My first flat panel HDTV: Vizio?

[lmarr28]

I've been holding out for what seems like forever, but I'm about to buy my first flat panel HDTV. I've been doing a lot of reading, and I've decided that LCD is the best way to go for my needs. I want an LED-backlit model, but I don't want one that's edge-lit, since I've read that they can have inconsistent lighting across the screen. I'd prefer to get one with direct LED backlighting for the localized dimming features. I also wanted one with a 'true' 240Hz refresh rate (i.e. Samsung or Sony), but from what I've been reading, it's not really going to make a huge difference.

After lots of research and comparison, it looks like the soon-to-be-released (January, I think) SV472XVT from Vizio has all of the features that I want. My only concern is that I've always heard you get what you pay for with Vizio. Granted, $1,700 isn't necessarily cheap for any TV, especially for a Vizio, but it beats spending $2,000+ on a similarly equipped Samsung, Sony, or LG.

So, I'm looking for some advice... Is Vizio still considered to be a "lower end" TV manufacturer? The SV472XVT seems to have lots of great features, and it has all of the inputs I'd ever need, so what's the catch? Should I really spend the extra money just to have another brand name on the front? Am I going to regret spending this much on a Vizio after a year when the warranty runs out?

Here's the Manufacturer's page if you want to check it out:
http://www.vizio.com/sv472xvt.html

[nav13eh]

Checks some reviews and go look at them in store, I'm not going to suggest anything because it is my opinion not yours.

[bman]

They for sure aren't #1, and myself would choose another brand over them any day. Though I don't believe there really is anything wrong with them, any quality loss isn't going to be extreme as long as it has the same specs as the sonys, samsungs, etc.

[tokenuser]

Vizio are not considered a top end brand - but that is rapidly changing.

My wife and I are looking for a new TV, and Samsung and Vizio are neck and neck. Samsung has the edge in picture quality, but the Vizio gives a lot of bang for buck ... and is still better than Sony and the other name brand models.

I would have no problem with a Vizio, BUT buy the extended service plan. If you end up with dead pixels, the unit will be replaced.