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Vizio E601-A3 Owners Thread - Page 67

post #1981 of 2576
Quote:
Originally Posted by korkster View Post

I can return this set for any reason to Costco, or no reason at all.
I should have clarified my comments by indicating they were not directed at any sets (and owners) covered by a Costco or Costco-like return policy. My Best Buy's was only for thirty days (long past) and I was hoping if something was going to fail, it would do it during that time period so I could justify returning it. I was aiming at anyone considering calling Vizio who had not experienced any failure just to get another set, hoping to encourage them to think about it before they do.

Sorry if I offended anyone with the legal right to return a set to their Point-of-Purchase if they were so inclined.

smile.gif
post #1982 of 2576
I'm not a gambler, and if I had a set with a serial of 38 , and even if it were working perfectly, with great picture and no lip sync issues or anything I would return it for a newer serial and I wouldn't think twice about how I slept at night.... Vizio has stated that sets with 38 to 48 etc, are the ones affected by this chip that is prone to failure so I would have no problem exchanging it ..... Thats just my 2 cents on the exchanging situation. I have a replacement set for the one I had that failed in 2 weeks.....

I'm just glad that Vizio isolated the issue and made the necessary changes so all these new ones should work for a long time to come.... Vizio wants you to be satisfied with the product and in doing so they will gain a good customer service reputation. In my book they are great in handling any problems with their products....
post #1983 of 2576
Since I have already had three of these TV's with a 4th on the way, if the S/N is in the special bulletin range, I probably wont even open the box. I've had enough headaches with this unit to demand something that is guaranteed to not have issue.
post #1984 of 2576
Has anyone experienced the tv shutting off by itself?

On two occasions, the tv appeared to momentarily freeze, no sound, then the picture went blank, then it turned off. Turning it back on did not reveal anything - it continued to work just fine. This has happened twice since purchase back on 2/1. And, I have been unable to reproduce the event manually.

This is a SN49 model and both events occurred while watching broadcast (tv antenna) - no cable. Everything else appears to be working very well (I did have an issue with the contrast but that is resolved).

Any ideas?
post #1985 of 2576
Mine has done that three times. It was purchased on 12/13.
post #1986 of 2576
Quote:
Originally Posted by austin3169285 View Post

I had a bad serial number43 and just called to say I had a bad flashlighting issue during dark scenes which was true. And they said because of my serial# it had to be replaced. I still had picture and everything just flashlight and they told me it still needed to be replaced simply because of the number not the problem.

I will have to double check my SN but I believe it is 41. I have noticed that dark/black scenes, the picture looks horrible! Where it should be black it ranges from gray to black, very inconsistent. Is that the flashlighting issues you are talking about?

I have had no issues other then the horrible blacks.


Thanks
post #1987 of 2576
Just got my replacement from Vizio support, serial is 05

Guys that picked it up said they've picked up 20+ of this model in the area in the past month. They came in, took my old TV, set up my new one and tested it. Said the two problems are black lines forming on the screen and black screen of death. Also said that Vizio support is great at replacing the TVs no questions asked.

Set came with new firmware and looks great so far. Let's hope for the best!
post #1988 of 2576
Quote:
Originally Posted by EvilCamaroSS View Post

Since I have already had three of these TV's with a 4th on the way, if the S/N is in the special bulletin range, I probably wont even open the box. I've had enough headaches with this unit to demand something that is guaranteed to not have issue.

The 4th TV is a "47" S/N

So I immediately called Vizio and let them know that I want a NEW TV, they agreed no questions asked, they will send me a new one.
post #1989 of 2576
After 4 sets, I'd be wanting a new 70".
post #1990 of 2576
Quote:
Originally Posted by austin3169285 View Post

I also have noticed this. I got the Firmware update and cable is ok for me but I notice it when watching blu-rays. Very annoying.

After spending 30 minutes on the phone to tech support at Vizio, they are going to send someone out to as they said "repair the tv". My guess would be that they'll just replace it. After really spending a lot time and energy trying to troubleshoot this, I'm coming to the conclusion that it has something to do with how the tv processes audio and video together with HDMI in my particular set. I know it can't be the Sony 5.1 home theater because the audio sync is dead on with netflix or any of the smart apps. It's just when I have any external things like my comcast and mac mini plugged in with HDMI that the issue is present.
post #1991 of 2576
Yes
Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffKinslow View Post

I will have to double check my SN but I believe it is 41. I have noticed that dark/black scenes, the picture looks horrible! Where it should be black it ranges from gray to black, very inconsistent. Is that the flashlighting issues you are talking about?

I have had no issues other then the horrible blacks.


Thanks
Yea that's flashlighting.Very annoying.
post #1992 of 2576
Quote:
Originally Posted by splinke View Post

So, I guess another required step is activating "HDMI CEC" on the TV:

1. Make sure your HDMI cable is "HDMI version 1.4-compliant".
2. Make sure one end of your HDMI cable is attached to the "HDMI 1" input on the Vizio E601i-A3 TV (that is the port that supports ARC).
3. Make sure the other end of your HDMI cable is attached to the HDMI output on the Onkyo NR 509 receiver (that is the port that supports ARC), and that the receiver is set to the "TV/CD" input.
4. On the Vizio TV, activate "HDMI CEC".
5. On your Onkyo receiver, set "HDMI Ctrl (RIHD)" to "On".
6. Turn off both the TV and the receiver, then turn them both back on.

If the automated input switching in that setup proves overly annoying, then go with the second option of just hooking up an optical audio (TOSLINK) cable between the TV and the receiver.

My receiver from 2004 does not support ARC (it doesn't even have HDMI), but I don't intend to replace something that works just fine. I have all of my devices hooked up to the TV and then only use the optical output from the TV to my receiver (the TV does the switching rather than the receiver in my setup). I use a Harmony remote to automate the process.

This was sooo helpful. After reading through 50 pages in this thread I finally found what I needed! I wish it was easier to find. I'm shocked this is not in the manual.
I had to do the same for my Denon AVR-1613. I don't need this very often, but if I ever want to use one of the Vizio web apps, this is required to get sound to the receiver (if using HDMI ARC).
post #1993 of 2576
Quote:
Originally Posted by itsjustmeee View Post

After spending 30 minutes on the phone to tech support at Vizio, they are going to send someone out to as they said "repair the tv". My guess would be that they'll just replace it. After really spending a lot time and energy trying to troubleshoot this, I'm coming to the conclusion that it has something to do with how the tv processes audio and video together with HDMI in my particular set. I know it can't be the Sony 5.1 home theater because the audio sync is dead on with netflix or any of the smart apps. It's just when I have any external things like my comcast and mac mini plugged in with HDMI that the issue is present.

Does your Sony AV receiver have the capability of making small audio delay adjustments to compensate for sync problems (some do)?
post #1994 of 2576
Quote:
Originally Posted by Justin General View Post

This was sooo helpful. After reading through 50 pages in this thread I finally found what I needed! I wish it was easier to find. I'm shocked this is not in the manual.
I had to do the same for my Denon AVR-1613. I don't need this very often, but if I ever want to use one of the Vizio web apps, this is required to get sound to the receiver (if using HDMI ARC).

Yeah, I am not sure why Vizio does not provide better instructions in the manual. HERE is a Vizio FAQ with their instructions.
post #1995 of 2576
Quote:
Originally Posted by splinke View Post

Does your Sony AV receiver have the capability of making small audio delay adjustments to compensate for sync problems (some do)?

Unfortunately I don't believe it does. And that probably wouldn't solve the issue. It appears that the audio is behind the video so delaying it would just make it worse ... which is exactly what the lip sync adjustment on the Vizio does as well. Since Plex transcodes audio on the fly, it does have a + and - adjustment for audio. I found that pushing it ahead somewhere around 175 ms puts it perfectly in sync.

Tomorrow Xfinity is coming out and I'm upgrading my cable box to this new X1 system. Who knows, that might solve the problem. I was also thinking that it might be the actual HDMI cables themselves. I believe I got them on amazon about 3 years ago and just opted for whatever was cheap and had a decent rating. I don't know if that matters or not but at least they'll bring out a new HDMI cable tomorrow with this X1 box.
post #1996 of 2576
Quote:
Originally Posted by austin3169285 View Post

Yes
Yea that's flashlighting.Very annoying.

Thanks for the response. I will contact Vizio. Definitely is annoying, bothers me every time I see it.
post #1997 of 2576
Quote:
Originally Posted by itsjustmeee View Post

Unfortunately I don't believe it does. And that probably wouldn't solve the issue. It appears that the audio is behind the video so delaying it would just make it worse ... which is exactly what the lip sync adjustment on the Vizio does as well. Since Plex transcodes audio on the fly, it does have a + and - adjustment for audio. I found that pushing it ahead somewhere around 175 ms puts it perfectly in sync...

The Vizio has some audio output settings. I am not sure what effect that might have. I presume you have yours set on "Dolby Digital" which is where it would need to be to get multi-channel sound. You could try playing around with that setting, though, to see what happens.

If your receiver has HDMI inputs, your best option would probably be to run everything through your receiver first, and then just have one HDMI going to the TV from your receiver. Then, there should be no audio delay.

I suppose yet another option, if your receiver does not do HDMI switching, would be to separately hook up the audio from your devices to your receiver. For example, most cable boxes have a separate digital audio output that you could hook up to your receiver. Even though the HDMI cable would still go directly to the TV, you would effectively only be using it for video. In fact, if you hooked it up that way, on your receiver, you could swap back-and-forth between the input hooked up to the audio coming directly from your cable box and the input hooked up to the audio routed through your TV. That way, you could really hear if the problem is what you think it is. Of course, for any devices that only have HDMI for audio (i.e., no separate digital audio output), you cannot take this approach and have to route them through the TV.
post #1998 of 2576
Quote:
Originally Posted by splinke View Post

The Vizio has some audio output settings. I am not sure what effect that might have. I presume you have yours set on "Dolby Digital" which is where it would need to be to get multi-channel sound. You could try playing around with that setting, though, to see what happens.

If your receiver has HDMI inputs, your best option would probably be to run everything through your receiver first, and then just have one HDMI going to the TV from your receiver. Then, there should be no audio delay.

I suppose yet another option, if your receiver does not do HDMI switching, would be to separately hook up the audio from your devices to your receiver. For example, most cable boxes have a separate digital audio output that you could hook up to your receiver. Even though the HDMI cable would still go directly to the TV, you would effectively only be using it for video. In fact, if you hooked it up that way, on your receiver, you could swap back-and-forth between the input hooked up to the audio coming directly from your cable box and the input hooked up to the audio routed through your TV. That way, you could really hear if the problem is what you think it is. Of course, for any devices that only have HDMI for audio (i.e., no separate digital audio output), you cannot take this approach and have to route them through the TV.

I've tried every setting on the TV, the cable box and the Sony home theater and it's still the same results. If the problem still exists tomorrow with this new fancy xfinity X1 box, I'll just see what the vizio in home repair people have to say.

The only other option I would have would be to put the digital audio from all 3 sources (TV, cable and mac mini) into a splitter and then go directly into the home theater from there. That would involve having my Harmony 1 selecting the proper input which is no big deal but I was hoping to avoid all of these headaches by going directly out of the optical on the tv into the home theater.
post #1999 of 2576
Got my replacement all setup with Vizio,

Just wanted to let everyone know, if you get the replacement TV, it will only carry a 1 year Warranty.

The extension of the Warranty to two years is only for those who choose to keep the TV that are in the affected S/N range.
post #2000 of 2576
The prices just went up back to 998. I was going to buy one very soon too frown.gif
post #2001 of 2576
Quote:
Originally Posted by Morphx2 View Post

The prices just went up back to 998. I was going to buy one very soon too frown.gif

Wow! I'm shocked. eek.gif

Even Best Buy is back up to their original list price of $999.99.

What in the world is going on here?

I figured the price would probably go down some more rather than back up.

When it was at $999 I did get Best Buy to give it to me at $883 December 27th.

Try negotiating.

Gene smile.gif
post #2002 of 2576
The 70 just went to 1699, up a hundred.
post #2003 of 2576
That's terrible. I was a few weeks from buying this.... Was just waiting for the BSOD issues to resolve. Man, I hope Costco kept the price the same. I'm not sure an extra 100 is worth the potential hassle.
post #2004 of 2576
Have you all who have audio sync issue turn the source first and then TV?
post #2005 of 2576
Quote:
Originally Posted by EvilCamaroSS View Post

Got my replacement all setup with Vizio,

Just wanted to let everyone know, if you get the replacement TV, it will only carry a 1 year Warranty.

The extension of the Warranty to two years is only for those who choose to keep the TV that are in the affected S/N range.

That's what I was trying to say to those involved with this serial number range of bad chips..why return a good working TV..once you do it goes back to a one year warranty..if it happens one and a half years from now you still get a new TV with a one year warranty since Vizio gives two year warranty on those serial number range with possible bad chips.

Think before you call.

Vizio knows serial numbers 38-48 might have problems..others beyond those numbers might have future problems too..but questions will be asked more.

If my TV sn 43 gets the BSOD in (December of 2014) I still get a new TV with a year warranty..how can they say 'NO' since its already pin pointed it has a bad chip.
The 500 hours of use is just a wild guess to them..not a legal term to say no replacement. If this was the case..why would a company extend the warranty to two years from one?
Edited by Internet2 - 2/12/13 at 9:50pm
post #2006 of 2576
Just to say 'EvilCamaroSS " either you're the unluckest TV buyer after four Vizio Tv's. returns. (FOUR).... you're better off changing your TV brand picks!
Try RCA!
post #2007 of 2576
The price drop, at least at Costco, was only until the 2nd of February. Then it went back up on the 3rd.

Of course I get my tax refund in a couple of days, so I'll be waiting for the next price drop.

SC
post #2008 of 2576
Quote:
Originally Posted by Internet2 View Post

That's what I was trying to say to those involved with this serial number range of bad chips..why return a good working TV..once you do it goes back to a one year warranty..if it happens one and a half years from now you still get a new TV with a one year warranty since Vizio gives two year warranty on those serial number range with possible bad chips.

Think before you call.

Vizio knows serial numbers 38-48 might have problems..others beyond those numbers might have future problems too..but questions will be asked more.

If my TV sn 43 gets the BSOD in (December of 2014) I still get a new TV with a year warranty..how can they say 'NO' since its already pin pointed it has a bad chip.
The 500 hours of use is just a wild guess to them..not a legal term to say no replacement. If this was the case..why would a company extend the warranty to two years from one?

Because some of us don't want to deal with the hassle of the tv potentially breaking down and being without for at least a week. smile.gif
post #2009 of 2576
Quote:
Originally Posted by Internet2 View Post

That's what I was trying to say to those involved with this serial number range of bad chips..why return a good working TV..once you do it goes back to a one year warranty..if it happens one and a half years from now you still get a new TV with a one year warranty since Vizio gives two year warranty on those serial number range with possible bad chips.

Think before you call.

Vizio knows serial numbers 38-48 might have problems..others beyond those numbers might have future problems too..but questions will be asked more.

If my TV sn 43 gets the BSOD in (December of 2014) I still get a new TV with a year warranty..how can they say 'NO' since its already pin pointed it has a bad chip.
The 500 hours of use is just a wild guess to them..not a legal term to say no replacement. If this was the case..why would a company extend the warranty to two years from one?

i am sorry, i dont share your point of view....i would get the unit swaped out...why have a tv with a known issue, just because you get 1 extra year of warranty....if i had purchased a defective set at a store with a return policy like costco, i would return it for a set outside of the recall....then you get to keep your 2 year warranty, plus i would also add the 3 extra years through square trade...
post #2010 of 2576
Quote:
Originally Posted by lankadragon View Post

That's terrible. I was a few weeks from buying this.... Was just waiting for the BSOD issues to resolve. Man, I hope Costco kept the price the same. I'm not sure an extra 100 is worth the potential hassle.

Same here, i was waiting until i moved into my new house to buy it (which was...tomorrow!). But now i guess i should wait for the next drop!
Oh well, my little 32 incher will suffice for a few weeks. I found a place that let me setup a price alert at amazon. So when it goes down i will know!
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