Vizio 70 E701i-A3 70" Class Razor LED™ Smart TV (anticipated Q4 of 2012)

60" is out and $999+shipping at VIZIO store and at amazon (pre-order, not in stock yet). Don't know how good it will be. Anyone have experience with Vizio. Price looks tempting for the specs.

im so tempted to get one on black friday

70" $1999 no 3D? I will go for a sharp 70" $2500 with 3D

What I've learned about Vizio throughout the years is that any date they give for release date, add a minimum of 6 months on top and that's when you'll actually start seeng these sets roll out.

I bought the Vizio 55 inch 552 before it came out a couple of years ago through their VIP program. Thought I got a great deal at the time, as they included a sound bar and blue ray player, with a cutting edge Smart LED TV for some feedback on usage, apps, etc.

Overall, I'm fairly disappointed with the experience because of a specific spot issue but am considering giving them another try.

For perspective, I'd rate myself as a moderate video purist - I've never gone overboard on calibration using whatever I could scrounge on the boards and playing with that, but I do go crazy at times over spots, pixels, etc.

The Vizio has had fairly good to great picture quality expect for one issue although many Samsung models I have seen have looked at least modestly better.

Built in WiFi has worked perfectly but Vizio and the Yahoo TV Widget engine have been a little disappointing. My family uses Netflix extensively and that has worked very well although at times it has reset and had passwords dropped. They have not upgraded these apps to the extent I would like, but at the end of the day, the primary apps I need like Hulu, Pandora, Netflix, Amazon were there and any others I have tried have quickly been disgarded as unnecessary. But overall, I'd rate the apps as useful and effective but again below what I have seen in variety and quality from others like Samsung. More importantly, a recent forced Vizio firmware upgrade seems to have caused lots of problems across the VIA Vizio line, making some TVs useless due to resets. Mine has suffered as well but only to the extent of shutting off and rebooting about once or twice a week which is annoying but Vizio has not acknowledged.

Sound as others have mentioned has always been fine for normal family usage. With young kids, they never really feel the need for surround sound or even the sound bar, and the basic speakers on the unit work fine for normal usage.

I have had a specific issue with my unit, of a few small black discolored, blotchy areas about 2in by 1in. It is so faint, most people can't even see if or be bothered by it, but it has always bothered me when I notice it against a white background. Multiple efforts with Vizio support, sending pictures, etc., didn't validate the problem enough for them to offer recourse, and I eventually gave up and swore off ever buying another Vizio again. I just wasn't sure that the cost savings that Vizio offer were worth the tradeoff. I'm in the market now for a 60 or 70 inch and have been eyeing the Sharp models at Costco when this caught my eye.

With this relatively poor Vizio experience in hand, I'm not sure what to do and thankfully have until early next year when some renovations will be done to pull the trigger. In my mind, if you go through these forums enough, you will find someone complaining about every singe model out there - whether its banding, clouding, etc. I just am not sure with these larger TVs that they have nailed it down perfectly quite yet particularly with respect to uniform quality.

So if these TVs come out at these price points, I'd compare them to the Sharp 6400 series now at Costco which probably has a comparable price and no 3D. I'd say the comparable Samsung Smart TV models are at about a 25+% premium in price. I don't think that premium is worth it. So I plan on watching the reviews as they come in here and then potentially giving Vizio another shot. Hope its not a get what you pay for situation.

Andrew Robinson of HomeTheater Review "dot" com posted a rather extensive review of the new 60 inch Vizio yesterday, October 2, 2012 at the hyperlink

http://hometheaterreview.com/vizio-e601i-a3-60-inch-led-hdtv-reviewed/

I'm hopeful for the 70 inch Vizio. Looking forward to purchasing something other than Sharp at that size, and at a reasonable street price also.

yeah i currently have the Panasonic UT50. i got it b/c of the price number one, but also b/c of the 3d. i thought that i would use the 3d feature a lot more than i do. i currently have only used 3d on this set 1 time. i have been thinking about selling it and getting this Vizio but the 60 inch model. it would give me 10 inches more tv. i'm sitting here debating right now.

Same here. The only reason I want to upgrade my 55" to a 70" is for a more immersive 3D experience. No-3D means no-Vizio for me.

Any news on when these will be released? The 60" version is getting great reviews but id like to go big with the 70" if i get one.

It's finally showing up on the Vizio website and says it is available to "pre-order". I did a live chat with one of their representatives and at first they told me they didn't have any information on timing (I heard that before). I told her that is BS and no one would do a pre-order if they had no clue when they would get it. Then she indicated that the first batch is expected to ship the week of Nov 19. I asked if this is when retailers would get it (i.e., Sams & Costco) and she again claimed ignorance. At least now there is some indication of timing of this TV. Too bad the refresh rate is only 120Hz.

120HZ – do not want
No 3D – do not want
Edge-lit 70” – do not want

Why can’t Vizio just produce something like the XVT3D554SV but in a 70”?

When is this TV going to be available? I'd rather go with 70" than 65"

Amazon has it for preorder and it says ships in 5-8 weeks.

Most of the calibrators on this site put the Sharps that had 240hz back to 120hz in their final setting. So far the reviews have stated that the new edge lit Vizio is the best he's seen using edge lit technology. 3D or no 3D is of course everybody's choice. I've seen the Sharp 70LE745, which is 3D, for under $2K. That TV at that price may cause the Vizio 70" some serious competition.

Well the difference there, is that they can always set it back to 240Hz if they want. Can’t do that with the Vizio. And the best of the edge-lit TVs still can’t hold a candle to a fully backlit LED.

I get what you’re trying to say, but edge-lit is still not the same as full array, 240Hz is still a higher refresh rate than 120Hz, and I like the option of 3D, even if I may only use it every once in awhile. With more & more blu-rays being released in 3D (quite a few good ones this year alone), I am getting more use out of it now than I did in 2011.

I honestly like 60hz. I don't NEED 120hz or 240hz. Gaming on this will be the wii or X360, but mostly the PC (for Skyrim, etc) and I'm used to a 60hz monitor with vsync which is what I want replicated as close as possible to a TV.

I have a Panasonic 42" LED LCD IPS panel in my room (bought on sale November 2011) and I have used that for gaming on my PC for 5 months before I temporarily moved to Texas for work for 4.5 months. I'll be back home for good next week to enjoy my electronics among other things again, but the black levels and color were FANTASTIC on the TV. I know I'll be blown away by the Vizio too but just saying even if Vizio came out with a 60hz TV for the same or less money, otherwise same feature, I would surely go for it.

I have an Acer 3D 720p DLP projector and screen, so if I want 3D movies or PC games (3D Vision) I'll use that.

I'd love to pick up a TV on black Friday for savings but I really want the 4ms 70". I guess I'll have to wait.

I agree that the best edge lit is inferior to any full array back lit panel. Off the top of my head I can only think of one full array 3D non local dimming, The Sharp 735 series which has been replace by the 745 and 847 series which are both edge lit. Now if you can live without 3D the full array 80LE632 and the older 70LE732 are full array non local dimming. But, look what Sharp did with the prices of the 735 and 732. It's pretty obvious they don't want to sell full array. More profit with edge lit. Also you'll find that the vast majority of sets touting 240hz refresh rates are not really native 240hz. Smoke and mirrors but it sounds good, just like 480hz.

True, just as most sets touting 120Hz are really 60Hz with 120SPS ability.

All I’m saying is that I don’t see why anyone would spend $2K on this 70” 120Hz Vizio when the 65” 120Hz Vizio costs $1300, and can be had for $1K during black Friday this year.

I can understand no full array with the way the design trend is going lately, but no 3D and still 120Hz? -I don’t get the price difference between this and the 65”.

Now if there’s a 70” Vizio planned to be released in the future with 240Hz, 3D, and local dimming for under $3K, I’m in.

The only point I disagree with you on is the 120hz usually being 60hz native. I do not think that's the case anymore. Maybe a couple of years ago but no in 2012. From the professional reviews I've read concerning 240hz vs. 120hz it seems that most feel that the 240hz over does it and makes the picture look weird. That's why they ended up turning it back to 120hz for final calibrated settings. Also the new E series from Vizio supposedly uses the new E GEN ASV UV2 screen which according to the reviews is the best available. I don't think the 65" uses this screen. I also read that the E601i-A3 will be at Costco for $1700. I doubt that anybody will ever make a 70" local dimming 240hz 3D display for under $3K. If you believe Consumer Reports (Just got the issue today) they rate the 3D on the Sharp as pretty weak. So if you want a 70" LED and have to have 3D (70LE745, LE847) and not native 240hz and I've seen the 745 for $1999. If you can live without 3D and hopefully have a better picture (because of the new screen tech) then the Vizio may be the better choice. Time will tell.

oops. I meant the E701i-A3 at Costco for $1700. not the 60.

Where did you find out it will be $1700?

Well, I shopped TV's at Sam's Club last weekend. Vizio, LG, Hitachi, Sharp, Samsung, and whatever else they had. I looked at all brands. A lot of the Vizio's I saw there were labeled in-store and on the store's website as 120Hz, but when you look at the TV itself, there is a label at the bottom left corner of the bezel (the one with "Dolby Digital, HDMI, SmartTV, blah blah blah), that read, "120SPS Trumotion" or something to that effect. Take a look on HDGuru. A lot of manufacturers do this now. Realmotion, trumotion, Smoothmotion...each manufacturer has its own terminology. Some of these terms are meant to smooth out the motion judder as an added effect to true 120Hz, where other TVs are labeled with this term to say that they are capable of 120 scenes per second, but are not actually 120Hz.

Hell, Hitachi has a new 48" 3D LED labeled as a 120Hz TV, but if you go to Hitachi America's website, the listed specs read that it will do 120Hz in 3D, but only 60Hz in 2D. Yet it is sold as a 120Hz TV, and I guess technically, it is, just not for 99% of source material. But it's good to research these things before purchasing.

Anyway, I'm get off topic. I do look forward to seeing this 70" Vizio. I think they make a great TV at a reasonable price point, and thank you for clearing up the differences between this 70" and the 65".

Unfortunately just a rumor on this forum I passed on.. Hard to tell what we might see what with wal-mart selling the 60" for $688 on Black Friday. I wish I didn't already have a 60" but I want to go bigger than just 5" more so I guess I'll be looking for the 70".

I just found out that the E601i-A3 does not, not, use the E GEN ASV UV2 panel but only the E GEN ASV panel. I'm not sure what the UV2 ads to the spec but it must be something more expensive then non UV2. I'm assuming that the E70 will also use this non UV2 panel.

Walmart will be selling the 60" for $688 on Black Friday? Holy crap! I might pick that up as my new bedroom TV and sell my 42" to my brother, and wait for the 70"!

Are you going to wait in line all night @ Wal-Mart to fight for one of the probably 3 or 4 they have in store?

I would not, but if I would I'd make sure to have an idea how many they had. Even though $688 is a stunning deal it's still $688+ tax. The line might not be as long as you think.

Noticed that the user's manual for 70 inch Vizio E701i-A3 turns up on Google news search. Near the end of the document is a specifications comparison with the 60 inch Vizio model. Note the smaller version claims a 4 ms response time while the larger version has a claim of 6 ms response time.

https://vizio.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/934/~/e701i-a3-user-manual

http://store.vizio.com/documents/downloads/hdtv/E701iA3/UM_E701iA3.pdf

Hmm I'm trying to determine if that makes a difference to me. I have a Panasonic TCL42E3 HDTV, and wonder if it is about 6ms because Panasonic does not specify. I'm happy with it. I would still prefer 70"