Vizio XVT423SV 42" 1080p HD LCD Internet TV

I think this is an excellent TV if picture quality is you're overall concern/goal. Full-array w/ local dimming is the real deal and produces excellent "ink-black" blacks unlike edge-lit w/local dimming, or other non-dimming types. Colors and contrast are as good as you'd expect from the specifications. This is a no frills excellent monitor (I love that it doesn't have 3D). If you are more concerned about how the TV itself looks, buy a super thin edge-lit with a stainless steel stand - it will look better than the Vizio I guess, until you turn them on.

The only real downside to the picture that I noticed was the optimum viewing angle is much narrower than spec'd. If you are outside about a 30 to 45 degree viewing angle you will notice the blacks start to become affected by the backlight, and it starts to look like most other TV types I've set up or owned (edge lit w or w/o dimming, backlit or other non-dimming monitors). If you are sitting within a 30 to 45 degree viewing angle, the blacks are as black as when the TV is turned off. Slight blooming is noticeable, but very minor (99.9% of the time it is not noticeable unless I am really, really looking for it).

Another area where the picture quality really out performs others is when variation in room lighting is taken into consideration. This TV is very vivid in my bright living room during the day (big windows, some without shades), and looks incredible at night with all the lights off. It requires minimal adjustments, if any at all, from day to night (unlike the edge lit and LCDs I have set up and owned, which require at least 2 or 3 preset picture modes for different lighting scenarios.

I am using this TV in a home theater setup - like every TV I've looked at, if you want good sound for movies, you will need speakers, an amp and a sub. The sound is fairly typical of most other TV's I've heard, which is fine for watching the news or a sitcom. My opinion is that you simply won't get good sound from small speakers. Even pricey satellites and soundbars with a sub will lack full sound and good mid-ranges. Although it's fairly typical these days, I really like the single Optical/audio out because you can hook it up to a receiver, and the TV acts as a selectable source switch for sound and video (don't need to change the preamp/receiver source).

I have a home theater PC hooked up, so I can not comment on the internet aps. However, if I didn't like the functionality of the TV's aps, I could use my Roku, Bluray player, computer, gaming system or a media player (what doesn't come with streaming anymore). This was never going to be a deal breaker for me, but if I did use it, the keyboard in the remote is pretty cool.

Other: First thing I did was turn off the 'motion smoothing' function. I don't know why this always comes factory preset on every TV these days - gives me a headache (and if I lived outside the US I'd just buy a 50Hz/24p compatible 600Hz plasma).

The BT remote is a great feature, albeit a tad slow here and there. The TV tuner is also a tad slow, but the 3 other tuners I've owned have been just as slow. My only real complaint is about the remote- no backlight. Otherwise, it's pretty average and I use a logitech dinovo mini as a primary remote/PC controller.

Bottom Line: Until large OLED's become consumer line products, I think the full-array TV's with local dimming are by far the best picture out there. This TV broke my loyalty to Samsung TVs.

Too start off, this T.V looks cheaply made. It has one button on the T.V for the volume etc.. It's the power button. You click it once, and then all the normal controls come up on the screen and you rotate the knob to select options. They really cheaped out on that, and it looks like crap. The stand doesn't rotate, which sucks because you have to move the stand with the T.V.

People say the volume is great on this T.V. IT IS NOT! It's horrible, and I heard this to be the case with all Vizio's talking to people. I have to have it on "15" during the day, and about "8" at night. I had an LG, that I swapped for this do to some issue's during shipping, and I didn't turn the volume above "8" during the day; anymore and it was really loud. At night, I could turn it down to "1" and it would still be loud.

To add to the volume. If you are going to buy this, just realize that if you watch movies, you will need to buy surround sound(Probably why Vizio sells surround sound:/). That's how bad the volume is. My LG was amazing when watching war movies. It would literally "rumble" when a bomb was going off etc.. On this T.V it's not even comparable.

I don't know why, but when playing 1080p games the T.V automatically turns them down to 720p? It really bugs me, and I haven't figured out how to turn it back.

The WiFi is kind of a joke. It's only use full for the apps that are on it. You can't "search" the internet or anything like that. I've heard that it take's a lot of time to download a movie to.

I will admit that that the picture is nice. I haven't "tuned" it, and stock it looks pretty good. That's one thing I am happy with.

All in all, if you want a nice appearance looking T.V with the same picture quality there are better options out there for around the same price. That, and there name brands. Vizio has been getting good reps lately, but IMO there still not there yet. If they didn't cheap out on the frame, stand, and volume on the T.V I would recommend it, but until then.....

I wouldn't recommend it for movies do to the sound. Unless you wanna buy a $250-300 surround sound system.

I received the Television. There are some big problems. The first thing I noticed when I opened the box was that the television had some sort of sticky substance all over the screen. It looks like someone splashed some soda on the screen or something. There are scratches across the entire panel surrounding the TV screen and also on the base. Then I tried putting the television on the stand, but it's missing the screws that hold the television in place securely. As I started reading the manual for the television, I noticed the TV Manual is for a different television. I went online to find a manual for this television. After turning on the TV for the first time, the menu came up asking for me to setup the television. The font started shaking(Wiggling) across the screen. Then the colors started changing. The screen looked like a streaking rainbow of different colors. I turned off the television and tried using it again. Then I noticed that the remote for the television does not work. I thought it was the batteries that came with it, so I bought some new batteries. The remote still does not work. The remote also has a lot of scratches and looks like there is dry food crusted on most of the buttons. This is not the product that was advertised and none of these issues were in the description. I specifically asked if there were any scratches or problems with the TV before I bought it. They told me that it was in NEW/OTHER condition, no scratches, and that it was only used on the store floor as a model TV for a little amount of time. This is obviously a lie. It looks like the television has been used and abused. I feel mislead and lied to.

Great TV. Beautiful picture, very crisp. Great sound too, no need for extra speakers. I wish it had control buttons on the TV though. The only one is a power button, so if something happens to the remote you are out of luck. Also, the remote has to be connected via bluetooth in order for the keyboard to work, but if it sits too long then it shuts off or something. I can't get the remote to work again at all without resetting the bluetooth. Then you have to reconnect it to use the keyboard. Maybe it is user error, but I haven't been able to figure out how to reactivate the remote any other way. Definitely recommend the TV though.

I bought this model from Sam's Club. In about 4 months a back-lighting issue occurred where the left half of the screen would slightly flicker ever 2 seconds or so. It was really odd. Anyway, customer service couldn't resolve it (after a couple hours) so the TV was sent back to them and they sent me a "re-certified" TV of this same model. However, the re-certified TV had issues primarily with the internet apps. Often when we'd use Netflix it would just shut off all of a sudden and do its rebooting/updating process where the backlight to the Vizio emblem would alternate between amber and white colors. This happened many times. I again went through the rigmarole with customer service and they eventually determined (after a couple hours or so) that they would send a technician to service the TV. The technician came and replaced a couple whole internal components. When he left I was hoping the problem was solved. IT WAS NOT! We eventually had the EXACT SAME PROBLEM with Netflix and the TV shutting off. While using Netflix it wouldn't even come unpaused if I wanted to run to the kitchen for something; I'd come back to the movie playing again. WTF? Finally, I called customer service and got a whole different model sent to me (and a bigger one = 42"). Can anyone say, "Made in China"?

Customer service wasn't too bad though. I mainly dealt with the same guy the whole time b/c he gave me his extension number so I could just go back to him. He was good to work with. An earlier woman I talked to, however, had no idea what she was talking about (this according to the guy I later worked through when telling him things that she told me).