Vizio L37 37" HDTV LCD TV

I did my research here before I bought my TV in September. I wanted to wait to write my review until I had spent a couple of months in its company, and now it is time.

PURCHASE: You can only buy this at Sam's Club, so you will need a membership. Chances are, if you're reading this, you've already got a membership, have seen the TV in-store, and want a warm fuzzy prior to laying down a thousand dollars. I paid $997 cash for this TV. I also bought the extended warranty because I have two very young children who have crayons and juice cups.

BOX: The box is not small, but I was able to person-handle it (like my gender-neutral PC phrasing?) into my SUV and back into my house with no help. Thanks, honey, for your moral support, though.

UNPACKING: Carefully empty the box and make sure it is really, really empty. Don't throw anything away until you're sure you've got everything. And no, you're not "missing" an HDMI cable; you need to go buy one.

PLACEMENT: This beast must be placed on a TV stand that can support it. Do not put it on ANYTHING that you can buy at Wal Mart. I've got mine on a $149 Hudson Collection TV stand from Target, designed to support the TV's weight and dimensions.

FIRING IT UP: Put the batteries in the remote and turn it on. (After you plug it in.) On-screen setup guidance is easy, and you will be well-advised to follow the instructions that come with the TV. After all, that's why they put them in there.

FIRST IMPRESSION: Umm, this is no different than my old TV. Maybe I should hook up the DVD system.

PICTURE QUALITY: THIS TV IS WORSE THAN YOUR OLD TV IF YOU DON'T USE THE HDMI FEATURE. Remember that color, black? (Yes, I know, black is technically the absence of color.) Well, you can forget about black. You know have "enhanced grey". If you're not watching HDTV or using an HDMI upconversion, you've just bought yourself pixellation, too. And, if you're going to watch sports in HD, you're getting the wrong TV. LCD technology causes the games to look blurry when action gets fast. So soccer, an incredibly fast-moving game, can make you dizzy. You can still watch in traditional format, but it won't look as clear. Luckily for me, I normally only watch HBOHD, DISHD, and DVDs from my upconversion DVD player, so I've got no complaints. You should also use the on-screen menus to alter picture colors based on what you're watching. Almost no TVs are sold ready-to-go; they are in display mode, set for use in brightly-lit stores. With VIZIO, you can choose between customization of images, or using preset colors and sharpness. I use the presets because I'm lazy.

THE GHOST IN THE MACHINE: The TV made "clicking" noises when I turned it on and off for a couple of months. That eventually went away, but it was kind of annoying during that time period. The TV "clicked" a few times when you turned it on, and "clicked' a few times when you turned it off. Nothing serious, just weird.

HDMI: This allows all digital signals from your HDMI DVD player or satellite HD box to go straight into the TV for interpretation in their original format. There is no data loss, and this is the only way to watch good quality pictures. Some component video fans will want to cling to their old ways, but trust me on this, you'll want to spend the extra money on a new DVD player. Now, as far as HD DVD and BLU RAY go, I can't make the call. My gut instinct is that HD DVD will win because people will feel better about buying something with the DVD thing it. Kind of like people bought DVD players because they could associate the better sound from their CD players with the concept of an equally better picture from a DVD player vs. the old VCR. This TV has one HDMI input. Why would you want two? Just in case you want to hook up your new video game system to the TV and a new DVD player to the TV without going through a receiver. It has two component video inputs and plenty of analog input room, though, in case you want to do like I did and hook up the XBOX on component video, the Satellite on component video, and the home theater on HDMI.

SOUND: Sound is really good for a TV. You're not going to blow the walls down, but it's good enough for government work.

DURABILITY: The TV is sturdy, but I wouldn't recommend dropping it. you get the impression that it was well-built.