How low can TV prices go?

[aja8888]

At Best Buy, they are selling a Hisense 65" Class H6510G Series LED 4K UHD Smart Android TV for $250.00. And a 55" is $200.

Wow!

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hisens...7.p?ref=8459201&loc=0&acampID=0&skuId=6430857

 

[ls99]

Am waiting for the old days when gas stations were giving away dish sets, silverware etc. When most have EV's maybe the giveaways will be fancy TV sets.
Not holding my breath.

 

[REWahoo]

At Best Buy, they are selling a Hisense 65" Class H6510G Series LED 4K UHD Smart Android TV for $250.00. And a 55" is $200.

I saw that earlier today and commented to DW that TVs were getting amazingly cheap. Even saw this 70" Samsung for $530, including shipping. https://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsun...8.p?ref=8459201&loc=0&acampID=0&skuId=6428508

 

[Aerides]

That's because no one wants 55 or 65 anymore. TV's are a very good example of why you can't look at the price of any one thing and gauge inflation.

Yes that loaf of bread is now $3.19 instead of $1.99, but the TV was $1899 and now it's $250!

 

[ls99]

I saw that earlier today and commented to DW that TVs were getting amazingly cheap. Even saw this 70" Samsung for $530, including shipping. https://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsun...8.p?ref=8459201&loc=0&acampID=0&skuId=6428508

Nice.
Maybe with these things one can build a superinsulated house, without leaking windows, and use these with outside steereable camers for view.
Or if in a rough neighborhood just use video off the internet of views of lakes or or mountains.

 

[RunningBum]

Nice.
Maybe with these things one can build a superinsulated house, without leaking windows, and use these with outside steereable camers for view.
Or if in a rough neighborhood just use video off the internet of views of lakes or or mountains.

Neat idea!

Some people will probably look at these inexpensive models and point out what they are missing over the pricier ones, but a few years ago these would've been top of the line. I won't complain about the early adopters who always want to have the current best technology, because they make prices on the "somewhat out of date" tech a lot cheaper for people like me.

 

[Car-Guy]

Just an initial thought:

Maybe subscription TV services (Direct TV, Dish, Cable, Streamers, etc) are in cahoots with the TV manufactures... Sell you a high featured and super cool large screen TV, at a super low price only to stick it to you on monthly content/services fees....

Reminds me of what they did on printers... Buy a really nice printer for almost nothing only to screw you on the high prices of printer cartridges for the life of the printer....


Maybe I should think about changing my screen name from Car-Guy to Cynic at Heart.

 

[skipro33]

75" TCL TV at BestBuy for under $500;
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/tcl-75...54e1a1311eb8a24f6836995d55b0INT&skuId=6424069

 

[Freedom56]

TV manufacturers make money from selling their viewing data to advertisers. The get a cut from all those pre-installed channels on the TV sets.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech...ow-your-smart-tv-spying-you-money/2910013002/

 

[Music Lover]

Some people will probably look at these inexpensive models and point out what they are missing over the pricier ones, but a few years ago these would've been top of the line. I won't complain about the early adopters who always want to have the current best technology, because they make prices on the "somewhat out of date" tech a lot cheaper for people like me.

I do appreciate the early adopters doing their part for those of us who are more "frugal" and don't care about the very latest technology.

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.

 

[pb4uski]

That's because no one wants 55 or 65 anymore. TV's are a very good example of why you can't look at the price of any one thing and gauge inflation.

Yes that loaf of bread is now $3.19 instead of $1.99, but the TV was $1899 and now it's $250!

When we moved back to Vermont in 1986 we decided to splurge and buy a top-of-the-line 27" SONY television... it was $800 and weighed 500 lbs. Ok, maybe more like 70 lbs.

Today, 34 years later, one can buy a tv that is far superior to that $800 tv for less than $300.

Not only that, today's tv are pretty reliable... both I and a friend have nice large screen 55" HDTVs... I bought my 55" Vizio in 2012 for ~$1,000 as I recall and the thing just won't die.

 

[Chuckanut]

My 42 inch Panasonic Plasma TV is the same way. It just keeps on working. And given my viewing distance, the screen size is just fine. So, I am waiting for a 50+ inch OLED for about $200.

 

[JoeWras]

My 42 inch Panasonic Plasma TV is the same way. It just keeps on working. And given my viewing distance, the screen size is just fine. So, I am waiting for a 50+ inch OLED for about $200.

+1. I could have written this, right down to the brand.

 

[NoiseBoy]

+1. I could have written this, right down to the brand.

-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.

 

[JoeWras]

A $300 TV in 1960 would cost $3.24 today. And that wasn't even color. I think the color versions were more near $1000 back then.

Source: https://www.in2013dollars.com/Televisions/price-inflation/1960

 

[Car-Guy]

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.

 

[6miths]

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.

That's hilarious!!

 

[finnski1]

Back about 15-16 years or so ago I decided to buy the biggest tube tv I could find because tube tv's were becoming old school and I wanted to get one before they disappeared. They were still supposed to be better at contrast and dark levels ( I think) and were known for long lives.
Well I ended up with a 34 inch Sony Trinitron that was considered an HDTV at the time which I think meant up to 1080i resolution.
I kid you not that weighed 208 lbs. and required me to get one of my weight lifting work colleagues to set it on the stand. It cost $2100!
The picture looked really good compared to my previous sets and I was a happy camper.
One day I had the Direct TV tech at the house and he says, hey your High definition is not working on this TV.
So here I had been watching it for several years thinking I was watching high def and I wasn't.
Anyway I ended up giving it to my brother and it then got passed around to family members for years. My wife hated it because it was a monstrosity and took up half the living room.
We still only have a 37 inch Toshiba hanging on the wall for the last several years and I don't think it is even 1080p. I think I paid $799 and it is now not even comparable to the $250 sets listed. Not even close.
May be time to start shopping.

 

[jollystomper]

Just an initial thought:

Maybe subscription TV services (Direct TV, Dish, Cable, Streamers, etc) are in cahoots with the TV manufactures... Sell you a high featured and super cool large screen TV, at a super low price only to stick it to you on monthly content/services fees....

I have wondered about this. My main reason for not getting a TV greater than 40" is that I would be too tempted to upgrade my cable TV subscription to HD service... and for what they want to charge me, it isn't worth it. Of course I could watch any live TV via a laptop/Raspberry Pi and attach the TV as the output monitor...

Last year, when one of our sons worked part-time for 1-800-Got Junk, he ended up from his work with 50 and 60 inch 1080p TVs that worked fine. the owners had gotten 4k Smart TVs and did not want to be bothered with selling/donating them. He turned down at least 5-6 other TVs. Perhaps more people are upgrading than the places accepting donations can handle.

 

[aja8888]

Last year, when one of our sons worked part-time for 1-800-Got Junk, he ended up from his work with 50 and 60 inch 1080p TVs that worked fine. the owners had gotten 4k Smart TVs and did not want to be bothered with selling/donating them. He turned down at least 5-6 other TVs. Perhaps more people are upgrading than the places accepting donations can handle.

TV's are everywhere. I have a BIL that has 9 TV's in his house.....one in every room and in the bathrooms too.

I would guess that someday, new built houses will come with them preinstalled in walls, game rooms, etc.

 

[mpeirce]

At Best Buy, they are selling a Hisense 65" Class H6510G Series LED 4K UHD Smart Android TV for $250.00. And a 55" is $200.

Wow![/url]

Funny, DS and his friends don't own televisions.

They get cheap and people stop wanting to buy them.

 

[stepford]

Our main TV is still just 48". Maybe if they're giving away a nice 65" over Black Friday for $200 we'd upgrade... Naah, 48" is plenty for us.

 

[aja8888]

Funny, DS and his friends don't own televisions.

They get cheap and people stop wanting to buy them.

Or they buy 9 of them like my BIL! LOL!!

 

[CRLLS]

Some years back, I bought a Samsung DLP TV. It was highly discounted because our company was a supplier to Samsung. I paid over $3200 for that 47" TV. I kept it repaired by replacing light bulbs and cooling fans. I vowed to only purchase throw away tv's from then on. The last one I bought was $109 for a 32" Roku for our bedroom.

OP, those are some great prices.

 

[fritz]

From what I understand (there might be some changes since I last read up on this scenario) - there are some changes coming to over the air (OTA) TV in the near future. The changes are supposed to allow OTA broadcasters to offer 1080p and 4K OTA broadcasts. Currently most OTA broadcasters offer 720p. To get this "NextGen TV" feature, you'll need a TV with a ATSC 3.0 tuner or a set top box for your old ATSC 1.0 tuner TV (that has 1080p and 4K ability?). This is from the attached link -

To access ATSC 3.0 you’ll need an antenna (if you already have one, it will work just fine, but if you need one, here’s our list of the best antennas), but you will also need a TV or set-top box with an ATSC 3.0 tuner built-in. You’ll also need to be in a market in which ATSC 3.0 is offered — we’ve covered all the details on how to get ATSC 3.0.

https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/every-2020-tv-that-has-atsc-30-tuners-built-in/

I've read that OTA broadcasters will also be able to prevent you from recording (1080p and 4K?) OTA broadcasts - will require you pay a fee. You will also have to have an internet connection to accomplish (1080p and 4K?) recordings. So much for free OTA TV recordings for time-shifting for viewing convenience.

I believe that OTA broadcasters will still broadcast for ATSC 1.0 tuner TVs for 5 years. This all sounds like the analog to DTV changeover.

Not too many TVs out there with ATSC 3.0 tuners. Maybe why they are also having fire sales on current TV inventory with ATSC 1.0 tuners that will have limited life, considering the upcoming changeover to ATSC 3.0 tuner TV standard.

Edit add - this will also have an impact on current DVR offerings - they have ATSC 1.0 TV tuners in them...