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Plasma or LCD flat screen TV, now it's AFTER x-mas
Old 12-25-2006, 09:41 PM   #1
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Plasma or LCD flat screen TV, now it's AFTER x-mas

All,

i have waited "patiently" for the AFTER x-mas to seriously looking for a flat screen TV. They seems to be much "cheaper" than it used to be. Could someone give me any suggestion of where to look for a best deal for me, an "early retirement member". 42" to 50" prefer.

i know i am suppose to be frugal but how long and when in my life time can i buy one??

enuff

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Re: Plasma or LCD flat screen TV, now it's AFTER x-mas
Old 12-25-2006, 09:47 PM   #2
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Re: Plasma or LCD flat screen TV, now it's AFTER x-mas

http://www.walmart.com/search/search...7&Continue.y=9
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Re: Plasma or LCD flat screen TV, now it's AFTER x-mas
Old 12-25-2006, 10:22 PM   #3
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Re: Plasma or LCD flat screen TV, now it's AFTER x-mas

For the best promotional deals, check www.fatwallet.com or similar sites.

For reviews, check www.avsforum.com.

To see sets in person, check Best Buy and Costco.

For consistently good deals (and great return priviledges), buy at Costco.
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Re: Plasma or LCD flat screen TV, now it's AFTER x-mas
Old 12-25-2006, 11:23 PM   #4
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Re: Plasma or LCD flat screen TV, now it's AFTER x-mas

I went to a local retailer and found that LG has some nice rebates on their LCDs. I got a 26" wide screen LCD on the cheap PLUS a $100 mail-in rebate. The larger LCDs have a $500 rebate. I think it has to be postmarked by midnight 12-31-06.

BTW....the 26" sure beats the dickens out of my old Zenith 13"!!!
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Re: Plasma or LCD flat screen TV, now it's AFTER x-mas
Old 12-26-2006, 07:51 AM   #5
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Re: Plasma or LCD flat screen TV, now it's AFTER x-mas

A few weeks back a poster here said s/he knew someone who knew someone who was a buyer or something at Costco and that Costco was going to put on a big flat screen sale later in January. If they do, go for it. Costco already has good prices and great return policies. A sale on top of that would be unbeatable.

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Re: Plasma or LCD flat screen TV, now it's AFTER x-mas
Old 12-26-2006, 09:32 AM   #6
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Re: Plasma or LCD flat screen TV, now it's AFTER x-mas

The best deals can be had anywhere, as long as you're willing to negotiate. This is a particularly good time because HDTV prices have become very competitive (thanks Wal Mart).

I prefer buying at Best Buy or Circuit City. They are willing to negotiate and easy to deal with if you have a return. Of course, Costco is the best for returns but I don't find they have the best prices and they aren't willing to negotiate.

My wife (Queen Negotiator) spent 15 minutes on the web looking for the best prices -- we bought a 50" Sony. She walked into Best Buy, told them she wanted them to match the lowest price she found and within 15 minutes they said OK. They also offered free delivery. Make sure you bring print outs of the prices so it's easy for them to verify.

She bought the TV last Christmas. They wanted $2499, she offered $1650. She got it by quickly asking for the TV Section Manager.

You will love it! I was a Tivo-only viewer until I got HDTV. Now I'm willing to watch those stupid commercials just so I can watch football in HD.

Mike
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Re: Plasma or LCD flat screen TV, now it's AFTER x-mas
Old 12-26-2006, 07:45 PM   #7
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Re: Plasma or LCD flat screen TV, now it's AFTER x-mas

Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeK
The best deals can be had anywhere, as long as you're willing to negotiate.
I prefer buying at Best Buy or Circuit City.
My wife (Queen Negotiator) spent 15 minutes on the web looking for the best prices -- we bought a 50" Sony.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Enuff2Eat
Could someone give me any suggestion of where to look for a best deal for me, an "early retirement member". 42" to 50" prefer.
The heck with Best Buy or CC.

Craigslist will be full of ads from guys who've upgraded to a 50" or better yesterday...
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Re: Plasma or LCD flat screen TV, now it's AFTER x-mas
Old 12-26-2006, 08:53 PM   #8
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Re: Plasma or LCD flat screen TV, now it's AFTER x-mas

I know a guy who sells brand new plasma TVs with minor cosmetic defects. I guess the defects prevent them from being sold retail. His prices are about 50% of what BestBuy lists for. If anyone is around the Boston metro area and in the market for a plasma TV, PM me and I will give you his contact info. I bought a 50" plasma from him for $1400 and it's great, I was on the couch all christmas. I dont know how big these things can get before they become slightly impractical. 100 or maybe 150 inches max...
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Re: Plasma or LCD flat screen TV, now it's AFTER x-mas
Old 12-27-2006, 08:32 AM   #9
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Re: Plasma or LCD flat screen TV, now it's AFTER x-mas

Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeK
I prefer buying at Best Buy or Circuit City. They are willing to negotiate and easy to deal with if you have a return.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nords

Craigslist will be full of ads from guys who've upgraded to a 50" or better yesterday...
Funny how things differ in different part of the country. Our Best Buy will not negotiate on anything. Period. End of story. Our Craigslist probably will have a 30 year old RCA tv for sale for $50.
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Re: Plasma or LCD flat screen TV, now it's AFTER x-mas
Old 12-27-2006, 08:46 AM   #10
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Re: Plasma or LCD flat screen TV, now it's AFTER x-mas

The key to buying a plasma or LCD television is the same with any major purchase: RESEARCH.

That said, you can spend more time researching the best price and quality than it would cost you to just go out and buy something that looks good in the store. Personally, I've always found Samsung LCD TVs to be really nice, and you can get them a decent price almost anywhere. In the interest of full disclosure, I still watch broadcast TV on a 27" tube television. Why? Because I have better things to do than spend my time in front of the TV, and much better things to do with my money every month than give it to the cable company. I can't wait until Verizon starts providing TV over DSL. To do so, Verizon will probably need to bring back the old "cable box" to allow for descrambling and channel surfing, although the box will likely be more of a TIVO-type high capacity digital recorder, as well as a gaming system (if the rumors I hear about deals between Verizon and MSFT's X-Box are true).
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Re: Plasma or LCD flat screen TV, now it's AFTER x-mas
Old 12-27-2006, 08:47 AM   #11
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Re: Plasma or LCD flat screen TV, now it's AFTER x-mas

Quote:
Originally Posted by Martha

Funny how things differ in different part of the country. Our Best Buy will not negotiate on anything. Period. End of story. Our Craigslist probably will have a 30 year old RCA tv for sale for $50.


Hey, I dont even have cable.........so I guess I don't need an HDTV TiVO extra plasma flat screen thingamabobber...........
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Re: Plasma or LCD flat screen TV, now it's AFTER x-mas
Old 12-27-2006, 09:01 AM   #12
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Re: Plasma or LCD flat screen TV, now it's AFTER x-mas

Quote:
Originally Posted by Martha
Our Craigslist probably will have a 30 year old RCA tv for sale for $50.
Bummer.

Oahu was there a year ago and now has over 200 posts per day with separate boards among the islands. When we post stuff today we get our first phone call within 30 minutes. So your local Craigslist might be there in another 6-12 months.
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Re: Plasma or LCD flat screen TV, now it's AFTER x-mas
Old 12-27-2006, 11:59 AM   #13
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Re: Plasma or LCD flat screen TV, now it's AFTER x-mas

In our area, Craigslist prices for newish stuff like LCD/plasma TVs, laptops, etc are consistently too high. LCD prices are dropping like crazy due to oversupply. You'll almost always be able to find a better deal on new than you'd get from a local guy trying to dump the used one he paid twice as much for 6 months ago.
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Re: Plasma or LCD flat screen TV, now it's AFTER x-mas
Old 12-27-2006, 04:44 PM   #14
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Re: Plasma or LCD flat screen TV, now it's AFTER x-mas

Quote:
Originally Posted by wab
In our area, Craigslist prices for newish stuff like LCD/plasma TVs, laptops, etc are consistently too high. LCD prices are dropping like crazy due to oversupply. You'll almost always be able to find a better deal on new than you'd get from a local guy trying to dump the used one he paid twice as much for 6 months ago.
I've always found that people want the most money if they're trying to sell recent technology. Things like home stereo systems, on the other hand, are usually priced pretty cheap since the technology hasn't changed that dramatically for most people (audiophiles excluded, of course). The same goes for used cars, with the Japanese cars being priced the most on the used car market.

If you want a good deal on an LCD or Plasma, see if your local Best Buy has any "open box buys" that are returns or have a few missing parts that are easily replaceable.
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Re: Plasma or LCD flat screen TV, now it's AFTER x-mas
Old 12-27-2006, 05:07 PM   #15
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Re: Plasma or LCD flat screen TV, now it's AFTER x-mas

We did a little comparison shopping yesterday and found that Costco was $100 less than Best Buy in the $400- $600 range, for similar tvs.

We started out thinking about a 20 inch for the bedroom. By the time we got out of there I dragged SO out of there, we were looking at 32 inch... ack!

Prices seemed a lot lower than even what we saw a few months ago.

I need to do some more research on contrast ratios and resolution, and do we want HD? Etc. First I need to decide if we really WANT another tv at all!
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Re: Plasma or LCD flat screen TV, now it's AFTER x-mas
Old 12-28-2006, 08:23 AM   #16
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Re: Plasma or LCD flat screen TV, now it's AFTER x-mas

We went to Best Buy looking for a bedroom TV. We came home with a 32" Insignia brand LCD for $600. I believe it was marked down $200. Insignia is the house brand of Best Buy and says it is made by LG. I was skeptical af first but its picture quality was about the same as the more expensive name brands. I guess time will tell if this was a smart purchase or a dumb mistake.

I've read that the best brands in LCDs are Sharp and Sony but they cost about double what we paid for the noname TV. If this was to be our primary TV we would have paid more for the Sharp or Sony. We do what we can to keep the economy rolling while staying out of the poorhouse.

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Re: Plasma or LCD flat screen TV, now it's AFTER x-mas
Old 12-28-2006, 08:49 AM   #17
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Re: Plasma or LCD flat screen TV, now it's AFTER x-mas

I bought an Insignia "iPod" for my wife for xmas...was about 1/2 the cost of the comparable apple...also being wary of the brand I sprung the extra $20 for a 2 year extended warranty...so saved 1/2 the cost and at least for 2 years am guaranteed to have a working product (and two years from now the ipods will probably be free in a box of cereal anyway...at least the ones equivalent to todays models)

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Re: Plasma or LCD flat screen TV, now it's AFTER x-mas
Old 12-28-2006, 11:17 AM   #18
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Re: Plasma or LCD flat screen TV, now it's AFTER x-mas

DH and I have agreed to losen up the purse strings
Just bought two new Sony LCD's 40 and a 32, called the cable company so that is being installed next week. Also DH bought me a new I Pod Nano. DH is enjoying his retirement... This probably will be my last few months of working... planning a few vacation trips mid-year. Life is great.
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Re: Plasma or LCD flat screen TV, now it's AFTER x-mas
Old 12-28-2006, 03:08 PM   #19
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Re: Plasma or LCD flat screen TV, now it's AFTER x-mas

Quote:
Originally Posted by OldMcDonald
I bought an Insignia "iPod" for my wife for xmas...was about 1/2 the cost of the comparable apple...
I'm curious which Insignia model you bought. Some of the competition is cheaper than the Apple iPod, but I have not seen anything close to 1/2 the cost.


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Re: Plasma or LCD flat screen TV, now it's AFTER x-mas
Old 12-28-2006, 04:32 PM   #20
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Re: Plasma or LCD flat screen TV, now it's AFTER x-mas

I just bought a 46" Sony LCD TV from OneCall.com. They have a policy to match the lowest legitimate delivered price on the web, and they are an authorized dealer for everything they sell (so there's no hassle with the mfg honoring the warranty). The TV was in my living room 2-1/2 days after I ordered, and I only paid for standard shipping. There was no pressure whatsoever to buy extended warranties, accessories, etc.

I bought a Sony because it handles standard definition DVD upscaling better than most, and that will be the TV's primary use. I spent many months researching large screen TV's, and my final take on it was that the best choice depends on what you will be using the TV for (PC monitor, standard def cable, hi def cable, gaming, standard def DVD, hi def DVD) as well as your personal preferences on aesthetics, settings options, connectors, etc. The list price and even sale prices at CC, Costco, and BB are usually higher than the delivered prices that you can find on the web, but the advantage is that you can physically return the TV if it fails within 30 days (Costco is likely going to 6 months return privileges for electronics). If you can get local stores to meet internet prices, then in my opinion the return privilege is worth the cost of local sales tax. If you buy online, then only Crutchfield allows returns. Everyone else makes you deal with the manufacturer through your warranty.
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