HDTV for the "rest of us"
Although I work in a technical field and love all the new gadgets and gizmos as they come out I consider myself on the "trailing edge" of technology. That is I don't buy the new stuff until it drops considerably in price whether it be GPS I-Pods or HDTV's.
Even this season with my 42 inch rear projection CRT TV (bought used for $200) I wasn't ready to make the jump to HDTV. My satellite service is in Standard Def and just saw no reason to go to HDTV....yet.
Well my trusty 42 inch decided to take a permanent vacation and without a lot of cash (read zero....) budgeted for a new TV and two teenagers in the house (which elevates TV from a luxury to a necessity) I went about looking for a cheap "interim" TV that would fill in the gap.
Off to WalMart with little or no expectations and I started pricing around.
I live in a small apartment and although I was initially was hell bent to not go below 42 inches my lack of liquid assets quickly told me that 42 inches was a bit above my price range.
I found this TV on sale for $398.00. The picture blew away anything else in it's size and price range. And being almost 300.00 cheaper than a comparable 42 inch model I decided to eat my pride and save some green.
Like others here I find the whole "eco/green" crap a little out of control but in the case of this TV the whole ECO thing does two things.
1. The TV is amazingly light. At just over 24 lbs with the stand this TV is a joy to move around compared to that 42" tank.
2. The TV is EXTREMELY energy efficient. At approx 85W operating and .33W standby (thanks to a slightly annoying amber VIZIO logo that can't be turned off without unplugging....) my kids blow more electricity going to the bathroom than I spend watching my favorite DVD.
The fact that this TV is energy efficient is great but if the picture is lousy then it don't mean jack. I mean a TV that I won't watch because it looks like garbage is great on energy efficiency because it's off!!!
Thankfully this is not the case. With a 15000:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio and a pretty nice Viewing angle this TV is perfect for my small Apartment Living Room. In fact moving out that 42 inch rear projection on favor of this box actually makes the Living Room look less crowded.
Now some of you may think that 32 inches for a living room is too small but considering most of us were singing the praises of the "mighty" 27" TV 10 years ago saying 32" is now too small is a bit disengenuous.
But for larger rooms you will find yourself spoiled and wish you had a bigger screen. But for my apartment it's just about perfect.
The one thing I didn't expect is the enhanced DVD viewing performance. Due to the 4:3 contrast ratio of my 42" TV when I watched widescreen DVD's the actual usable picture size on my old TV was less than the what I get on the 32". So now my DVD's are actually "larger" on my "smaller" TV.
On to HD....Being raised on Standard Def I thought the hype surrounding HD was just that...Hype....WRONG!!!
For 15 bucks I picked up a cheap "wall mount" antenna that I can use to pick up "off the air" HD broadcasts to watch my weekend football and all I can say is HOLY COW!!!! Even with the smaller picture the clarity and detail in HD broadcasts just makes the picture jump out.
Overall I am shocked at how much I love this TV. It is small enough to transport home without trouble light enough to place on a cheap 15 dollar TV stand and the picture is outstanding.
What started out being an "interim" TV for the time being just may be my size of choice for as long as I live here. At 32" the TV is certainly big enough for comfortable viewing but not so large as to overshadow the rest of the living room.
At $400 this TV easily falls into the "best bang for the buck" category for HDTV's of any size. Smaller screens just won't cut it for a family room of any size at all and the price savings is not worth it. 37 inch models are not too common so your choices are limited in this area. The next "common" size is 42" and will easily run you almost double. Also if you do go to 42" or higher if you have DVD's or still some "standard def" cable/satellite the imperfections of standard def will be that much more noticable on a larger screen.
The instruction manual and quick setup guide are very well written and you will have this TV setup in no time. The TV has a myriad of ways to connect up to various video sources including two HDMI ports Component Video Svideo SVGA and coaxial. It even has an audio out that you can output to a set of amplified speakers or inexpensive surround system.
One last thing to keep in mind. This TV is 720P and upscales to 1080i. This is the default resolution of all OTA HD broadcasts. 1080P is used mainly for PS3 and Blueray plus a few Video on Demand services. So unless you are into Blueray or PS3 1080P would be a waste of money for you. Add this to the fact that as others have mentioned your ability to differentiate 1080P and 720P on a set of this size is negligible.
In short if you are looking for a great looking TV for your bedroom or your apartment/condo living room you really can't go wrong with this model. Especially at this price point.
The combination of Size Picture Quality Features and Price make this as close to a must buy product as I can remember in a long time.
Tremendous Value.
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