(Vizio M261VP Review: 26” LED LCD HDTV
Up for Review: Vizio M261VP LED LCD TV. Although this is not a TV which will be preferred by the true connoisseur of HDTVs, it gives a lot of features to be happy about. Keeping in mind the niche consumers for this display segment, Vizio has tried to keep some of the high end features while compromising on a few of the others to give a fairly low-priced set. It has kept the Internet Apps feature while lowering the refresh rate to 60Hz. It has also brought down the number of HDMI to 2. For a display size of 26-inches, these features seem good enough, especially when the price has been lowered to just $509.99 MSRP.
The manufacturer has designed this set to fit into any corner of the room and yet allows you to access some of the best sites on the Internet. Through the Internet Apps feature, you can get the best music, videos, movies and also news and weather for the more serious ones. You can also get into some of the most talked about social networking sites on the TV. You can get to view all these sites through a built-in Wi-Fi but Vizio has not yet thought about including an Internet browser on this set. With Rhapsody, Amazon VOD and Yahoo widgets being supported, you will have enough to keep you busy throughout the day.
Vizio M261VP Features and Specifications Review:
- 26-inch screen
- LED backlighting LCD
- 60Hz refresh rates
- TruSurround HD and TruVolume
- Vizio Internet Apps
- Slim design
- Energy Star 4.0 compliant
- 2 HDMI outputs
The refresh rate has been decreased to 60Hz on this set. This is much less than the 240Hz and 120Hz in the higher end models. But only after the first few models actually reach the consumers, you will have a better idea about the picture quality of the set. There may be a certain amount of blurring in the fast action scenes. But the clarity and sharpness of the images will certainly be very good because of the 1080p resolution and 100,000:1 contrast ratio. There are 16.7 million colors too which make every image look very natural and life like.
Vizio has also chosen to keep both the SRS TruSurround HD sound and TruVolume features in this TV. Because of them, you get to hear the dialogues and music clearly while being able to adjust the sound level to suit your ears. There are 2 HDMI only in this set which limits your options of connecting high definition devices. But for this 26-inch TV, you will be content to only see movies on the Blu-ray disc player and play games on the gaming console. Energy conservation also has its fair share of mention in this set as it adheres to the Energy Star 4.0 specifications. There is also a built-in ambient light sensing technology which further helps to control the backlight and keep the energy usage low. If you want a really small TV for your home which can give you a variety of entertainment options, then this set is just for you.
YouReviewElectronics.com gives Vizio M261VP 4/5 stars!
User Reviews
While this TV does have a good picture and some good features, it is slow. This is evident in fast moving scenes and text. News and sports text like that shown at the bottom of the screen will turn from white to grey and be blured if it’s fast moving. Another disapointment is the USB port. The “Tech Specs” lead you to believe the port accepts USB drives and will display Mpeg, Jpeg and MP3 files. Not So! The port is nothing but a service port. Presumably, for service technicians. The file types listed under the USB port are misrepresentative of the features.
The tv picture quality is terrible. My first show after I hooked it up was a football game and the clarity even while there was little movement on screen was disappointing. The other bad and unexplainable problem is the delay when changing the channels. There is a two to three second delay each time the channel changes. Very annoying. All that being said, for a kitchen tv it’s fine and the Internet widgets get Pandora and Netflix as advertised. Beware, the sound quality is like listening to a transistor raido speaker so I had to add some extanternal speakers to make it tolerable when listening to music. I also learned that the USB port is not for use to view pictures. Overall I would not recommend this tv to a friend.
I am most disappointed in the delay when changing channels. When you have young children in the room and something comes on TV you don’t want them to see, well, too bad. It take almost 3-4 seconds for the picture to blacken and another 2 seconds to display the next channel. When I called VIZIO, their answer was “sorry, nothing we can do”. So I’ll probably take the TV back to the store.
I purchased this tv for my kitchen. The quality of the picture is outstanding! The colors are vivid,crisp and sharp. The price was VERY reasonable. My concern with this tv is the poor quality of the sound and the lag time between changing channels. The quality is as if it is coming out of a small radio and I have to turn the volume up in order to hear it. Also when changing channels there is an exact 2 sec delay between channels which is very frustrating so this is definitely not the tv for those husbands who love the remote control! I spoke with the Vizio tech staff and although they were very friendly and helpful, after answering all my questions it was determined the tv was operating as it was designed. I will keep the tv and use it in my bedroom.
Follow-up: After loosing the bass frequencies a couple of times then permanently after the last (second) firmware update, I returned the TV for a refund. The service center tried hard to help but there was no fix available. Attaching a 2.1 speaker system for computers worked great until VIZIO chopped the low frequencies from the headset output. I guess they want you to buy an expensive sound bar system. If you buy this set, don’t connect it to the Internet. VIZIO is not responsible for any viruses loaded by third party suppliers of the Apps or for their own firmware. Apparently, anyone can make/supply an App and it’s your responsibility if you load it. A bad App can destroy your TV.
Terrible. Picture was okay but not great. Then after only five months of purchase, TV’s back light stopped working. Called customer service and thought all was good to have TV repaired. Has been 5 weeks trying to get a box sent to my so i can return. I wait 7-10 days expecting the box to be delivered, instead, at the end of the wait time, I receive a call to verify the shipping address. Really? So, the TV was not good and neither is customer service. Good Luck!