How low can TV prices go?

[ychuck46]

Our main TV is a 65" that I paid about $700 for almost 3 years ago which was a great price at the time. It's more than good enough. The next TV will be at least 85" but there's no rush, the prices need to be well below $1k before I'll care enough to start looking.

Same here. There are some great deals coming in Nov-Dec at Costco on 82" and 85" TVs. But there is nothing wrong with our 65" Vizio and I just don't replace things when they are working great. Nevertheless, we will be seeing some great prices down the road, my friend, for whenever we choose to move up in size.

 

[Koolau]

These "Smart TV's" can tell what you are watching, no matter the source, by a kind of finger printing technology that looks at certain pixel colors and changes. So if you tell the TV your WiFi password, it will phone home that you what you watched, even if it came off a thumb drive from your brother in-law.


Not easy to avoid giving it your WiFi password, but I'm using a Viseo that way... just as a monitor for a computer which has OTA recordings (HDHomeRun), stuff I've downloaded, and YouTube. I also have a Chromecast so stuff on the phone can play on the big TV. That's also a snoop problem, but they make it surprisingly difficult to put a phone screen on a TV nowadays, probably due to concerns about "ripping". Quite silly, really, because people always find a way around any "copy protection". Disappointing that the new OTA standard will attempt copy protection. I bet it will be cracked before it's deployed.

Fortunately, BIL never sends me his Mr. Ed collection on thumb drive - but I resent any intrusion into privacy. I know it's virtually impossible now to avoid such monitoring, but why make it easier - even if you get a better TV picture (please - no one suggest "well, if you have nothing to hide" because, I submit we all do - but YMMV.)

One of my back up tag lines is "Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to getcha." YMMV

 

[scepter1]

link says actual price is $499.99

 

[REWahoo]

link says actual price is $499.99

That link was posted 5 days ago. I think you missed the sale price.

 

[EdL3]

-1 I have a 42" Pioneer Plasma

Unfortunately, mine is only a 720p panel, so I am currently researching my TV options and stuck in a bit of analysis paralysis. There are some used Pioneer Kuro plasmas in the Chicagoland area that I could pick up for a few hundred bucks. Given that there just isn't that much native 4K content out there, and I'm not a gamer, I think a really good 1080p panel will meet my needs. But, it does seem kind of crazy to replace my made in 2006 TV with one from 2009, so I'm also looking at new OLED TVs. Except now I'm reading comments about "motion blur" for film content when viewed on these 120Hz OLED panels so my research continues. I would be interested in hearing from anyone who's made a similar buying decision recently.

I still have a 64” SAMSUNG Plasma F8500 but I’ve moved on to OLED. I have 1-65 and 2-55’s. My eyes aren’t sharp enough to notice the alleged motion blur. All I can say is that once you cross over to OLED nothing else is good enough. Definitely worth the dollars. And if you play a 4K disk it’s definitely a wrap.

 

[pacergal]

My dad was always a LBYM type (a trait he didn't pass on to me) but he always wanted to stay ahead of the "Jones" across the street... When I was about 10 years old he bought a ~79 cent three color plastic cover for our black and white TV that looked something like this..

Then he would brag to the neighbors that we had the first color TV on the block. We actually used if for a few days.

OMG--we had one of these also
Our previous TV was one of those huge ,heavy ones. Took 2 guys to lift. Cost us >$2000.
Our current one (yes, we have only one!)is only 40 inch screen, cost a couple hundred and does just fine. I don't like the huge screens, gives me a headache.

 

[stepford]

Pictures of those 3 color sheets bring back (hazy) memories of the 60s and 70s, getting wrecked and playing with the hue and tint controls. Ah, nostalgia.

 

[REWahoo]

This one is really cheap: Walmart has a deal on a 42” Class FHD (1080P) LED Roku Smart TV for $88. Starts 11/4 (today) at 7 PM EST.

Better hurry scepter1 or you will miss out!

 

[Music Lover]

TVs are so inexpensive these days that if you watch a lot of TV or enjoy movies or concert videos it makes no sense to limit yourself to a small TV.

People used to go to the movie theatre for the big screen experience and today for a measly few hundred you can sit 8' or 10' away from a 75" or 85" 4K TV and have a great viewing experience at home...but without sticky floors and idiots talking during the show.

 

[Koolau]

OMG--we had one of these also
Our previous TV was one of those huge ,heavy ones. Took 2 guys to lift. Cost us >$2000.
Our current one (yes, we have only one!)is only 40 inch screen, cost a couple hundred and does just fine. I don't like the huge screens, gives me a headache.

I have a late '80s top-of-the line 27" TV that finally gave up the ghost. When we moved to the family home stead (our mainland 'squat') I could carry it in. Now, I'm unable to carry it out to place it on the curb. Amazing what 20 years does to technology and to my body. YMMV

 

[NoiseBoy]

I still have a 64” SAMSUNG Plasma F8500 but I’ve moved on to OLED. I have 1-65 and 2-55’s. My eyes aren’t sharp enough to notice the alleged motion blur. All I can say is that once you cross over to OLED nothing else is good enough. Definitely worth the dollars. And if you play a 4K disk it’s definitely a wrap.

@EdL3 - What do you watch most often?

My two primary uses are Blu-ray movies and HD cable for live sports. I did spend some time looking at LG & Sony OLED panels at Best Buy on Saturday. The picture does jump out at you, but they do not have a Blu-ray player hooked up to any of them, so I cannot tell if I will be bothered by the motion blur issue or not. Still, I do like the way the image goes right to the edge of the screens and how light they are in comparison to a 60" plasma panel.

 

[RobbieB]

Me thinks I'll go 55 inch for the bedroom when I redo it.

 

[Ready]

That is amazing, especially knowing you can easily spend 10 or even 20 times that on a 65" OLED from a top tier brand. It would be interesting to see them side by side, with challenging content (contrast, color, fast action, sound) - and ask yourself if it's 10-20 times better? Though you don't have anything to compare to at home, so anything will look better at home...

We just replaced a seven year old Samsung 65” LCD TV in our family room with a 77” LG OLED TV for $3,500. It was originally $4,500 when it first came out and the prices have been dropping steadily in the past few months.

Is it ten times better? No, of course not. But the Samsung washed out when it was sunny out, making daytime viewing near impossible. And if I was sitting on our couch which is off to the side, the viewing angle made it impossible to watch. You had to sit dead center to see it.

OLED TVs are still at a huge premium over LED TVs. It was worth it to us to pay the extra money because the picture quality is absolutely amazing. But it’s up to each individual to decide if the high cost is justified. Given how much more time we find ourselves at home due to COVID these days it seemed worth it to us.

And of course, we spent so little money this year due to the pandemic that we needed to find something to blow our dough on.

Now we are shopping for a soundbar to finish it off. Life is good.

 

[Sunset]

Me thinks I'll go 55 inch for the bedroom when I redo it.

I've heard bigger is better in the bedroom

We have a 55" in the living room, an LG plasma which cost $500 some years ago.
I'd like to get an 80" or larger, but am resisting since maybe we will move in 2->3 yrs. Better to buy it at the new place and not move it.

 

[Andre1969]

When I was a kid, I saved up diligently for a new tv in my bedroom, and when I got to the half way mark, my Granddad matched me. I think it was Christmas 1983, but I'm not positive...I know it was around the 1983-84 timeframe. The tv was a 19" Toshiba portable. It was around $400.

Granddad did the same thing for a VCR, and on my 14th birthday in 1984, I bought a new GE top load, again, for about $400 once you threw on tax. It had a wired remote control and, somewhat rare for a low-end VCR, had a slow motion feature.

Wow, to think that adjusting for inflation, $400 in 1983-84 would be around $1000-1050 today!

For comparison, my housemate bought a 65" 4K Samsung about a year ago, and I think it was around $1000 or so, with tax and an extended warranty.

One thing I have noticed about tv's though, is that like most improvements in life, once you get past the wow factor, and the novelty wears off, suddenly it feels like the new one is no great shakes. It doesn't seem "big" anymore, just, and I hate this phrase in the current climate, but, "the new normal?"

 

[Car-Guy]

I won a 55 inch smart curved TV 2+ years ago....We put it in the guest bedroom since the TV in there was an older model and had a smaller screen. I watched it a few times and really didn't really like the picture effect but after a period of time it grew on me.... Now I'll often watch it and I have become more aware and interested in the 3d effect it has.... Still, I'm not sure I'd buy one myself over a conventional widescreen. I still see curved TV's for sale in the stores but only one or two models... Probably a reason for that!

 

[RunningBum]

Has anyone put lights behind the TV? I think they are called bias lights, and are usually attached with some kind of sticky tape. Are you happy with it? What brand are they?