Vizio VOJ320F1A 32" LCD TV
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- HDCP Support: With HDCP Support
- Aspect Ratio: Widescreen (16:9)
- Display Resolution: 1920 x 1080 pixels
- Response Time: 6.5 ms
- Broadcast Format Displayed: 1080p (HDTV) 1080i (HDTV) 720p (HDTV) 480p (EDTV) 480i (SDTV)
- Contrast Ratio: 1,300:1
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978
32 inch TV with full HDTV
Pros
Easy to use and setup, good picture, 1080p, viewing angle, colors, an American made TV.
Cons
1080p might be overkill for a 32 inch TV, contrast ratio issues.
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
This flat panel TV is a fairly good buy. You get full HDTV and a good picture for a price less than $600.
We bought this Flat Panel TV in February when it had just come out. We were looking for a 32 inch flat panel TV for our bedroom and a 46 inch or a 52 inch TV for our living room. We ended up buying this TV, a Vizio VOJ320F1A, from Sears, for our bedroom. In March we bought a Sony Bravia 46V4100 for our living room from a different store.
Our goal was to get a good TV that was easy to use without spending too much money. We read some interesting articles on flat panel TV's in Consumer Magazine and we also read various on-line reviews. We found a lot of material for the Sony Bravia 46V4100 but not as much material for the Vizio VOJ320F1A. However, we were able to find some information on the Vizio VOJ320F1A including the other review for this TV here on epinions. After picking the brains of a few salesmen and other people we decided to settle for the Vizio VOJ320F1A.
One of the reasons that we at first were reluctant to buy the Vizio VOJ320F1A was that it supports 1080p resolution (so called full HDTV) which might be overkill for a 32 inch TV. To see the difference between 1080p and 1080i or 720p you need to be right in front of the TV. At a typical viewing distance it is not that big of a difference. It is also not easy to find use for 1080p. The HDTV Satellite Dish Network in the Dallas Fort Worth area provides 720p or 1080i (for selected channels) and if you have standard satellite or cable TV you will have much less than that. Remember; if you have HDTV input but not full HDTV all you will get is regular HDTV. If your input is standard TV then 480i is all you will get and your picture is going to look very bad compared to what you saw at the store. To see 1080p you have to have inputs to match it. I should add that the Blue Ray DVD player that we bought later supports 1080p; however, until we bought that blue ray DVD we did not have a 1080p picture (we use our other big TV for the X-Box). I should say that even though 1080p and 1080i does not make a big difference unless you are close to the TV, it is nice to have the clearest picture possible, and as far as I can tell (comparing with other TV's) we did not pay much for this bonus.
Another issue that concerned us was the contrast ratio. It is supposed to be 1:1,300 (static), however, when comparing with other 32 inch TV's in the same price class or higher, side by side at the store, we saw that the contrast ratio was clearly worse for the Vizio VOJ320F1A. My guess is that Vizio is inflating this number. On the other hand we decided that this was a minor issue that would not be noticeable at home. The Vizio VOJ320F1A TV was priced well and it was also great in many aspects, for example, the colors, the resolution, the viewing angle, and the ease of use. So in the end we selected the Vizio VOJ320F1A (down from about two dozen 32 inch screen TV's that we were considering at the time).
Overview and features
Since the TV is not very heavy (27.6 pounds) I could easily carry it my self. The box contained the Vizio VOJ320F1A TV (of course), the Vizio removable stand and instructions, the power cord, a screen cleaning cloth, the users guide, a quick setup guide, registration card, VIP services brochure, the Vizio Remote Control, and two AA batteries for the remote control. The HDMI cables that you use to connect to your DVD player and to your HDTV satellite receiver you naturally had to buy yourself.
In the back there are two HDMI inputs (to the left if you are behind the TV). We use HDMI-1 for our Blue Ray DVD player and HDMI-2 for our digital satellite input. There is a VGA port for PC (RGB PC), component 1, AV1/S-Video, Optical Digital Audio out, and Analog Audio out, DTV, as well as the power plug. On the right side panel you have a headphone connector, AV2, component2, and HDMI-3 (that makes three HDMI connectors). There are also controls on the right side of the TV. There is a power button, a menu button, a channel changing butting, a volume control, and a button for changing the input (switching between TV, AV1, AV2, Component1, Component2, RGB, HDMI1, HDMI2, and HDMI3).
A few of the interesting features are Parental Control/V-chip 2.0, computer support at 640X480, 800X600, 1024X768, 1920X1080, colors 1.06 billion (good), a viewing angle >178 degrees, 16:9 aspect ratio, response time 6ms (ho-hum), 60Hz refresh rate, Color temperature control, Dolby Digital for ATSC/QAM, ATSC QAM Tuner, two 12W built in speakers, and a one year warranty. The signal compatibility is 480i (SDTV), 480p (EDTV), 720p (HDTV), 1080i (HDTV), 1080p (full HDTV). The Power consumption is 103W on average (on), and 0.50W standby. The operating temperature is 5 Centigrade to 35 Centigrade.
Installation
The first thing you need to do is attach the TV stand base. This is a very straight forward operation. You lay the TV down and then you use four screws (included) to attach the stand. Then you can place your TV. The stand provides stability but it does not swivel or rotate. Next you connect your HDMI cables (if you don't have them go buy them). Then you setup your TV by using the remote control and by following the instructions in the users guide. You press the select button on the remote, select your language, select Home mode (not Retail mode), if you have satellite receiver skip to step 5, select your input source, for example, HDMI-2, and then you do the fine tuning to optimize your TV display (backlight, brightness, contrast, color and all that stuff).
Picture
As mentioned the Vizio VOJ320F1A TV supports 1080p resolution (at a refresh rate of 60Hz). This is the same as 1,920 x 1,080 pixels and is called full HDTV. For a 32 inch screen this might be more then you need and the average user may not even have full HDTV input. However, you don't seem to be paying much extra for it and it does not hurt. The TV has 1.09 billion colors (good color), and a great viewing angle (>178 degrees) which makes it possible to see the screen from basically any angle. As mentioned the contrast ratio is perhaps not the best but it was not an noticeable problem at home (where you don't have an $800 Sony to compare with side by side). The combination of the great colors, the viewing angle and the 1080p resolution gives us probably the best picture that we can get using a 32 inch TV, at least when we use our Blue Ray DVD player.
When watching satellite TV we don't have full HDTV, however, the picture is still clear and sharp. For a while we had standard satellite TV and we only had 480i input (we knew we were going to upgrade when we bought the TV). The difference between HDTV and 480i is huge. You go from a grainy fuzzy almost old style tube TV screen to a clear and sharp image. However, it is not until we use the Blue Ray DVD player that we take advantage of the full HDTV. Personally I would not pay too much for full HDTV, but I really didn't.
Sound
The sound is fairly good for a flat panel TV. There are two front mounted stereo speakers providing SRS TruSurround XT. The sound is not tinny, but it is not very powerful either. Naturally it is not as good as the sound generated by many large HDTV's or entertainment systems; however, for a 32 inch TV I think it is good enough.
Remote Control
The remote control is quite easy to use, it is plain looking, it is small, but not too small, it looks different, and the buttons are big, which is the way I like it. In the middle of the remote control is the select button surrounded by buttons for changing the channel and the sound (typical). At the top there is a power button, a button for the guide, a mute button, one for selecting HDMI (1,2,3), one for component, one for AV, one for TV, and one retrieve last channel button. At the bottom there is an "input" button for selecting any of the inputs and the numbers 0 to 9 for inserting channel numbers. Basically the remote control is self explanatory.
Wear and Tear
We have had this TV now for almost six months, and we have switched between different inputs, we have pulled on cables and bumped the TV, and so far the TV has worked just fine and we have no dead pixels as of yet. I should add that the Backlight life is rated at 50,000 hours.
Final recommendation
I am quite happy with my Vizio VOJ320F1A. The picture is as sharp as it gets for a 32 inch TV (mind the contrast issue), the colors and the viewing angle is good, the full HDTV is a bonus that I think I did not pay too much for, and the sound is good enough. The TV is also easy to use and setup which I think is a positive. We paid less than $600 for this TV which I think is fairly decent. I rate the Vizio VOJ320F1A TV four stars for value.
Below are some other electronics reviews I would like to recommed.
Garmin nuvi 255W
Garmin nuvi 260W
Samsung B2330H screen
Our goal was to get a good TV that was easy to use without spending too much money. We read some interesting articles on flat panel TV's in Consumer Magazine and we also read various on-line reviews. We found a lot of material for the Sony Bravia 46V4100 but not as much material for the Vizio VOJ320F1A. However, we were able to find some information on the Vizio VOJ320F1A including the other review for this TV here on epinions. After picking the brains of a few salesmen and other people we decided to settle for the Vizio VOJ320F1A.
One of the reasons that we at first were reluctant to buy the Vizio VOJ320F1A was that it supports 1080p resolution (so called full HDTV) which might be overkill for a 32 inch TV. To see the difference between 1080p and 1080i or 720p you need to be right in front of the TV. At a typical viewing distance it is not that big of a difference. It is also not easy to find use for 1080p. The HDTV Satellite Dish Network in the Dallas Fort Worth area provides 720p or 1080i (for selected channels) and if you have standard satellite or cable TV you will have much less than that. Remember; if you have HDTV input but not full HDTV all you will get is regular HDTV. If your input is standard TV then 480i is all you will get and your picture is going to look very bad compared to what you saw at the store. To see 1080p you have to have inputs to match it. I should add that the Blue Ray DVD player that we bought later supports 1080p; however, until we bought that blue ray DVD we did not have a 1080p picture (we use our other big TV for the X-Box). I should say that even though 1080p and 1080i does not make a big difference unless you are close to the TV, it is nice to have the clearest picture possible, and as far as I can tell (comparing with other TV's) we did not pay much for this bonus.
Another issue that concerned us was the contrast ratio. It is supposed to be 1:1,300 (static), however, when comparing with other 32 inch TV's in the same price class or higher, side by side at the store, we saw that the contrast ratio was clearly worse for the Vizio VOJ320F1A. My guess is that Vizio is inflating this number. On the other hand we decided that this was a minor issue that would not be noticeable at home. The Vizio VOJ320F1A TV was priced well and it was also great in many aspects, for example, the colors, the resolution, the viewing angle, and the ease of use. So in the end we selected the Vizio VOJ320F1A (down from about two dozen 32 inch screen TV's that we were considering at the time).
Overview and features
Since the TV is not very heavy (27.6 pounds) I could easily carry it my self. The box contained the Vizio VOJ320F1A TV (of course), the Vizio removable stand and instructions, the power cord, a screen cleaning cloth, the users guide, a quick setup guide, registration card, VIP services brochure, the Vizio Remote Control, and two AA batteries for the remote control. The HDMI cables that you use to connect to your DVD player and to your HDTV satellite receiver you naturally had to buy yourself.
In the back there are two HDMI inputs (to the left if you are behind the TV). We use HDMI-1 for our Blue Ray DVD player and HDMI-2 for our digital satellite input. There is a VGA port for PC (RGB PC), component 1, AV1/S-Video, Optical Digital Audio out, and Analog Audio out, DTV, as well as the power plug. On the right side panel you have a headphone connector, AV2, component2, and HDMI-3 (that makes three HDMI connectors). There are also controls on the right side of the TV. There is a power button, a menu button, a channel changing butting, a volume control, and a button for changing the input (switching between TV, AV1, AV2, Component1, Component2, RGB, HDMI1, HDMI2, and HDMI3).
A few of the interesting features are Parental Control/V-chip 2.0, computer support at 640X480, 800X600, 1024X768, 1920X1080, colors 1.06 billion (good), a viewing angle >178 degrees, 16:9 aspect ratio, response time 6ms (ho-hum), 60Hz refresh rate, Color temperature control, Dolby Digital for ATSC/QAM, ATSC QAM Tuner, two 12W built in speakers, and a one year warranty. The signal compatibility is 480i (SDTV), 480p (EDTV), 720p (HDTV), 1080i (HDTV), 1080p (full HDTV). The Power consumption is 103W on average (on), and 0.50W standby. The operating temperature is 5 Centigrade to 35 Centigrade.
Installation
The first thing you need to do is attach the TV stand base. This is a very straight forward operation. You lay the TV down and then you use four screws (included) to attach the stand. Then you can place your TV. The stand provides stability but it does not swivel or rotate. Next you connect your HDMI cables (if you don't have them go buy them). Then you setup your TV by using the remote control and by following the instructions in the users guide. You press the select button on the remote, select your language, select Home mode (not Retail mode), if you have satellite receiver skip to step 5, select your input source, for example, HDMI-2, and then you do the fine tuning to optimize your TV display (backlight, brightness, contrast, color and all that stuff).
Picture
As mentioned the Vizio VOJ320F1A TV supports 1080p resolution (at a refresh rate of 60Hz). This is the same as 1,920 x 1,080 pixels and is called full HDTV. For a 32 inch screen this might be more then you need and the average user may not even have full HDTV input. However, you don't seem to be paying much extra for it and it does not hurt. The TV has 1.09 billion colors (good color), and a great viewing angle (>178 degrees) which makes it possible to see the screen from basically any angle. As mentioned the contrast ratio is perhaps not the best but it was not an noticeable problem at home (where you don't have an $800 Sony to compare with side by side). The combination of the great colors, the viewing angle and the 1080p resolution gives us probably the best picture that we can get using a 32 inch TV, at least when we use our Blue Ray DVD player.
When watching satellite TV we don't have full HDTV, however, the picture is still clear and sharp. For a while we had standard satellite TV and we only had 480i input (we knew we were going to upgrade when we bought the TV). The difference between HDTV and 480i is huge. You go from a grainy fuzzy almost old style tube TV screen to a clear and sharp image. However, it is not until we use the Blue Ray DVD player that we take advantage of the full HDTV. Personally I would not pay too much for full HDTV, but I really didn't.
Sound
The sound is fairly good for a flat panel TV. There are two front mounted stereo speakers providing SRS TruSurround XT. The sound is not tinny, but it is not very powerful either. Naturally it is not as good as the sound generated by many large HDTV's or entertainment systems; however, for a 32 inch TV I think it is good enough.
Remote Control
The remote control is quite easy to use, it is plain looking, it is small, but not too small, it looks different, and the buttons are big, which is the way I like it. In the middle of the remote control is the select button surrounded by buttons for changing the channel and the sound (typical). At the top there is a power button, a button for the guide, a mute button, one for selecting HDMI (1,2,3), one for component, one for AV, one for TV, and one retrieve last channel button. At the bottom there is an "input" button for selecting any of the inputs and the numbers 0 to 9 for inserting channel numbers. Basically the remote control is self explanatory.
Wear and Tear
We have had this TV now for almost six months, and we have switched between different inputs, we have pulled on cables and bumped the TV, and so far the TV has worked just fine and we have no dead pixels as of yet. I should add that the Backlight life is rated at 50,000 hours.
Final recommendation
I am quite happy with my Vizio VOJ320F1A. The picture is as sharp as it gets for a 32 inch TV (mind the contrast issue), the colors and the viewing angle is good, the full HDTV is a bonus that I think I did not pay too much for, and the sound is good enough. The TV is also easy to use and setup which I think is a positive. We paid less than $600 for this TV which I think is fairly decent. I rate the Vizio VOJ320F1A TV four stars for value.
Below are some other electronics reviews I would like to recommed.
Garmin nuvi 255W
Garmin nuvi 260W
Samsung B2330H screen
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