VIZIO VO320E 32-Inch ECO 720p LCD HDTV

Review by Richard H. Martin for VIZIO VO320E 32-Inch ECO 720p LCD HDTV
Rating:
That title has two meanings. This bargain 720p HDTV can be made to display a very good picture, but not if you ‘obey’ Vizio’s instruction manual. You will pay a big penalty if you fall for Vizio’s green marketing baloney.

It appears that all TV manufacturers adjust their picture controls at the factory to make their displays stand out in a lineup on a shelf in the store. Often that creates a picture which at home is inaccurate, too bright, too contrasty, over sharpened, etc. Thus any new TV must be ‘calibrated’ to produce a picture that correctly reproduces the video signal it receives. Sure enough, Vizio does that with the VO320E too. But that makes it draw more current. So during the initial setup routine the manual advises you to select the “Home Mode” rather than “Retail Mode,” to “give you the opportunity to save energy.” It says nothing about any effect on picture quality. So, good (and penny-pinching) citizen that I am, I dutifully punched in Home Mode before proceeding, a few days later, with calibrating the set using the Digital Video Essentials (DVE) system. When I finished the picture indeed looked pretty good… at night in a very dimly lit room. But in daylight it was lousy–dim, dull, and washed out. An unpleasant surprise, since a review of inexpensive LCDs in the October, 2009 issue of Consumer Reports had graded the VO320E’s picture as “excellent.” By then I had forgotten about that “Home”/”Retail” toggle, which doesn’t appear in the VO320E’s regular picture-tuning menus. After considerable fussing with brightness, contrast, color and other controls, often in flagrant violation of what DVE advised, I was about ready to return the set–which I bought for our brightly illuminated kitchen–when I realized that, duh, a little more juice might make a difference. And it did–a big difference. But I wish that Visio would admit the dirty trick they used in order to put “ECO” in the VO320E’s name.

So, set it up in the “Retail” mode and the VO320 (I presume that eliminates the “E”) will indeed deliver an excellent picture. Not up to the quality of a 46″ 1080p 120 or 240 Hz set, but fine for a second or third TV, and costing much less. It is light, easy to mount on a wall, and visually attractive–surprisingly unobtrusive for its size, and a thin strip of chrome along its bottom edge adds a neat touch of class. Vizio is to be commended for providing a printed 67-page manual that is all in (reasonably clear and non-geeky) English–although it does not manufacture the VO320E in the United States as another reviewer claims (at least my set says it was made in China). The ‘calibration’ process (Vizio calls it “fine tuning”) is simple and straight forward, at least if you don’t try to use DVE, and most of the controls’ default settings proved to be nearly correct when checked with DVE’s test patterns–I had to change “Color” from 50 to 45 to get a fair calibration using DVE’s red, green and blue filters, and reduce “Sharpness” from 4 to 1 (but I subsequently decided that a tad more sharpening gave the picture a little more pizzazz, despite what DVE concluded).

I hesitate to gripe about sound quality in a TV as small and inexpensive as this, but since no other Amazon reviewer has as yet done so, here goes. Plan to hook the VO320E up to some other audio device if you possibly can (fortunately, we had an old Bose CD player on a table in the same corner of the kitchen). You can turn off the VO320E’s tinny little speakers, and the “Analog Audio Out” control can be set to “Variable,” allowing the TV volume and mute controls to regulate an external audio device (a convenience that my much fancier HDTV in the family room lacks). There is even an equalizer included among the audio controls–a welcome feature since the VO320E’s audio amplifier distorts badly, apparently in an attempt to compensate for the shortcomings of its speakers.

For its price, this is a fine 32-inch HDTV. Were it not for Vizio’s Eco-prevarication, and the tinny sound, both of which are easily overcome, I would give it five stars.

Review by P. Edwards for VIZIO VO320E 32-Inch ECO 720p LCD HDTV
Rating:
Bought this Tv at Wal-Mart also. Have looked at many LCD Tv’s over the last three years, and found that finding a good LCD Tv at a affordable price frustrating at best. Could not pass on the deal for this set,and glad that I didn’t. Great Picture and all the features that I wanted. Set-up was a breeze. Would definitely buy VIZIO again.

Review by Jeremy P. Micheals for VIZIO VO320E 32-Inch ECO 720p LCD HDTV
Rating:
I got this, please don’t laugh at Walmart. My Wife and I are both students and I am both a student and disabled. We got this home and it sets up real easy. We got this to replace our dead HD TV. Our Olevia died a few days ago and we needed to find a TV quickly. We are BOTH impressed. Its lighter than our old one so I was able to carry it in our home and up the stairs. The Picture Quality is quite good considering the price. Its not as good as higher end TV’s but its really good for the money!