This TV is part of Amazon’s Black Friday sale for a second year in row. It must have been successful for them to do it again. This TV retails normally between $1,300 during the year. In that price it’s just a reasonable TV. For $900 this can be a huge deal. I bought this TV not too long ago on $900.
Someone wrote me that the Black Friday 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 appears to have all the same function. The only difference seems to be the remote. The E model remote lacks a qwerty keypad. But that is not a huge loss, as being the smart features for the tv aren’t going to be great anyways, as you’ll see in my VIZIO E601i A3 Review.
First, a bit of background. I actually fix Tv 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. Each of them can break, or perhaps I would not 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.
E601i-A3 VIZIO features a very good image. 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. Overall the picture is wonderful, 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 $900. I am just happy to live with in plus it never bothers me.
I do not regret my purchase at all. I did my research and got just what I expected. And I recommend getting the extended warranty. That’s only $898 at Amazon now and it giving you a full 5 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.