Customer Reviews

Vizio 50" Plasma Hdtv -P50

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

PC Magazine rated this a Best Buy in Dec. 2006. I researched this myself and came to the same conclusion. I bought this in Dec. 2006 for around $1899 at Sam's Club, their current price has dropped to around $1599 as of March 2007. The TV in exceptional, we get comments from everyone who's seen it and 2 friends have purchased because of that. The screen can be clearly seen from all angles with no loss of clarity or detail.

Plasma TV's are prone to image Burn In. The TV has it's own screen saver, but shows like the History Channel have a stationary LOGO that I've seen burned permanently into the screens at several restaurant TVs. I NEVER buy Extended Warranties, but this is the one situation where I might actually consider getting one IF it covers Burn In.

Be aware, the TV is Heavy, 123 pounds with stand or 110 without. The stand is a minimalist oval, unobtrusive, pleasant and functional.

The WOW factor is very high with this TV, it never fails to capture the attention of anyone who sees it. Beautiful intense colors, the PC Mag review indicates the black isn't totally saturated, but if it's not, it's so close my critical eye doesn't notice it.

Best combination of Price and Quality for a Plasma TV in the marketplace. You will love this product.

I bought this TV a little over 2 years ago from Costco which I think was a smart move since Costco extends the warranty period to 2 years for any TV or computer products they sell. This TV is marginal compare to my Panasonic plasma. But I don't mind that since I paid less money for the Vizio. Just after the 2 year warranty period a small straight horizontal line appeared on the screen and remained there until now. I contacted Vizio and they seemed very concerned about the problem. They said although the warranty expired they might be able to do something about it. They made me took pictures of the problem, take the TV of the wall to read all serial and infos at the back, which after all this rigorous task they promised to give me a call back ASAP. Wrong!!!
It has been 3 months and the person (supposed to be a higher up engineer) never even made any attempt to give me updates. I finally got a hold of a Panasonic certified technician to come to my house to calibrate my 50 inch Panasonic. During that time I showed him the problem with my Vizio. Right away he detected the problem. He said that the whole panel needs to be replaced and this problem is major. He said Panasonic and Samsung stands by their product and even after the warranty period, they would fix this type of problem because they stand by their product (that it should last 10,000 hrs for panel to break).
That gave me a sense of hope and contacted Vizio back telling them what the Panasonic technician have told me. All they said was that they are sorry that their engineer never called me back after 3 months, and that they will not fix the problem for free. WHAT!!! Again they said they are sorry, but they did offer me another TV at a discounted price. WHAT!!!
Vizio is siiiick!!! This company I think purposely make disposable TVs. I told them all my TV sets in my lifetime at least lasted 7 years before a major breakdown.
pls. keep me informed about some type of class action lawsuit regarding this shady company. They need to be taken down hard for ripping people of their hard earned money. Pls. don't but Vizios anymore.

I HAVE HAD THIS TV EXACTLY 13 MONTHS AND NOW IT SPONTANEOUSLY SHUTS ITSELF OFF SEVERAL TIMES A DAY. CALLED CUSTOMER SUPPORT, BUT THE WARRANTY EXPIRES AT 12 MONTHS SO THEY WON'T DO ANYTHING. EVEN IF I HAVE A WARRANTY, THEY REQUIRE YOU TO SEND THEM THE TV FOR REPAIR, AND YOU INCUR ALL SHIPPING COSTS TO AND FROM, WHICH FOR A NEARLY 100 POUND TV WOULD LIKELY COST YOU A PRETTY PENNY. IF YOU DO A WEBSEARCH FOR "VIZIO TV PROBLEMS SHUTTING OFF", THIS PROBLEM COMES UP A LOT. 2 TV REPAIRMAN OFFERED TO FIX IT FOR $550 ($300 FOR THE PART, AND $250 FOR LABOR) BUT BOTH SAID DUE TO AN OVERHEATING PROBLEM IN THE VIZIO, I WOULD HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM IN 1 YEAR. I HAVE SINCE BOUGHT A SAMSUNG WHICH HAS ALWAYS GOTTEN GOOD REVIEWS. I WOULD STRONGLY RECOMMEND BUYING A SAMSUNG OR SONY INSTEAD. THE PICTURES ARE SPECTACULAR. THEY ARE DEFINITELY WORTH THE PRICE AND THEY ALWAYS GET THE BEST REVIEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!

I bought a Vizio VP50 about 20 months ago. The picture goes out of control and eventuall goes black after it's been turned on for 10 minutes. Vizio techs seem to know what's wrong and estimate it will cost $578 dollars plus to repair. Sorry, but I'm going to go out and buy a different brand. If you buy Vizio, you better also buy the 2 year extended warranty plan and make time for repair service down the road!

Sinilar problem to another I've seen on the site, only I was lucky enough to have the 2 yr warranty from Costco. Long story short, the tv would cut off on its own with a loud trumpet sound. On the first tv, after a few repair attempts that didn't work, they replaced the tv with what they told me was a "new" one. Second tv started having the same problem so I called them back and after some extremely frustrating repair attempts which also didn't work, they are sending me a new tv. Just found out the one they claimed was new last time was actually reconditioned. I purchased the original tv in late Sept. of '07. Already going on my 3rd tv. I am very frustrated and fed up with this tv. I've contacted Costco for their take on this. It's a good price, but PASS IT UP!!!!!

This past year, I decided to treat myself to a birthday present a wide screen HDTV. So, I began to do the research. In addition to looking at the various offerings at my local Best Buy store so I could see the picture quality and reading customer reviews at [...], I bought a subscription to ConsumerReports.com, and started the process.

At the outset, I was not certain whether to buy the 54", the 50", or something smaller like a 42" unit. After looking at the Consumer Reports, however, a comparison of price and quality ratings steered me directly to Vizio.

First, I learned that the average price for a 54" television was significantly more than the 50" units, while the smaller televisions' prices were comparable. From the start, it appeared that the 50" sets were a better value. Next, I needed to choose between a plasma and LCD television. I got the impression from reviews and other materials that I read that the picture on plasmas could be better, but the plasma units often suffered from screen problems over time. The decision was a close one, but I went with the plasma for the opportunity of the better picture. Then, comparing the quality ratings and prices at Consumer Reports indicated that the Vizio was tied for the second highest quality/customer satisfaction, while the top 50" set was about two and a half times more expensive and the other television that was tied for second was about [...] more costly. The Vizio was the answer. I paid about [...] for the Vizio 50" Plasma HDTV, and by the time I paid the tax and had my monster cables and other accessories, I was good to go for under two grand.

The Vizio is heavy and sturdy. I cannot comment on the functionality of the television when hung on the wall because I have the Vizio 50" on a sort of modern, art-deco glass and aluminum stand, which compliments that television's stand, which is silver oval. The picture is very good and after more than six months, I have seen no indication of "burning," which I understand is not uncommon with plasma televisions. The picture is very good, especially when tuned to HD channels, and there is now "shadowing" when images in the television move quickly across the screen.

When tuned to non-HD channels, however, the picture is sometimes a little funky, especially when the television tries to deal with shades of black or white. The screen just does not what to do with those shades and the picture looks "splotchy." Since I have not owned another HD television, I do not know if that is endemic among all HD televisions, plasmas only, or just this model. With the monster cables, the sound is pretty good, although not exactly the quality produced from Bose. Nevertheless, I still listen to some of the satellite radio stations directly through the speakers. In all, though, I have been very pleased with my purchase and I suffered no buyer's regret. In fact, I feel pretty smart by doing the research and buying what I consider to be the best value.

I bought ours from Sam's Club after a week of comparitive shopping, and wish I had not seen it. We had it three years when the power supply went out, and after a three month wait on the part and $458 in repairs, we only had it two more months before it went out again, this time some circuit boards with a repair cost of over $700 for parts alone. Gave up on it and bought a different brand.

My 42-inch Vizio plasma HDTV recently "exploded" -- a loud bang inside the TV and the screen went blank -- and I only had the TV for less than 2 years. The repair will cost me $350. Vizio is cheap, but you get what you paid for.

I bought a Vizio plasma 50 inch tv and their service is horrible. All they do is direct you to a contractor, ITI, who quoted me $575