to check a TV (per my previous post). Also, my "method to check for 5.1 channel sound" thread/method will use the media port (not that it matters to everyone).

I've been lurking in the background for months here in anticipation of the release of the 552 and thanks to the group was able to get in on the VIP deal. My tv arrived today. Set-up was not without some difficulty, part of my own making perhaps. I will admit that like 99% of the people, I did not read the manual before pushing lots of buttons! haha Hopefully this will help readers of the forum including, presumably, representatives of Vizio that are monitoring the traffic prior to submission of whatever formal surveys they provide.

Even without making any adjustments whatsoever, the picture is stunning. MUCH nicer than my 12 month old LG LCD. 55" does seems about right at 9-10' away. Don't be dissuaded by your spouse from going large! haha (Truth-be-told, I'd probably like 75-80" at that distance.)

My initial impression of the interfaces is positive, but didn't find everything quite as intuitive as perhaps it might/should be. For instance, it was not clear to me that only the furthest-left widget was active, since you are able to switch to submenus when "clicking" on the others (although you can't do anything from there). Connection to my WIFI took two attempts to "stick" (make the handshake), but ultimately did. Opening widgets is pretty quick. Much better than Samsung.

My biggest problem was that the remote appeared in-op out of the box. The tv would power up using the power button on the side of the set so I knew the set worked, but the remote would do nothing. A call to tech support (more on that below) ultimately led me to learn that hitting Q, P and space bar simultaneously for about 10 secs serves to reset the device afterwhich I gained some, but not all, intended functionality.

During my set-up, I had need to call Vizio once. Hold time was minimal, maybe a minute or two. Tech was nice but (for good reason) obviously not all that familiar with the set. After about 15 minutes he passed me to a 552 "specialist" who was able to see me through my problems in another 10. It would be nice if those in the VIP test program were given a special number to call for support. Maybe that exists? I haven't checked Vizio's web site about the program. My problem was that the first tech had me reset the remote but not sync it with the set as required to do during set-up. I never saw the full set-up run-through where you are told to do this because the non-working remote caused me to power down the tv and when I powered it up again you didn't get the initial tutorial/set-up walk-through. The second tech was quick to spot the problem.

I'll post again after I've had more experience with the set. FYI, I'm using a new much smaller box than those previously being supplied by Cox Communications. Subscribers might want to upgrade if size is a factor for you. The new ones have no clock, nor do they provide a screen where you can see error codes however, so there are some tradeoffs for the size benefit.

Ok, so we have had our new 55" for a week now and thought we would share what we observed. First, it arrived as promised, unscathed.

We unfortunately could not set it up until the following night, which killed us!

Set-up was amazingly simple. We don't use cable (gave that up a year ago, and more on that later if you have questions), so we bypassed that part of the set-up. Moved on to inputs and that was easy as we pass everything (PS3 and Apple TV) through a Yamaha and send one cable to the display.

We then set-up a few of the display settings (Picture Mode, backlight, Smooth Motion, Real Cinema Mode, NR, Film Mode and Smart Dimming) and then we named our input.

Joining our Apple Airport Extreme (802.11n and separate 802.11g/b/a) with simultaneous dual-band support was fast and worked on first try on entry of PW.

Pairing the remote was quick and easy as well, and we were done for the moment.

Next issue at hand: A movie. We popped in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen into the PS3 and hit play. We watched the opening sequence and all we could say was WOW, with jaws dropped, and a quick high-five and I then stated, I think this was the best $2k we have yet spent on a toy. The movie, having seen it originally in IMAX, and then on our Sharp (see Profile details) and now this. We saw detail that we NEVER noticed before...color, reflection, CGI detail, smoke, fire, etc. It was truly amazing and at 24FPS...even better.

The movie looked as if we were in the scene ourselves. Those of you with this display already, understand what we are talking about. If you don't, something is truly wrong with your display (or you...hehehe).

Next we played around with the widgets. They are fast, responsive and easy to add, modify, move position and delete. We also tried a few previews with Vudu, in HDX mode and it easily compares to Blu-ray with their proprietary algorithm. Read up on their deal if you are unfamiliar.

Well, that's about it. Our friends love it, and they are as equally jaw-dropped amazed and now want their own.

We eagerly await the VIP feedback portion as we assume that it will include adding and using the widgets that they have announced, but are not yet available.

Our take...Get It! :-)

I ran into this two nights ago when I needed to rename things due to my new HDMI cables.

Page 45 of the manual-

Name Input
This feature makes it easier for you to recognize the devices you have connected to your HDTV when you press INPUT. For example, if you have a Blu-Ray DVD player connected to the HDMI1 input, you can have the input label read HDMI-1 BluRay instead of just HDMI-1. You can select from 10 preset labels or you can make your own custom label that is up to 24 characters long and contains letters, numbers, and/or symbols.
To use one of the 10 preset labels:
1.Highlight Input Source, and then press OK to show the list of inputs.
2.Press ▼ to select the input label you want to change, and then press OK.
3.Highlight Input Labels, and then press OK to show the list of 10 preset labels.
4.Press ▼ to select the new input label name, and then press OK.

To make your own custom label:
1.Highlight Input Source, and then press OK to show the list of inputs.
2.Press ▼ to select the input label you want to change, and then press OK.
3.Press ▼ until the cursor is in the blank space under Input Labels.
4.Slide the remote control open and begin typing in a new label name. You can also select Show Keyboard and use the on-screen keyboard instead of the remote control.
5.Highlight and select Done when you have finished changing the names of the input labels.

Hope this helps!

these directions do not explain how to make an input name blank once you've already entered a name (whether it be a pre-set name or a custom name). that is what we were trying to figure out

I'm in the VIP program and got my 552 last week. I've seen several posts commenting that widgets are available on blue ray players etc. so who needs them on the TV. Here's my reason... While it's true that you can access Netflix, Facebook etc. on other devices, I'm looking forward to widgets that enhance the content of the current program. For instance, if I'm watching a baseball game, wouldn't it be nice to be able to pull up all sorts of statistics (hitter's batting average against the pitcher, etc.?) Or watching a TV show, find all the latest gossip about a cast member on TMZ? (Well, maybe I wouldn't need that.)

These widgets don't exist now, but I'm assuming that there will be alot of content made available. Yes, I'm not going to tweet on TV, or update my Facebook status. But for a few dollars more ($100?) it future proofs the TV for a few years.