Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

*EDIT* 11/29/13 Someone wrote me that the BF model is actually E601i-A3E. There is an "E" at the end of the model, so it may differ slightly. I looked at the tv, and it looks to have all the same features. The only difference seems to be the remote. The E model remote lacks a qwerty keypad. But that is not a big loss, as the smart features on the tv are not that good anyway, as you'll see in my review. So this TV is part of Walmart's BF sale for a second year in row. It must have been successful for them to do it again. This TV retails normally between $900 and $1,000 during the year. At that price it is a decent TV. For $688 it is a huge deal. I bought this TV last year at $688. Now that I have had it for a year, I think it is good time to review it. First, a bit of background. I repair TVs for a living. I have seen all kinds of TV installations I have probably repaired pretty much every model out there at some point, everything from a $200 Emerson to the $5,000 Elite. They all can break, or I wouldn't have a job. I use this TV a lot. I have a PC hooked up, along with multiple gaming devices and a cable box. I have used every input except the VGA (my PC is hooked up with HDMI.) I have used an antenna as well. Channels scanning is fairly painless if you want to go over the air. You can easily add new channels to your scan, and even do a partial scan. A standard definition picture does not look too great on this TV, but that is pretty normal with HD TVs in general. And odds are you probably wont be using viewing much SD content, if any. Pop in a Bluray and this TV will shine. This model has a pretty good picture. Even out of the box the picture will have some pop. The color is vibrant. You have quite a few options to play with to tweak it to your desire. It has a 120 Hz refresh rate, and it works pretty well for the most part. Sometimes a fast moving object, like a football being thrown, may have a trail on it. It is not a pronounced effect, many people may not notice it unless they really look for it. I only see this when watching cable. When gaming, I don't see it. All in all the picture is fantastic, and looks like a TV more than twice the price. A common flaw with LED is light bleeding. On a really dark image, some areas of the screen may be slightly lighter than others. This effect is only noticeable on very dark images, I can't see it unless my screen is totally blank. But each TV can be different, it can show up in a different spot and to a different degree in different TVs. Like I said, it is common among all LED TVs, especially bigger ones like this. During normal viewing, odds are you will not notice it. But for some people this is a deal breaker. Again, this TV is also $688. I'm willing to live with that, and it never bothers me. The TV has a gaming mode, which disables the post image processing. The reason for this is that all that post processing makes the image delay as it reaches your screen. For normal TV viewing, that is fine. But for video games, input delay can make your games difficult to play. Input Delay (or Input Lag) is the time it takes the TV to display an image. This is not to be confused with Refresh Rates, they are totally different. A long input delay will probably lead to your gaming deaths in fast paced games. For some reason no brand seems to list this stat. But there are people testing this, and the delay of this model is 31 milliseconds. That gives it a rating of Great from the Input Lag Database, which is their second best rating after Excellent. So this is good for people who plan on playing video games. You cannot get much faster than this without using a dedicated monitor. As a smart TV however, this TV fails. It does have wifi, and it is functional, providing most of the common streaming apps out there. But the interface is clunky, and apps are rarely updated. If you want to stream stuff on this TV, you are better off using a set top box or gaming console to do it. The remote has a qwerty remote, but it is also subpar. The remote is not bluetooth, so you have to have a clear line of site to use it. The remote has 2 IR emitters, one for normal use, and one on the side for the qwerty keypad. The qwerty buttons are small and close together, making it difficult to use. The 2013 BF model for Walmart does not have a qwerty keypad, but you aren't missing much. Do not buy this TV for its smart features. If you really want the qwerty remote, it is possible to get one separately from a site like Shop Jimmy. This remote should work, the remote part number is 0980-0306-1060, here is a link, Shop Jimmy just happens to have them on sale for $5 right now. Otherwise they will be $15 on ebay. [...] Again, this is only if you really, really want that qwerty keypad for the Walmart BF 2013 model. Now, for the broken TVs you see in other reviews. Last year's model for BF had a bad batch of panels. This led to some of those models having screen failures. Vizio addressed the issue by extending warranties for those serial numbers effected. I had this happen to my TV as well, 2 months after I bought it. I took it back to Walmart and exchanged it. I have no issues with the replacement I received, which is 9 months old now, and I use it a lot. I do not expect that will be an issue this year. Last year, the model was brand new. This year, Vizio has had all year to produce units for Walmart. So I would imagine those kinks would be worked out. There was also a sound issue where occasionally the audio would go out of sync with HDMI. I did experience this a few times as well. The issue was very specific as well, as it only happened with cable and satellite boxes. It never happened with my game consoles, and I play them more than I watch cable. This issue was fixed by a software update. I haven't had the problem since that update, which was early last year. So this TV is pretty solid. I do not regret my purchase at all. I did my research and got exactly what I expected. And for BF, this is still a great deal, even a year later. The only TV on BF 2013 that compares is from HHGregg. They will have a LG 60" plasma for $600. If you are concerned about deep blacks, then that TV may be for you. Keep in mind that TV only has 2 HDMI ports, though, and you may get burn in on a plasma. If you do get a plasma, turn the cell brightness down and make sure to avoid having any still images on screen for too long, especially in the early life of the TV. The LG also has a higher Input Lag at 56 milliseconds and an "Okay" rating, so it is not as good for gaming as the Vizio. That is a full half a second for your inputs to show up on screen, which means you will probably die a lot playing Halo. Also, I recommend getting the extended warranty. That's only $68 at Walmart (10% of the TV cost,) and it adds 3 years to your warranty, giving you a full 4 years of coverage. Maybe you wont need it, but if you ever do, you'll be glad you got it! I work on all the brands, so you never can be sure how well they will hold up. It's also a good idea to compare different warranties from different stores. They may cover different things. I hope this helps!