Everything I had heard indicated that Vizio was actually becoming more competitive with the larger brands. The Vizio I owned was actually recommended to me over EVERY other LCD that was on the market at the moment. Of course, that might be because it was a 32" Plasma, but still, worth every penny so far.
Even now, there are one or two Vizios (at Walmart, no less) that are still better than some of the similarly priced TVs at the same price. You just have to look for them.