My Perfect Notion: Vizio HDTV

The economy was suffering and the stock market crashed. My wife and I had already gotten rid of many possessions due to downsizing to a 1000sf apartment. Within eight months we were moving again as apartment living was not the perfect answer after a lifetime of owning our own homes. Now we found ourselves going for an even smaller abode, this one a 625sf apartment in an even older building, deeper into the bowels of Louisville, Kentucky, but the biggest difference was this one did not stink. We were faced with having to get rid of even more possessions, one being our analog behemoth TV, you know the one where the cumbersome rear contraption is twice as deep as the actual screen size. We decided to wait for a while, get used to our new space, and allow me precious time to research things before jumping right into another TV.

I admit that my wife and I are a bit old-fashioned. We like things old and built right, aesthetics play a role in our desires, and the idea of a big flat screen on our walls like the Jones' just wouldn't have a place in our home no matter where we lived unless it was a movie theater. I just got rid of our last TV which had a simulated flat screen along with simulated surround sound. The screen probably maxed out at 26". It was certainly the butt of many a good family joke during Thanksgivings and the rare family get-together. And it only cost me on sale $289 brand new.

I began my Internet search with a few precise keywords in order to figure out exactly what I needed. I have had previous issues with the local cable company over them placing an emergency back-up generator in an easement across from my last home. I was forced to plant several Arborvitae to shield my eyes from their ugly gray machine and to protect the investment of my beautiful old home the cable guys wanted to deface. I was thinking Internet TV would be my next move as a way of forever sticking it to the company I simply chose to hate. After much research I found I needed a HDTV in this new day and age in order to give me options when I finally made up my mind about my future network viewing. I decided I would purchase a TV that would allow me to still watch my DVD's and VHS videos I had collected through the years. My search words included the size of 22" so the TV could sit alongside the other electronic gizmos we owned and not make a spectacle out of itself as the old behemoth did only one year ago.

The name of Vizio kept coming up time and time again. I read many reviews written by consumers and some were adamant about buying this 22" VA220E ECO 720p LCD HDTV I had my eyes on now. Some of the random reviews were written by people who were probably not the brightest lights on the tree, but I wanted the truth, not some slick-talking advertising shyster. A sampling review of comments from the Internet is as follows:

"Pros:bedroom tv watching

This is a near perfect bedroom TV. I bought one for my picky mother-in-law who didn't want anything bigger than the 13" tube she had before. (I just wanted a hassle-free DTV for her since I knew I'd be doing "tech support".)

Long story short, I ignored her protests and sort of commando-dropped the TV into her bedroom (which took all of about 2 minutes to set up) and she immediately warmed to the idea of a bigger screen with excellent color and sharp picture. The sound fills the room well but lacks something in the low-end. The TV has great connectors (VGA, 2xHDMI) for a basic flatscreen.

If you are considering the TV for seniors it has only two downsides: The remote is a typical candy bar sized black-on-black grid of too many small buttons. Not friendly to old eyes and fingers. This is compounded by the fact that there is no way to scale up the on-screen channel indicators (which even I can barely read across the room). My mother-in-law has gotten good at guessing and stabbing buttons but it would be better if she didn't have to.

Bottom-line: The Vizio is a good deal on a TV with excellent picture and features for the price. However, it could be friendlier for Grandma."

Another comment I found was titled like this (spelling errors the work of the commenter):

"Product Uses:occational tv viewing

Bought this TV to replace the old clunky one used in the bedroom. What a difference! Not only was the viewing screen larger than our old TV, the space it cleared up is wonderful. Would definitely recommend this TV for small spaces.

Setup was a breeze and the image is great. Have no complaints about the features provided, but then again this is our 10-minute a day viewing TV."

I noticed many "user friendly" comments which got my attention as I hate to spend my whole day setting something up electronically.

"This TV was easy to set-up....step by step directions were clear and easy. I don't have it hooked up to a Hi-Def source yet (just regular old cable), so I know the picture will look better. But, as with all Hi-Def tvs, the Standard Def stuff just looks very noisy."

"User friendly" means speed to me and I also like that. My time is valuable.

"Received this in record time, took it out of the box, plugged it in and was ready to go in no time. Great picture. Perfect size for bedroom. Would definitely recommend."

I had pretty much made up my mind but decided to go to the local Wall Mart to have a look at these TV's. Their pictures were clear, small but very distinct. I liked the styling of the units. I could plainly see the flat screen pedestal was the way to go for my situation. The price was in the $300-$399 area and there was no way I was going to pay that price for something that was almost as small as a computer screen for some people. I shopped the Internet and finally purchased my Vizio on Ebay at a price that might sound criminal. Let me say that today you can expect to pay anywhere from $169 to $299 depending on where you shop (not counting Wall Mart who no longer carries these units anyway).

When my Vizio arrived it looked small, just as I wanted it to. I took it out of the box and opened up this huge folded heavy-duty high-gloss instruction poster which had every possible hook-up on it for every application. It was easy to connect my DVD player and VHS machine to the rear-end ports. I did have to order an inexpensive Premium Series Component (RGB) Video Cable that cost me about four bucks. The audio and video was very good, better than I expected, and I am very pleased with my purchase thus far. But there is more to the story. Thanksgiving was coming, my step-daughter and her new husband would be visiting from San Francisco, and the Detroit Lions would be on national TV just like every other Thanksgiving since I can remember. I just so happened to be speaking to my oldest son who lives out in Los Angeles and he insisted I buy some rabbit ears so I could watch the game on the local stations. Well I did not know rabbit ears were still an option in the Twenty-First Century. Much to my chagrin I researched and found that they are an option. I discovered that these local stations are all HD and if you have an HDTV you can get any of the local stations with a cheap set of rabbit ears. Again I went shopping. This time I found the retro look I wanted and paid a whopping $7.79 for a UHF VHF digital color rabbit ears antenna. I could not be happier. The picture was outstanding and I have put it to the local cable company right where I wanted to. In their pocketbooks.

Tech Specs

General Product Type 22" LCD TV Digital Television Certification HDTV Video Interface Component, composite, HDMI HDMI Ports Qty 2 port(s) PC Interface VGA (HD-15), HDMI Dimensions With stand Width 20.9 in Depth 6.6 in Height 16.1 in Weight 11.9 lbs Enclosure Color Black

Display Diagonal Size 22" - widescreen Technology TFT active matrix Resolution 1366 x 768 Display Format 720p Image Aspect Ratio 16:9 Color Depth 24-bit (16.7 million colors) Dynamic Contrast Ratio 5000:1 Brightness 350 cd/m2 Progressive Scan Progressive scanning (line doubling) Viewing Angle 170 degrees Viewing Angle (Vertical) 155 degrees Pixel Pitch 0.349 x 0.349mm Pixel Response Time 5 ms Backlight Life 50,000 hour(s) Comb Filter 3D digital V-Chip Control Yes Color Temperature Control Yes Additional Features 3:2 pull down compensation, 2:2 pull down compensation

TV Tuner Analog TV Tuner NTSC

Digital TV Tuner Digital TV Tuner ATSC, QAM, 8-VSB Digital TV Modulations 8-VSB MPEG Decoder MPEG-2

Video Features HDTV Ready Yes Input Video Formats 480p, 720p, 1080i, 480i Supported Computer Resolutions 1024 x 768 (XGA), 640 x 480 (VGA), 800 x 600 (SVGA), 1360 x 768, 1920 x 1080

Remote Control Type Remote control - infrared

Audio System Sound Output Mode Stereo Sound Effects SRS TruSurround XT Speakers Included 2 speakers Output Power / Total 6 Watt Speaker(s) 2 x right/left channel speaker - built-in - 3 Watt

Connections Connector Type 1 x composite video/audio input ( RCA phono x 3 ) - side ¦ 1 x SPDIF output ( TOSLINK ) ¦ 1 x headphones ( mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm ) ¦ 2 x HDMI input ( 19 pin HDMI Type A ) - rear ¦ 1 x VGA input ( 15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15) ) - rear ¦ 1 x audio line-in ( mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm ) - rear ¦ 1 x audio line-in ( RCA phono x 2 ) - rear ¦ 1 x component video input ( RCA phono x 3 ) - rear

Stands & Mounts Stand Included Yes Stand Design Tabletop Flat Panel Mount Interface 100 x 100 mm

Miscellaneous Compliant Standards FCC Class B certified, CSA

Power Power Device Power supply - internal Voltage Required AC 120/230 V ( 50/60 Hz ) Power Consumption Stand by / Sleep 1 Watt Power Consumption Operational 23.7 Watt

Manufacturer Warranty Service & Support 1 year warranty Service & Support Details Limited warranty - parts and labor - 1 year

Dimensions & Weight Details
Panel without stand - 20.9 in x 2.5 in x 14.3 in x 11 lbs
Dimensions & Weight(Shipping)
Width (Shipping) 22.7 in
Depth (Shipping) 5.7 in
Height (Shipping) 18.2 in
Weight (Shipping) 15.4 lbs

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