VIZIO VF552XVT

I bought my first HDTV nearly ten years ago. It was a pain to hook up with a mass of wires and complex antenna adjustment for broadcast reception. Took hours to set up. The Vizio VF552 was unpacked, put on the stand and hooked up in about ten minutes. I have three Direct DVRs and a blueray DVD player. Just plugged in the HDMI cable and went through the simple start up process. Even the wireless hookup to my secure router worked the first time. I think the remote is reasonably sturdy. The remote is light and easy to use. I like the input button on the opposite side of the remote from the tv on/off button. On an older Visio tv, the input button was next to the main on/off switch and I was forever turning the tv off when I wanted to switch inputs.
One problem with the sharp, bright picture is that you can see set lighting. Programs such as “Chuck” are so realistic you can tell when they are on a set.
My wife told me not to mess with the color adjustments. I think the as-received adjustments are a bit too bright with over saturated colors. I backed off the settings slightly and I think it looks better. Trouble is that programs seem to have drastically different color values and saturation (e.g. “Miami CSI” seems to be grossly saturated.) Not the tv’s fault.
I don’t understand comments about this unit’s color accuracy when the sources seem to vary all over the place. When one program looks good, another looks cold, another warm. The source gamma seems to run the gamut, and I’ve given up trying to make adjustments for each program. With my old set, I always reduced the saturation and cooled the color tem for “Miami CSI”. This unit’s dynamic range (i.e. white whites and really black backs) makes it tolerable for me.
We really like the wireless remote that you don’t have to point at the set to make changes. It has worked flawlessly. Earlier Vizio models don’t have a wireless remote. The keyboard works fine, when needed.
After several weeks, we are completely happy with the performance of this unit.

Reviewed by : M. Marks,   Feb 16, 2010