Washington, D.C. (November 25, 2006) -- Vizio's  P42HDTV 42-inch can be found online for under $1,500. But does a great picture come with the great price?

Well, sort of, according to a review by PC World Canada, the Canadian version of the popular tech magazine.

PC World Canada says you may be "shocked by its impressive picture, particularly its surprisingly bright screen...You'll have a hard time finding better image quality at this price level."

But the publication cautions that its overall HD and standard-definition picture was "middle of the road" compared to some more expensive sets. Still, it says Vizio's image quality is comparable to similarly-sized Plasma sets from better known TV makers.

"DVD viewing scores were a bit higher," the review stated. "The Vizio garnered most of its praise for its bright screen and impressive contrast, ranking only slightly behind the LG 42PC1DA on these scores. If you frequently watch TV in a bright room, the P42 would be a very good choice. Color quality was less impressive, skewing toward oversaturated green tones."
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PC World Canada notes that the set does not have a CableCard slot so you'll need an external tuner. It also does not have a DVI input.

Also on the down side, the publication says setting up the TV can be "tricky."

"Accessing the cable ports is difficult: they're lined up in a row along the bottom of a panel sticking out from the rear of the TV: access requires some serious crawling around and fumbling for ports, which face downward. Fortunately, ports are color coded and the manual is written in plain English."

Overall, PC World Canada gives the Vizio set a score of 80 out of a possible 100, which it calls "very good."

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