Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

First things first, as most might already know, there's a sibling to this Vizio offering, an E420D-A0. The "D" is for 3-D. The 3-D model also has Wi-Fi capability and a 120Hz refresh rate. We chose the 2-D model. I've had the unit setup for an afternoon and have put in about four hours of viewing; "Cowboys and Aliens" was the main movie watched and several newscasts. I have not watched any sporting events such as tennis or hockey so I can't say how well the television handles fast moving, small objects like a hockey puck or a tennis ball. If I come across any niggles that a consumer should know about, I'll comeback and post follow-ups and if no follow-ups, then everything is performing as one would expect. The unit was easy to set up. A very simple auto-setup came up when first turned on; language and the user was ask if they wanted to do a cable based, auto-channel select routine. Other than that, if like us, using a HD cable box, I set the appliance to accept the HDMI input from the cable box and everything came right up. I programmed the cable box remote and after entering the fifth number choice on the list, the cable box remote now operates both the cable box and the television. The unboxing was a normal event. The only assembly was attaching the base to the already attached base neck, attached to the television with three hex head screws and the provided allen wrench. The out of the box colors, are set to factory specifications and I found them to be excellent. There was a minor tweaking with contrast to improve movie shadow detail in nighttime movie scenes. Other than that, everything is good to go, right out of the box. At this point, there's not much to add. The unit comes with a quick start manual and that's it. If one wants, the full manual is a download from VIZIO.COM/SUPPORT. The unit has full back lighting as opposed to edge lighting. Because it's has full back lighting, the case is deeper (thicker) then edge lit units but for the thicker case, one has much better contrast. When we compared this unit to other units of similar size and price that were setup next to the unit, we immediately found the image of this unit to be a bit better in overall image quality. It was brighter, cleaner and had more image definition (sharper) than the Vizio unit next to it or the Toshiba unit that was a 46" unit, and next in line, to the left, of a three television display. When one stood in the middle of the three television display, equidistant from this unit and then compared image quality to the 46" Toshiba unit to the left, this unit had the better overall image quality. Colors are excellent. The unit has a 6ms refresh rate. Our cable box provides a 720P/1080i signal and the image quality is excellent. We won't have a Blu-ray player hooked up so I can't comment on 1080P resolution. We have cordless headphones hooked up to this unit and the sound quality is excellent. The speakers sound fine; not tinny or weak. For easy access, the controls are on the edge of the left bezel. The television has, as is typical, two connection sites. One on the left edge of the bezel and one on the same side but in the back. If I have to give some negative ink, it would be no 3-D, no 120Hz feature and lacks any Wi-Fi capability for easy software upgrade capability. Nothing that a convenient thumb drive won't fix. FYI, the stand is a fixed stand and does not have the much needed base, swivel component. Other then these obvious niggles that with the exception of a missing swivel component, for a hundred dollars more, the sibling version has the listed missing features. At the time of writing this review, I have no user complaints and if one is looking for a budget minded, 42", full back lit, LCD television with a great image, in my opinion, this unit will make you happy. In short, there are no shortcomings to feel the need to get over. Hope the above helps in your buying decision. ....................................... Note: When I made the purchase, I purchased the extended three year warranty contract. Disclosure: the unit we have was purchased yesterday at a big box warehouse. The purpose of the review is to help Amazon.com family members with their buying decision.