VBR110

Product Review (submitted on January 28, 2010):

I have owned plenty of dvd players, Sony, Toshiba, Samsung, etc. And they always have such basic design errors either in rendition quality or user interface, it makes you wonder if anyone has any common sense. Finally I've found an intelligently designed product that is just great.

The VBR110 is a killer. I bought one to upgrade to Blu-ray and liked it so much I bought a second one for the theater. One is set up with a 47" Vizio LCD on HDMI and the other is on a Sanyo PLV-Z2 projector using Component. They're both smashing in clarity, color rendition and depth, and the sound is top-shelf, too.

The remote is a bit large and button feel is too stiff for me, but to balance those issues Vizio has designed an intuitively simple to use layout that other manufacturers should go to school on. [Especially Søny.]

The player itself is a very solid unit. It is big enough to dissipate heat, of substantial heft to resist vibration and stiff enough that the weight of other components sitting on it won't affect it. It is, in short, 'old school' design, like before the world was overrun by cheap Chinese crap, but applied to cutting edge technology. The cosmetic design is also pleasingly spare and supports the impression of professional engineering embodied in this player.

Vizio has really put some engineering effort into this unit, and it shows. For $119 at Costco it is an insane buy. I can't tell you how happy I am with Vizio's design ethic and results.