I’ve been contemplating the purchase of a new and larger television for some time. Currently, I have a nice little 22″ HDTV which I do, in fact, like — it’s a good size for my small apartment. However, in talking with some tech minded people lately, it was pointed out that with a small TV like I have, I am probably not getting the “bang for my buck” from my blu-ray DVD player. In addition, as I have been fragging it up lately with my XBox, a larger screen would make it easier to play games, as well as allow me to have a split screen when friends come over.

I mean, we can have a split screen now, but it’d be really tiny.

I’m not looking for some gigantic goliath of a televison — the furniture set up of my apartment utilizes an EXPEDIT Ikea shelf turned on its side as a TV bench. Coupled with an ARTIST brand shelf hanging above, and space becomes a consideration. Also, the living space of my apartment is only about 170 square feet total. So I’ve determined that (keeping in mind the height and width of a specific set) I’m looking for something in the 32″ (minimum) to 40″ (maximum) range, and of course, in 1080p.

One of the HDTV brands I’ve been noticing a lot is Vizio. I’ve never ever heard of Vizio before Black Friday, but their prices are extraordinarily competitive against better known brands like Samsung and Sony.

I emailed a new coworker to ask his opinion — he’s “in the know” on TVs. This was his reply:

Vizio is one of the biggest distributors of hdtvs in the US, they’re really popular because they are generally less expensive. They are pretty good tvs, but the reason that they are cheaper is the picture contrast ratio, which tends to be much lower than Samsung, sharp, or Phillips. Its not really a huge difference in terms of the picture unless you are really paying attention.

So this is, as far as I’m concerned, good news. I’m going to head out to Target tomorrow and see if they have any Vizio televisions on floor display so that I can observe what the TV picture actually looks like (I’ll most likely just buy from Dell*, since I don’t want to lug a TV home on the Circulator), but before I do place an order, does anyone have any first hand knowledge of Vizios? Are they a good buy?

*Home delivery? Interest free for a year? That’s a D-E-A-L!