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Vizio XVT 42'' SV420 120Hz 1080p LCD HDTV
See it at Amazon.com for $775.00Average Customer Rating
(5.0 out of 5)
Amazon Customer Reviews
Most Helpful First | Newest First | + Share4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
You get what you pay for doesn't apply to this tv
(5 out of 5) by BangForMyBuck on May 25, 2009I purchased this television set from Costco yesterday for $850 to replace my Samsung TX-P3075WH in my bedroom. I already have a Sony Bravia 42" KDL-42V4100 in the living room that I paid $1250 for last summer.
I was originally looking to get the new Samsung 40" LED TV instead but I decided to purchase a lower end television for the bedroom. So I settled on this VIZIO since it's over half the price cheaper and have similar features.
I gotta say that freah out of the box I'm very impress by the features of this television. It has close to the same functionality as a higher end Samsung or Sony television. One of the main reason I purchased this TV was for the 120hz frame rate and Smooth Motion feature, which I've heard a lot of positive comments on. It took me about 5 minutes to get this thing hooked up to my PS3 and Comcast receiver. I watched my blu-ray version of Tranformer on it, and I gotta say it was awesome.
I still have to calibrate the set for my bedroom room but as it stands right now, the picture quality of this set is far superior than my Samsung (granted that it's my oldest set) and just a notch below the Sony. The Smooth Motion technology is great and does what it's supposed to do. The major complaint I have about the technology though is that it makes alot of movies look "fake". I watched Terminator 2 (blu-ray version) and the technology completely destroyed the visual experience. The terminators looked like little toys gliding across the screen. (Transformers didn't have this problem) And some things were so clear that I can immediately tell they were props. Luckily though, you have the option of turning Smooth Motion off.
So here are some pros and cons that I noticed:
PROS:
Great value: You're getting alot more than you paid for compared to the major brands.
120Hz Smooth Motion (it's also a con) : Makes things "glide" across the screen. Sports show looks "amazingly" realistic. It's like you're standing right next to the player at the stadium.
Crisp Clear picture and details.
Wireless Speaker Option: I haven't used this yet, but just the thought of connecting some wireless speakers for 5.1 Digital Dolby surround is aweome.
Decent amount of menu options.
Picture-In-Picture and menu guide: This may seem to be a minor feature. But some televisions that are around this price don't have PIP or a menu guide!
Cons:
Low contrast ratio. Typical contrast ratio of 1300:1 and dyanmic of 6500:1. Dynamic ratios are generally useless. The standard contract ratio is more important and this set's has quite a low contrast ratio. That said though, my actual experience with this was actually quite good. I was suprised that it the manual said it was only 1300:1.
No media slot. Not that important to me, but looking forward, it would be pretty sweet if there was a USB port or media slot for me to just plug in my camera's memory stick to view pictures.
120Hz Smooth Motion makes older movies looks very fake and cheezy. I loved Terminator 2 and the movie looked like crap with this feature turned on. I usually leave this feature ON, and set at low. Depending on the movie, I'll temporarily turn the feature off. I would be entirely against turning this feature off permanantly. (If you're not going to use it, save some money and go buy a different set that doesn't have this feature right?)
Runs hot: This television generates more heat than both my Samsung and Sony television. (Not a big deal to me though)
Power consumption: This television takes up 300 watts of power, compared to my Samsung set that uses 170 watts (almost half) and the Sony that uses 240 watts. (Power consumption is one of the main factors that separates the name brand manufacturers from the "lower-end" players. In my opition Sony, Samsung, and Toshiba products always destroy the competitors in this area)
Overall, this is a great TV. I would highly recommend it. If price is a factor in your decision, I can say you're not giving up much in terms of quality or features if you choose this set.
I was originally looking to get the new Samsung 40" LED TV instead but I decided to purchase a lower end television for the bedroom. So I settled on this VIZIO since it's over half the price cheaper and have similar features.
I gotta say that freah out of the box I'm very impress by the features of this television. It has close to the same functionality as a higher end Samsung or Sony television. One of the main reason I purchased this TV was for the 120hz frame rate and Smooth Motion feature, which I've heard a lot of positive comments on. It took me about 5 minutes to get this thing hooked up to my PS3 and Comcast receiver. I watched my blu-ray version of Tranformer on it, and I gotta say it was awesome.
I still have to calibrate the set for my bedroom room but as it stands right now, the picture quality of this set is far superior than my Samsung (granted that it's my oldest set) and just a notch below the Sony. The Smooth Motion technology is great and does what it's supposed to do. The major complaint I have about the technology though is that it makes alot of movies look "fake". I watched Terminator 2 (blu-ray version) and the technology completely destroyed the visual experience. The terminators looked like little toys gliding across the screen. (Transformers didn't have this problem) And some things were so clear that I can immediately tell they were props. Luckily though, you have the option of turning Smooth Motion off.
So here are some pros and cons that I noticed:
PROS:
Great value: You're getting alot more than you paid for compared to the major brands.
120Hz Smooth Motion (it's also a con) : Makes things "glide" across the screen. Sports show looks "amazingly" realistic. It's like you're standing right next to the player at the stadium.
Crisp Clear picture and details.
Wireless Speaker Option: I haven't used this yet, but just the thought of connecting some wireless speakers for 5.1 Digital Dolby surround is aweome.
Decent amount of menu options.
Picture-In-Picture and menu guide: This may seem to be a minor feature. But some televisions that are around this price don't have PIP or a menu guide!
Cons:
Low contrast ratio. Typical contrast ratio of 1300:1 and dyanmic of 6500:1. Dynamic ratios are generally useless. The standard contract ratio is more important and this set's has quite a low contrast ratio. That said though, my actual experience with this was actually quite good. I was suprised that it the manual said it was only 1300:1.
No media slot. Not that important to me, but looking forward, it would be pretty sweet if there was a USB port or media slot for me to just plug in my camera's memory stick to view pictures.
120Hz Smooth Motion makes older movies looks very fake and cheezy. I loved Terminator 2 and the movie looked like crap with this feature turned on. I usually leave this feature ON, and set at low. Depending on the movie, I'll temporarily turn the feature off. I would be entirely against turning this feature off permanantly. (If you're not going to use it, save some money and go buy a different set that doesn't have this feature right?)
Runs hot: This television generates more heat than both my Samsung and Sony television. (Not a big deal to me though)
Power consumption: This television takes up 300 watts of power, compared to my Samsung set that uses 170 watts (almost half) and the Sony that uses 240 watts. (Power consumption is one of the main factors that separates the name brand manufacturers from the "lower-end" players. In my opition Sony, Samsung, and Toshiba products always destroy the competitors in this area)
Overall, this is a great TV. I would highly recommend it. If price is a factor in your decision, I can say you're not giving up much in terms of quality or features if you choose this set.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Best bang for your buck!
(5 out of 5) by alaskanseminole on May 15, 2009 (San Antonio, Texas)As a Sony user for the last two decades I was hesitant to switch brands after my Trinitron blew out last year. I'm not any more. In fact, I have both the 42" XVT series and 37" 1080i/720p LCDs and I can't complain! Basically this is a very inexpensive 120Hz LCD (Costco Coupon $799.99); highly accurate color; plenty of picture adjustments including extensive dejudder controls; comprehensive connectivity including four HDMI inputs and a PC input. This TV simply ROCKS!
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
Great Mid-Level Brand TV, Able To Hold Its Own Against the Big Boys (For the Price)!
(4 out of 5) by Hectic on Apr 7, 2009 (AL, USA)I finally turned my tax refund in a month ago and received the biggest return I've ever gotten. In planning my "Harry-Carry" for the money, I decided a new HDTV was the way to go. After doing much research and starting a discussion here on Amazon for different opinions, I finally made my choice for the Vizio SV420XVT1A. It was the size I wanted, 1080p and 120Hz. I found a really good deal for it on Dell's Storefront website with a discount and free S&H; just had to pay tax (sorry Amazon, they had the best deal). I would never buy a TV online before I saw the picture of it in person, but luckily my local Sears has it on display, so I went and checked it out. They had other 120Hz TV's on display next to the Vizio which were the high-end brands like Samsung and Sony. Although their pictures were a bit better, the Vizio still had one that could compete for the price. I ordered it and received a little over a week later via freight service called CEVA. (Anyone ever hear of them?).
It was packaged pretty well in the box, just like you'd expect it to be. The easiest way to remove the TV from the box was to cut out one of the thin sides of the box and pull it out sideways. This TV replaced an 8 year old Konka tube TV (27") and was surprisingly lighter (but not by much...approx. = 56lbs.). Anyway, after setting it up in the same spot as the old TV, I connected cable, a Sony upconverting DVD player via HDMI 1, and my computer (desktop) via HDMI 2. As soon as I turned it on, the setup process came up to scan for cable channels and some other basic picture setup. (I customized all the settings for picture which I will list below) The menu itself isn't very...graphic. For some items of the menu you have to click once or twice to access further settings, but is no big deal. Actually it's kind of good this way since you can navigate the menu, change picture settings and the menu doesn't take up much screen space so you can see what the changes look like without closing out of it.
I found it a bit surprising that I WAS able to get 5 HD channels (the major networks) without a digital box. (We have a digital/HD package with our cable co., but I didn't think you could get any of the HD's without a box!) When watching channels in regular SD quality, some look better than others. It depends on what channel and what they are showing. Older TV shows and movies do not look that good (fuzzy, jittery) but are still watchable. The newer the program, the better it can look. I've watched reruns of MASH on the Hallmark channel that look nowhere near as good as they did on the old TV, but watching newer shows or movies on channels such as FX, Comedy Central & Sci-Fi look much better. It's understandable of course that SD programming will not look as good on a HDTV as a SDTV, but you're investing in the future. If you're fortunate enough to be able to receive (and afford) all HD programming, then you're already living in it! But eventually, everything will switch over to HD, and SD will go the way of 4:3 TV's! Anyway, the few HD channels I receive look GREAT. Not as good as a blu-ray, but better than an upconverted DVD. (Those 2 things I will talk about below) The picture is quite clear and colorful. I just finished watching Heroes on NBC-HD and the motion in the picture is great, improved by the 120Hz refresh rate. Speaking of the 120Hz, again, it only looks good for certain SD content. Other programming will stutter and jutter (just at some moments) with it on. This is a MINOR annoyance, so I just keep it on, disregarding the picture when it occurs. (It's too much trouble to keep turning it on and off when switching between cable and everything else, so I just leave it on all the time)
Now to the upconverted DVD viewing. So far, I have watched a few TV shows and movies and they too look quite good. Some of these TV shows are copied and shrunk to a DVD 5 disc, so the quality is not as good as the source, but it still looks better than any SD show. The first true (not copied or shrunk) DVD movie I watched was Event Horizon and the picture as well as the sound was like I'd never seen before! The picture showed details I'd never seen when watching the movie before and the sounds (for TV speakers) was pretty great too. (The sound isn't comparable to a surround sound system or anything, but it's better than my old TV!) This is also when you really start to see the 120Hz coming into play. The motion was much smoother and fluid, for example; when the movie begins and you see all the objects floating around on the ship in the zero-g environment.
Next, blu-ray. I initially tried to watch a blu-ray from my computer connection, but found this to be too problematic. First off, the display was only cloned and the monitor I use is 4:3, so the picture on the TV wasn't the best. (The black bars on the top and bottom were WAY TOO THICK!) Also, the picture did the old stutter and jutter, just like it did for some of the old movies I previewed on SD cable. On the plus side, the actual picture was pretty good though. Next I tried using my laptop, connecting it to one of the HDMI connections that reside on the right side of the TV. Once connected, the display switches from the laptop screen to the secondary display (TV). The picture was allowed to be adjusted to the full 1920x1080 which looked better than my desktop did. I popped in the Matrix and started watching. The picture was breathtaking! It had been awhile since I watched the Matrix and I saw and heard things that I never had before with stunning fluid motion. Blu-ray is definitely the way to go! The only bad thing was, I STILL got the shutter and jutter here and there throughout the film! I had to know if this would occur with a standalone BR player, so I borrowed my dad's and hooked it up. I watched some of the most action-intense scenes from the Matrix and no, the stutter and jutter was gone! Great picture, motion, sound, EVERYTHING! A standalone player is DEFINITELY the way to go. I'll have to get one (maybe as a graduation present) sometime. The current one I'm eyeing is the LG BD370. Besides getting rave reviews, it can also play many different codecs including .MKV, which I already have a few HD movies in! Just plug in a USB drive, and start watching! (From what I've read anyway, awesome!)
This TV is one of the best buys I've made that I am sure I won't regret! This TV isn't top of the line, best thing you can get out there, but if you're on a budget (like me), then this is probably the best deal you're going to get! Upconverted DVD's and especially Blu-rays are the best!
After watching many different forms of programming in both SD and HD, such as cartoons, TV shows and movies (both new and old), all on cable, DVD and BR; the following are the settings (that I adjusted at least half a dozen times) I found to be best all around for viewing any format:
Picture:
* Backlight = 40
* Brightness = 49
* Contrast = 53
* Color = 50
* Tint = 0
* Sharpness = 3
* Advanced Video
o Noise Reduction = Off
o Color Enhancement = Off
o Advanced Adaptive Luma = Low
o Enhanced Contrast Ratio = Off
o Color Temp. = Custom
Red = 125
Green = 128
Blue = 128
o Smooth Motion
Smooth Motion Effect = Middle
Real Cinema Mode = Smooth
Audio:
* Equalizer = Rock
* Balance = 0
* Digital Audio Out = PCM
* Analog Audio Out = Fixed
* Sound Effect = SRS TSXT
* DRC = ½
Setup:
* Wide = Panoramic (=Wide for HDMI inputs)
It was packaged pretty well in the box, just like you'd expect it to be. The easiest way to remove the TV from the box was to cut out one of the thin sides of the box and pull it out sideways. This TV replaced an 8 year old Konka tube TV (27") and was surprisingly lighter (but not by much...approx. = 56lbs.). Anyway, after setting it up in the same spot as the old TV, I connected cable, a Sony upconverting DVD player via HDMI 1, and my computer (desktop) via HDMI 2. As soon as I turned it on, the setup process came up to scan for cable channels and some other basic picture setup. (I customized all the settings for picture which I will list below) The menu itself isn't very...graphic. For some items of the menu you have to click once or twice to access further settings, but is no big deal. Actually it's kind of good this way since you can navigate the menu, change picture settings and the menu doesn't take up much screen space so you can see what the changes look like without closing out of it.
I found it a bit surprising that I WAS able to get 5 HD channels (the major networks) without a digital box. (We have a digital/HD package with our cable co., but I didn't think you could get any of the HD's without a box!) When watching channels in regular SD quality, some look better than others. It depends on what channel and what they are showing. Older TV shows and movies do not look that good (fuzzy, jittery) but are still watchable. The newer the program, the better it can look. I've watched reruns of MASH on the Hallmark channel that look nowhere near as good as they did on the old TV, but watching newer shows or movies on channels such as FX, Comedy Central & Sci-Fi look much better. It's understandable of course that SD programming will not look as good on a HDTV as a SDTV, but you're investing in the future. If you're fortunate enough to be able to receive (and afford) all HD programming, then you're already living in it! But eventually, everything will switch over to HD, and SD will go the way of 4:3 TV's! Anyway, the few HD channels I receive look GREAT. Not as good as a blu-ray, but better than an upconverted DVD. (Those 2 things I will talk about below) The picture is quite clear and colorful. I just finished watching Heroes on NBC-HD and the motion in the picture is great, improved by the 120Hz refresh rate. Speaking of the 120Hz, again, it only looks good for certain SD content. Other programming will stutter and jutter (just at some moments) with it on. This is a MINOR annoyance, so I just keep it on, disregarding the picture when it occurs. (It's too much trouble to keep turning it on and off when switching between cable and everything else, so I just leave it on all the time)
Now to the upconverted DVD viewing. So far, I have watched a few TV shows and movies and they too look quite good. Some of these TV shows are copied and shrunk to a DVD 5 disc, so the quality is not as good as the source, but it still looks better than any SD show. The first true (not copied or shrunk) DVD movie I watched was Event Horizon and the picture as well as the sound was like I'd never seen before! The picture showed details I'd never seen when watching the movie before and the sounds (for TV speakers) was pretty great too. (The sound isn't comparable to a surround sound system or anything, but it's better than my old TV!) This is also when you really start to see the 120Hz coming into play. The motion was much smoother and fluid, for example; when the movie begins and you see all the objects floating around on the ship in the zero-g environment.
Next, blu-ray. I initially tried to watch a blu-ray from my computer connection, but found this to be too problematic. First off, the display was only cloned and the monitor I use is 4:3, so the picture on the TV wasn't the best. (The black bars on the top and bottom were WAY TOO THICK!) Also, the picture did the old stutter and jutter, just like it did for some of the old movies I previewed on SD cable. On the plus side, the actual picture was pretty good though. Next I tried using my laptop, connecting it to one of the HDMI connections that reside on the right side of the TV. Once connected, the display switches from the laptop screen to the secondary display (TV). The picture was allowed to be adjusted to the full 1920x1080 which looked better than my desktop did. I popped in the Matrix and started watching. The picture was breathtaking! It had been awhile since I watched the Matrix and I saw and heard things that I never had before with stunning fluid motion. Blu-ray is definitely the way to go! The only bad thing was, I STILL got the shutter and jutter here and there throughout the film! I had to know if this would occur with a standalone BR player, so I borrowed my dad's and hooked it up. I watched some of the most action-intense scenes from the Matrix and no, the stutter and jutter was gone! Great picture, motion, sound, EVERYTHING! A standalone player is DEFINITELY the way to go. I'll have to get one (maybe as a graduation present) sometime. The current one I'm eyeing is the LG BD370. Besides getting rave reviews, it can also play many different codecs including .MKV, which I already have a few HD movies in! Just plug in a USB drive, and start watching! (From what I've read anyway, awesome!)
This TV is one of the best buys I've made that I am sure I won't regret! This TV isn't top of the line, best thing you can get out there, but if you're on a budget (like me), then this is probably the best deal you're going to get! Upconverted DVD's and especially Blu-rays are the best!
After watching many different forms of programming in both SD and HD, such as cartoons, TV shows and movies (both new and old), all on cable, DVD and BR; the following are the settings (that I adjusted at least half a dozen times) I found to be best all around for viewing any format:
Picture:
* Backlight = 40
* Brightness = 49
* Contrast = 53
* Color = 50
* Tint = 0
* Sharpness = 3
* Advanced Video
o Noise Reduction = Off
o Color Enhancement = Off
o Advanced Adaptive Luma = Low
o Enhanced Contrast Ratio = Off
o Color Temp. = Custom
Red = 125
Green = 128
Blue = 128
o Smooth Motion
Smooth Motion Effect = Middle
Real Cinema Mode = Smooth
Audio:
* Equalizer = Rock
* Balance = 0
* Digital Audio Out = PCM
* Analog Audio Out = Fixed
* Sound Effect = SRS TSXT
* DRC = ½
Setup:
* Wide = Panoramic (=Wide for HDMI inputs)
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Great Value
(5 out of 5) by jrf on Feb 16, 2009 (MD)I own the Sony Bravia 52", KDL-52W4100. Although the Sony has more bells and whistles, I can barely distinguish a difference in the picture quality between the two TVs. I enjoy watching the Vizio as much as the Sony. Also, my Vizio came with the multi-device remote, and I find it easy to use. Great value and the price was right. I recently paid [...] for the Vizio 42" XVT at Costco, which also adds a free year of warranty after the manufacture's warranty expires.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Excellent quality in picture, sound and features. WAY OVERPRICED AT AMAZON
(5 out of 5) by Javier Estrada on Feb 11, 2009 (Murrieta, CA, USA)[....]
You're looking at a TV from the XVT series from Vizio, with Smooth Motion Video and SRS Surround Sound.
I bought a Sony BDP-BX1 at Costco on Thanksgiving and an AppleTV last month and have both connected to this TV.
What I like:
- Picture quality: excellent color depth, no bright pixels.
- Sound: Excellent speakers; three speakers with growth to a 5.1 (or 7.1) with wireless speakers.
- 4 HDMI inputs (and comes with one HDMI cable included if bought at Costco).
- I can use it as another "output device" for music by streaming from iTunes to the AppleTV given the quality speakers.
I do not dislike anything on this TV, but one must comment that HD rentals from AppleTV are not so smooth, considering that this is a 120HZ HDTV (picture is a little bit jerky when the camera pans horizontally or vertically at a rate that either the TV or the movie stream being fed to the TV cannot keep up with.
This is probably because Apple only provides 720p and not a fault in the TV itself.
The condition could very well exist on other streaming services, such as NetFlix or Amazon.
A factor you may want to take into account is if you want to wait. Vizio announced a newer model in CES in Las Vegas in January. This would bring the TV's up to 240HZ from 120HZ, and it would have wireless networking integrated, probably giving you the option to connect to NetFlix, Amazon or Yahoo to rent movies. I personally prefer an AppleTV. Hacking the AppleTV can bring along Boxee (boxee.tv), which brings along NetFlix connectivity, Hulu, et.
Happy shopping.
You're looking at a TV from the XVT series from Vizio, with Smooth Motion Video and SRS Surround Sound.
I bought a Sony BDP-BX1 at Costco on Thanksgiving and an AppleTV last month and have both connected to this TV.
What I like:
- Picture quality: excellent color depth, no bright pixels.
- Sound: Excellent speakers; three speakers with growth to a 5.1 (or 7.1) with wireless speakers.
- 4 HDMI inputs (and comes with one HDMI cable included if bought at Costco).
- I can use it as another "output device" for music by streaming from iTunes to the AppleTV given the quality speakers.
I do not dislike anything on this TV, but one must comment that HD rentals from AppleTV are not so smooth, considering that this is a 120HZ HDTV (picture is a little bit jerky when the camera pans horizontally or vertically at a rate that either the TV or the movie stream being fed to the TV cannot keep up with.
This is probably because Apple only provides 720p and not a fault in the TV itself.
The condition could very well exist on other streaming services, such as NetFlix or Amazon.
A factor you may want to take into account is if you want to wait. Vizio announced a newer model in CES in Las Vegas in January. This would bring the TV's up to 240HZ from 120HZ, and it would have wireless networking integrated, probably giving you the option to connect to NetFlix, Amazon or Yahoo to rent movies. I personally prefer an AppleTV. Hacking the AppleTV can bring along Boxee (boxee.tv), which brings along NetFlix connectivity, Hulu, et.
Happy shopping.