This spring, I got a 37" Olevia refurbished for $600 and it works wonderfully except for every once in a while it has a sound glitch and has to be rebooted. It seems like a firmware bug. The set has great contrast and color.
Check the mounting hardware. We had to buy ours separately. The studs were not the correct distance apart to hit our studs, so we attached the mounting bracket to two ash boards we finished with tung oil and the attached the boards to the wall and then mounted the TV in the bracket.
We now have three Vizios at our house. I got a 37" last January, and my son decided he needed the same thing for himself, so he saved his money and got his own last month. At that point my husband got jealous of our HDness, and bought a 47" for his own viewing pleasure.
We have had no problems with them so far.
We have two Westinghouse LCDs, 27" and 32". Pretty much identical TVs except for the size. One is in the game room and one is in the sewing room so they are used very regularly for a lot of stuff, including operating as a second monitor for the laptops. For 1080i with a lot of connection options, we got them for a bargain.
Pros:
- If you want an inexpensive-but-good TV, this brand might be for you.
- Fairly good contrast ratio, very good brightness, passive backlighting.
- Great movie picture. Great gaming. Mesmerizing HD. Terminator 2 on Blu-Ray was very immersive even under moderate ambient light.
- Connectors. They’ve got the works, including HDMI and VGA.
Cons:
- Unless your TV signal is 100%, your Westinghouse will occasionally hard lock. You will need to unplug the TV to reset it. After the first four times of fumbling for the power plug, I installed a one-plug surge arrestor with a switch. (I admit our signal is pretty poor sometimes – we get broadcast TV only. Ever since I installed a new rooftop antenna it’s been much better.)
- There are large “light spots” in the right quadrant of the 32". They are only visible when the TV is representing all black across the entire screen. Westinghouse thinks they’re manufacturing defects.
- Minor quibbles: No PIP. Upsampling is a little pixelated on TV broadcast. Menu is kind of junky.
Self-installation. I bought the articulating wall kit from Best Buy for maybe $150. Three bolts into the stud and you’re almost done. Get two pals to hold the TV while you install it on the arm, though.
Here is an article that raises some interesting points. I’m curious to hear what people think about it, as I wait to take the HDTV plunge.
We bought a Vizio brand 32" LCD HDTV from CostCo this weekend. Fantastic tv so far! And only $600 as well.
The HD channels look fantastic and even the analog channels look great.