2009 Vizio XVT Series: 240Hz, USB input, LED backlight [NO PRICE TALK] - Page 166

I have a 552. After the latest firmware update I've noticed that the apps started acting really, really slow. When I first start the TV the apps work ok but after 2-3 minutes of the TV being on they stop working. I press the VIA button on the remote and nothing generally happens. Once in a while I'll get the input name at the top right and sometimes I'll even get a black bar at the bottom where the apps should be but they never load.

I called tech support and they seem to think it's the remote. I tried new batteries before calling but that didn't help. While on the phone with tech support we restarted the TV and the remote but it didn't helped. I really think it's the TV or maybe the firmware didn't properly install on my set.

Anyone else experiencing this issue after the latest firmware update? Before I go down the path of resetting things, I'm hoping someone has a quick fix.

I also have a 552 but haven't seen that problem. At one time I had alot of apps and they took a long time to update. So I removed Facebook, Twitter and multiple weather apps - the ones that always auto-update on startup, and they've been much snappier. They generally load fairly quickly and I don't have any problems afterward.

Wasn't the latest firmware supposed to speed up the apps? Maybe your firmware wasn't completely installed. I wonder if there is a way to trigger another download?

I installed the CNBC app and I thought that may have caused the slowness, but it continued even after I removed it. I'll call tech support again and see if there's anyway to reinstall the firmware.

Oh yeah, an added bonus since this issue has come, the TV has started to freeze and then shut itself off. This was a random occurrence before the firmware update, but now it happens relatively often (once a day, sometimes two three times a day).

Try removing all apps except the hd tv settings and app widget and see if there is any diff.

Maybe also shut off tv, unplug it for 1 or 2 min and turn it back on.

Mine (SV472XVT) updated several of weeks ago and started rebooting several times a day for about the first week after. The problem "Seems" to have cleared up on its own. Maybe, when they send out their group updates some of the sets don't update fully on the first download, causing odd problems until they update correctly.

The second call to tech support had me go back to factory settings. I was trying to avoid that and frankly I thought it wouldn't solve anything - it would just make me have to set everything up again. I was happily proven wrong since it seems that the issues have gone away. The video is no longer stuttering/freezing and the apps are once again working properly.

After going through these issues, I'm pretty certain I'll be getting an extended warranty. The question is how many years? I don't see myself changing TVs any sooner than 2-3 years, so I was thinking of getting the warranty for about 3 or 4 years. Any thoughts on this?

Did anyone find a solution to this? I have the same problem with the wireless connection. I am using the Asus N16 dual band router. Thanks.

I'm using WPA2, and it works fine. Initially I had WPA and changed it to WPA2. Right after the change the TV got disconnected. I had to shut off the TV and turn it back on to get it to reconnect.

Have you tried connecting to a different access point and then back to yours? Maybe that will clear the key that the TV has from the old settings and it'll ask for a new one when reconnecting.

I'm one of the people who bought a 552 thru the VIA VIP program last year. With the approaching one year anniversary of my TV, I got to thinking about an extended warranty. Step #1 is find out the price and what it covers. So I went to the Vizio website, but there appears to be nothing about extended warranties. So I email them. Here's the response I got:

Dear Valued Customer,

Thank you for your recent inquiry with VIZIO. We will be more than happy to help you with your concern. Here at VIZIO we do offer best in class technical support.
Please call our customer service department at 888-849-4623 for assistance with your request. I apologize but I do not have an estimated cost for our warranty plans. Our customer service agents will be able to assist you with this information.
Thanks and have a great day!
This is surprising to me because I'm being bombarded with emails from Vizio to purchase an extended warranty for the Vizio Blu-Ray player that I got for free last April as part of the VIP program.

Does anyone have information on a Vizio extended warranty for this TV, or should I just go with SquareTrade (something like $220 for 3 years)?

Thanks!

That's odd because I keep getting notices from them. I did look into the extended plans soon after I got the TV through the VIP program so maybe that's why. Anywho, these are the quotes I get:

1 year: $ 137.95
2 years: $ 274.95
3 years: $ 337.95
4 years: $ 399.95

Try this and let me know if you see different prices: https://www.vizioserviceplans.com/

How many years are you looking to get? I've been pondering that lately.

Thanks. I can't believe that the Vizio rep didn't know about this site. I was quoted lower prices:
Service Plan Price Full Payment -or- Payment Plan
1-Year $ 113.95 $ 113.95 3 Payments of $ 39.48
2-Year $ 227.95 $ 227.95 3 Payments of $ 77.48
3-Year $ 288.95 $ 288.95 3 Payments of $ 97.82
4-Year $ 349.95 $ 349.95 3 Payments of $ 118.15

Pricing appears to vary by zipcode. I'm in 10504.

By comparison, SquareTrade.com has what appears to be the same warranty for $190 for 3 years - $99 less than Vizio.

Thanks. The SquareTrade.com may be a compromise for me. Still thinking about it, though.

Just a hint to help Vizio see the screen stain that is so hard to capture on film. Photoshop your photo to increase the contrast just on the screen until the photo looks like it does in reality. Kind of cheating but not really. The human eye and a camera lense are very different things so why not edit the photo to better represent what you see. The human eye can sense variations in brightness much better in your peripheral than when you are looking directly at it but cameras dont have that effect.

Neither. Extended warranties are a waste of money. Much better to self-insure, or in the case of electronics just replace it with a cheaper version if it fails out of warranty. Over decades of buying things this practice will put one ahead financially, recognizing that occasionally there will be an early failure that makes one question the wisdom of self-insuring, but it is the best way to go, IMHO, and that of Consumer Reports.

I too was having this problem with my 552. Unresponsive apps and the TV occasionally just turning itself off. Sometimes it would re-boot and come back on, other times it just stayed off. Often the set was unresponsive to the remote and the buttons on the left side as well. I finally just performed the memory erase and reset procedure and the set has been working perfectly since. It's a PITA to set everything back up again, but I think the apps update they did recently didn't install cleanly.

Thanks to all the contributors to this thread. I have found the information very useful.

This is my 553 installation experience.

- See attached Photo of installed TV.
- Purchased the TV at Costco prior to Black Friday and installed the day before Christmas (family gift).
- Used Costco American Express to get 3 year warranty.
- Installed using a tilting wall mount. Looks great installed and angle change makes a big difference. Was more difficult to install than I thought. Almost dropped the TV once since I did not install on the brackets properly. I could not figure out how to change the angle once on the wall. I had to remove from wall with each tweak of the angle. Routing cables into wall was not too bad since the back side of the wall is unfinished in the basement. Looks clean with no cables visible.
- I purchased and tried cheap HDMI cables. They worked briefly before causing problems. You get what you pay for. I replaced the cables with an HDMI kit I purchased at Costco. The new cables work perfectly.
- I run HDMI from the XBOX and Cable to the TV. I run a Toslink audio cable to my home theater system. Set seems to work nicely. I have had some audio distortion upon first startup however the issue seems to have gone away recently. Not sure why. Maybe a software update was loaded when I did not notice? Maybe the sequence of starting the TV, cable, and amp?
- I run an Ethernet cable directly to the TV. No issues. Seems to work great.
- I am using the Vizio & Logitech 300 remotes. The Logitech remote seems to work nicely with 95% of the actives I use on the TV. I could not figure out how to use the Vizio remote to control the volume so I starting to use the Logitech unit.
- The PQ is outstanding. I have had no problems with the TV (knock on wood). No dead pixels or strange behavior. I have not touched the PQ settings at all. I intent to try the CNET settings but have not done so yet. The picture is so good it almost seems 3D. Really incredible. I am comparing the PQ to our 60" Sony KDS-R60XBR2 which is another great TV.

In case you missed the thread, there is a XVT3 series thread that includes the 553, 473, 423, 373 and the 323.

The thread can be found at: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...262413&page=81

I invite you to copy and post your great report there for other "3 Series" owners to enjoy as I have...

Tom

I'm having a MAJOR problem with my parents VF551XVT TV. I just noticed it on my latest trip home for the holidays but its processing certain colors very strangely.

It's very hard to describe but I'll try.

Sometimes bright colors will be smeared and change into a different (and completely inappropriate) color. Sometimes you'll see vertical lines where there shouldn't be any.

Have there been any firmware updates that I'm not aware of? Are there any settings that I should check that might affect something like this? At first I thought it was just their cable reception but I'm noticing it happen on DVD's and Blu's as well.

I've paused and re-played the same scenes with the exact same issues so I know it's not isolated.

Here are some pics:

I've seen some TVs in stores do that. Don't know what causes it, but it better not happen to mine!

Well, I don't come home often but my sister said it's been happening the last couple of months. Luckily, the 1 year anniversary for their TV is TOMORROW!!! So Vizio is having their company come out and fix it. They "say" their company will contact my parents within the next 3-5 business days and that the fix is as simple as a wire replacement.

Anyone have any experience with repair from Vizio?

Is it true that the value of the repairs cannot exceed what you paid for the warranty or you'll start to pay out of pocket? If so, this seems like a true waste of money.




Definitely something to consider. Thanks.

Well, I have to disagree with you. I have a 3 year old 52" Vizio and a speaker went out on it. I called the extended warranty service, they came out and verified the problem. A week later they called and said they were waiting for the part. 2 Weeks later they said they could not repair the set and sent me a new XVT553.

Guess the warranty paid out for me.....

Which service did you use?

I'd like to know also. Stopped buying ew's a while back. Bought one for a car for 1400 with full refund after 7 years if no claim filed. They went belly up after six years. Felt like the biggest sucker.

The latest firmware, which downloaded on my TV today, has finally enabled USB support. Photos and Music can be viewed/played (but no movies - AVI, MPEG, etc.)

There is also a new VIA Media App on the app bar that can be used to access the USB content. Or you can choose USB from the inputs menu.

Several new VIA apps are available - most notably Hulu Plus ($7.99/month with a one week free trial) and Blockbuster OnDemand (who needs it since we already have Vudu, Amazon On Demand, etc.)

Still... it's a nice update... and long overdue.

Thanks Vizio!

I've had similar issues, and solved them by re-encoding everything to mp4 usign a free tool called ripbot264. Works great, but takes a long time. I typically set up the conversion and let it run overnight.

>>I've had similar issues, and solved them by re-encoding everything to mp4 usign a free tool called ripbot264. Works great, but takes a long time. <<

So are you saying that your Vizio now recognizes and plays mp4 files from your flash drive? I just loaded an mp4 file on to my flash drive and the media player app did not see the file.

Thanks.

I finally received the latest firmware update on my 552 this morning. I just wish Hulu Plus had more offerings. It'll be good to have the USB ports finally working however.

Back in June, I bought a 552XVT back and in July I started getting this problem.
It first appeared in dark areas, but after some time of viewing, the entire screen was soon layered with those green lines.

After research I seem to remember finding this being an issue with some LG models as well, and had to do with a board (some technical thing, haha). I exchanged my set with another with the retailer and haven't had this issue again.

Most likely your parent's set will need to be replaced as well.

Is there someplace that lists what changes are made with each firmware update?