Vizio Plasma TV Has Right Price for Right Place

    By Kevin Hunt

    The VM60P, a gargantuan 60-inch plasma framed in bronze, might be the most audacious set yet from HDTV industry-irritant Vizio. At $2,900, it's about half the retail price of the average 60-inch plasma and the first under $3,000. That bronzed aluminum bezel, a deviation from standard HDTV flavors black and silver, also makes it a can't-miss in the showroom.

    Company founder William Wang, who introduced the Vizio brand four years ago online (vizio.com) and in wholesale clubs Costco and Sam's, keeps daring other manufacturers to match his bargain- basement prices. The Vizio formula includes low overhead, limited distribution and budget-priced televisions that perform better than other no-name brands (though usually not quite so well as the big- name and more expensive brands).

    The VM60P's picture quality won't dethrone plasmas from Panasonic or Pioneer, but this set is good enough and big enough so that the price dazzles. The set offers a plasma panel from LG Electronics (comparison shopping: LG's own 60-inch plasma, the 60PC1D, costs $4,900), excellent video processing from Faroudja and sound from another planet. The speakers are placed behind the panel, firing downward, but the visual effect is striking. All you see is that elegant bronze bezel, attached to a bronze stand.

    Mounted on a wall with the stand removed, though, the VM60P would look more like a 179-pound picture frame about 56 inches wide, 37 tall and 5 deep.

    The VM60P also has four HDMI connections, a hi-def bonanza; a nice backlit remote; a digital tuner; and 5.1-channel digital audio connection. I could get local hi-def channels with an indoor antenna and feed Dolby Digital surround sound into my home-theater's audio- video receiver. Or you can connect to a high-definition cable box or satellite receiver.

    This set doesn't produce the deeper blacks -- which reveal greater detail in darker scenes -- of a Panasonic or Pioneer plasma. I also couldn't get rid of an exaggerated green.

    Before you even consider a TV this size, be sure it's suitable for your room. The VM60P was way too big for my modest home theater, a spare little bedroom with a couch about 8 feet from the screen. That's too close to a 60-inch HDTV with a plasma's 1,366x768 resolution. Instead of luxuriating in plasma perfection, I was constantly aware of picture flaws I would not have seen from 10 or 12 feet.

    At its regular price, the VM60P's only competition might be Panasonic's TH-58PX600U. Last year's 58-inch model has dropped from $5,000 to about $3,200 in its final weeks before being replaced by the 2007 model (TH-58PX75U).

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