Alan Smithee

Vizio seems to be either frowned upon or laughed at here. I bought one of their TVs because my friend has two of them and they've been working very well, and I was selected as part of what Vizio called a "VIP Program" where I got the TV a couple months before it hit stores and could give them feedback on its performance. I was pretty disappointed with that since the only feedback they seemed to want was some pre-written questions about its internet apps. I sent them a lengthy letter with my comments and criticisms about the TV's general performance, but I don't know if anyone actually read it.

Anyways, long story short is that while this TV hasn't been perfect, it's still worked relatively well- UNTIL the firmware was last updated at the beginning of January. Ever since then, there has been a major problem with this TV's frame rate. When watching anything shot on film (and it can be from any digital or analog format, I've also seen it over the air) the TV will be triggered into a jittery mode, looking almost like slow-motion. It's kind of hard to describe in words, but I've seen it intentionally used as an effect in some movies. When watching "Goodfellas" I noticed it a few times, I hadn't noticed it when I'd watched that movie before. I then noticed it during other movies, and when I paused the disc and re-started it the frame rate went back to normal. I know my TV wasn't doing this before, because I would have noticed it right away and sent it back! Looking at posts on AVS Forum, other people were noticing the same problem so I knew for sure I wasn't seeing things.

I've contacted Vizio about this a couple times, and they aren't admitting to any problems with the firmware. Me and others who've called have heard them say "This is the first time we've heard about this sort of problem". Since I paid for the extended warranty, I had a technician (using that term loosely, he wasn't very bright) come out, first replacing the main board which didn't do any good and now he's blaming the problem on my equipment.

Anyone here having this same problem?

Spiky

Somehow, I don't think your story will alter this.

Spottedfeather

A tv with firmware ?

Spiky

They have to with all the apps and so forth. Some even update for better functionality without apps, like better calibration tools.

Spottedfeather

On a tv ?

The Man with the Golden Doujinshi

That's how the programs/apps on the tv would get updated. They have stuff like Netflix and Pandora built into TVs now.

Numanoid

Alan Smithee

A bit surprised that NOBODY else here has a Vizio, but I have to say after this experience that I would not buy one again. I likely may never buy any brand that updates itself automatically via internet with no way to roll it back. Vizio's customer service people have said some INCREDIBLY stupid things when I've talked to them (one said that this problem is "environmental" because I have so much stuff hooked up!), but just about every electronics company's customer service department that I've dealt with has been pretty sad. Only Pioneer seemed to actually know what they were talking about.

I'm supposed to hear back from someone in a couple days after they do some "research", and if they don't fix or replace this TV I'm going to look into taking legal action against them.

The Man with the Golden Doujinshi

Small claims? It might end up costing more than just buying a new tv since you'd need an expert to dispute their expert that the issue isn't whatever dumb thing they're coming up with.

Extended warranty isn't helping anymore?