Got the Green light

[Magruter]

Has anyone bought a TV at bestbuy, circuit city, anywhere else that has had 0 interest for a over a year? I just debating on whether to start saving or if i should wait for a 0 interest sale.

[stutters]

bub told me he was able to get a pretty sick deal @ best buy with their credit - 0% over either 12 or 18 months. i think that is an ongoing offer, but maybe not. the online info i'm finding only makes it sound like 90 days.

[boiler]

I just bought a 50" Sony SXRD 1080p projection at BestBuy a few weeks ago during the labor day stuff. They were offering 0% financing with the best buy credit card for something longer than 12 or 18 months at the time. I didn't do it because I had already saved the cash, but seemed like a pretty good deal.

 

I believe that they offer 0% financing with the credit card most of the time with big purchases.

 

* I just checked BestBuy's website, and they offered 0% on all home theater purchases (including TVs) $999 and up for 2 years, in store only. The site says the offer expired on the 22nd, but I'll bet they would give you 0% for some length of time anyway.

 

Have fun shopping, and pick a good one!

[NOFX]

best buy is always doing the 12/18 month no interest thing. Which is good, I mean 100 bucks for a year and you have yourself a nice TV...

 

If I were you, I wouldn't jump on the first thing, because this is what your going to be staring at for the next 5 years...

 

Me, personally am a fan of a bigger TV. I have a 56" lcd projection, which is similar in size to a DLP. I would not sacrifice the size of the screen for a nice flat wall mountable LCD or plasma. No matter what they tell you, bigger is better.

 

Look into the LCD projection or DLP, I picked mine up last christmas from Sam's wholesale. The one on the floor was $1800. This one had been returned and they wanted $1200, when I got to the register it rang up as $1100. I couldn't be happier with it.

[akaM2]

go to american

[Unclean]

I bought a 56" DLP (1080i) from Best Buy a year ago and got a killer deal on it. I kept an eye on the TV I wanted, and they had a 1-week sale for $500 off. It came with a free TV stand too. So I went in and applied for a Best Buy credit card, which gives double points. Then I used a 12% off reward zone coupon my gf had, which knocked another $128 off the price.

 

Original price: $2400

Sale price: $1900

Coupon: $-228

Total: $1672

 

Free stand value: ~$300

Best Buy gift points earned: $65

 

So I saved $728 and got $365 worth of free stuff.

 

My advice to you is this:

Research the type of TV you want. They all have pros/cons. Save your money while you're researching, find your top 2 or 3 choices, and then wait for a price break in one of them. Right now, I don't think there are any huge deals going on. But there will be around Thanksgiving/Christmas time.

 

Good luck!

[boiler]

I agree with nofx in that if you have the room for a DLP/projection TV, definitely go with it over the slim profile of an LCD or plasma.

 

I researched the heck out of them all before choosing my Sony, and couldn't be happier with my decision. Make sure to take into account any potential maintenance issues and such too. DLP has it's drawbacks in this area due to moving parts with the mirrors (which can give "rainbow effect" as well). My Sony has a lamp that would need replacing as well.

 

I was told at another store that the NEW samsung DLP's do not have the moving parts/maintenance issues and such, but I have no idea if he knew what he was talking about.

 

Bigger is always better, get yourself a beast!

[Magruter]

Was just talking to m2 about DLP tv's,

http://www.americantv.com/itemList.do?sear...p;submit=Search

I'm looking at american, they're running 3 months no interest.

Also the 50 inch samsung is tempting.

Any thoughts?

[Bubblegum Bandit]

I got the 40" Samsung LCD at BestBuy. Most comments are correct reguarding BB. They are almost always running at least a 12 mo no interest deal and I have seen it up to 36 months in the recent past (kicked myself cause I got the 18 months the week before). I am nothing but happy with my Samsung. I was amazed at the difference in glare from it and my Mitzu rear projection. You could hardly see the picture during the day with the Mitzu RP, with the Samsung LCD it doesn't matter what time of day. I will admit, when watching sports and zoomed way out (think panorama) it does get a little fuzzy, but its negligible. Other than that it looks great 95% of the time with analog/digital and 100% of the time with HD channels. A buddy of mine who owns a company that does ultra high end home theater installs told me several years ago that the DLP TVs were going to be the way to go. I went with the slim fit on the wall LCD so that I could get the 100 sq ft of floor space back in my living room that my RP was taking up....

 

As an aside, anybody here have any experience with high end remotes? I need one with RF as I will be "hiding" my components. I've been looking at the Pronto 3500 or 7500 or the Harmony 890 (I think) or 1000.

[Magruter]

Bub i'll keep my eye out for ya, i've seen some killer deals on high quality remotes. Gonna go take a look tonight.

[Magruter]

Orhttp://www.americantv.com/itemDetail.do?it...d=true#photoTab

That's plasma.

What's the difference between dlp and plasma?

I do like the fact that i don't have buy a 3 year bulb warranty with plasma.

[[LaW]Maverick]

my only issue with DLP is that it doesn't last as long as any of the other technologies.....

 

LCD has some of the best longevity...so if you go projection, go LCD...

 

I just bought a 52" LCD TV from Best Buy...3 YEARS no interest--not too shabby. I would buy my LCD over a projection TV any day. Why? I have an apartment, and space is something to be considered. The really good fairly slim projection TV's still take up a fair amount of space and are comparable in price...maybe $300 less than I paid, which isn't terrible. If you get a cheap projection TV, than your viewing angle sucks hardcore. I can see clear to 180 degrees with mine....

 

 

That being said, I have a lot of sites bookmarked from my recent TV research (I have been reading 'bout TV's for a year or 2), so if you want to look up some specific information, lemme know.

 

Also, is this for movies, games, TV, ect? What are you going to be using it for most of the time? NewEgg has some good financing on TV's, by the way. Also, what price-range are you looking to stay in?

 

Edit: Also, if you can afford to wait a bit, there are some new TV technologies on the horizon. Laser TV, for instance, is supposed to be half as expensive as plasma and produce a MUCH nicer picture. They actually have these things working, but they're unsure as to when they will hit the consumer market. It looks like 4 or 5 months though. OLED TV's are coming out soon, and will be VERY expensive, but they will drive the cost of current high-end TV's down. In other words, prices are going to continue to drop fairly rapidly in the near future. Me? I just didn't want to wait, and they priced my TV to sell out to make room for the next model (the only difference between the new one and mine is mine has 2 HDMI ports and the new one has 3...that, and $1,000...for an extra HDMI port....whoohoo?)

Edited September 25, 2007 by [LaW]Maverick

[boiler]

Orhttp://www.americantv.com/itemDetail.do?it...d=true#photoTab

That's plasma.

What's the difference between dlp and plasma?

I do like the fact that i don't have buy a 3 year bulb warranty with plasma.

DLP's are of the "projection" variety, so they're going to be larger and non-wall-mountable. If you don't need the extra space created by wall mounting and can have a stand, you definitely should go projection. You get larger size and better features for quite a bit less money than plasma or LCD flat panel, which is the biggest reason I chose a projection Sony. In my opinion, there's not much reason to get a "flat" TV unless you're going to wall mount it or place it in a smaller built-in nook or something.

 

From my extensive talks with numerous people at several different stores, for projection TVs, Samsung or Sony are the way to go as far as best true-to-life picture quality. In the stores, the TVs should all have high-def signals on the displays - be sure to see how they do with upconverting and displaying standard def signals as well. Just because a TV does an awesome job with high-def signals doesn't mean it will handle standard def ones equally well. That was another reason I picked the SXRD - it did an absolutely outstanding job in upconverting a standard definition signal. The Samsung did a nice job with this as well.

 

One other thing to consider is something like 1080p for plasmas and LCD flat panels is still pretty pricey. There are differing opinions as to whether or not you need 1080p - most say you can't tell a difference with 720p unless the screen is 50" or bigger, or you are sitting really close to the screen. There also isn't much in the way of content that is 1080p except blu-ray and HD-DVD (plus the consoles). Everything is heading that way though, so if you're getting the green light now, I'd go big or go home

[Magruter]

1080p or 1080i?

[appalachian_fox]

As an aside, anybody here have any experience with high end remotes? I need one with RF as I will be "hiding" my components. I've been looking at the Pronto 3500 or 7500 or the Harmony 890 (I think) or 1000.

 

You could always just get an RF repeater for your IR remote/remotes. You can probably get an nice IR Universal as well and still come out ahead. The 890 isn't that expensive from Amazon, though, so maybe it's not worth it to you.

 

Depending on where you hide the components, you can get IR guides, too. Totally eliminate RF from the equation. Again, that depends on where you are hiding them.

 

FWIW, I like the Harmony series of remotes, but they're all that I am familiar with. I want that Harmony 1000 now that I have seen it. *drools* Programming them can be a pain, because the device information is all retrieved from the Internet, but it's not that big a hassle and that allows it to support pretty much everything you could reasonably want to control that has an IR remote, and if they don't have it every Harmony remote I've used will allow you to "learn" from the device's remote.

 

If you have an XBox 360, they even have a special Harmony remote for that with the four buttons (X, Y, A, which are nice general-purpose buttons for other things like DVRs.

 

Hope some of that was helpful.

[boiler]

see my above post, but 1080p is best quality high-def signal currently available. word is cable and broadcast companies are working to transmit a 1080p signal, but it's not happening any time especially soon.

[Magruter]

sxrd, I've seen them around, since most of my TV isn't watch in HD (DVR doesn't support) I need a clear picture when i'm upconverting, i see one for 1499, 55 inches 1080p.

Looks like a solid deal.Do you buy the 3 year bulb replacement for $300?

Oh, I'm not to worried about space, there's an area above the fake fire place for a nice TV.

 

I hate when i add a post it takes all the spacings out!

[Unclean]

Here's a quick breakdown of pros/cons for the three competing technologies, at least as I see it. This accounts for price, color quality, resolution, and price. I did not include refresh rates... those will have an impact if you do a lot of console gaming on it. I don't, so I didn't research that part.

 

DLP Pros:

Vivid colors

Great resolution

Low cost

 

DLP Cons:

Space (not wall-mountable)

Bulb has to be replaced every few years (~$150-200)

 

 

LCD Pros:

Great resolution

Wall-mountable

Low to medium price

 

LCD Cons:

Hard to achieve true "blacks", ends up being dark gray (washed out)

higher cost

Sealed unit, has to be mailed for repair

 

Plasma Pros:

Vivid colors

Wall-mountable

 

Plasma Cons:

Fixed resolution, screen-door effect at close range

Higher cost

Gas in each pixel has a shelf-life

Sealed unit, has to be mailed for repair

 

 

 

1080i v1080p

No real difference to the naked eye

[Magruter]

thanks! I'm leaning toward a DLP, but the bulb is what kind of worries me. Can I put a bulb in myself?

[boiler]

I did buy the 4 year replacement/service plan through best buy when I bought mine. covers bulbs/anything else needed. it was only $250 for me (tv was on sale for $1499). From what I've heard about the life of the bulbs, there's a good chance that it could use a replacement bulb within 4 years.

 

about the DVR - if you have cable TV service and a DVR through them, the DVR should have HD video connections. if you have TiVo for satellite, then I spose it's possible it doesn't have HD connections.

 

Other people may have different opinions, which is fine, but I couldn't be happier with the color reproduction and picture quality (high and standard def) of my SXRD.

 

I'm hoping the area above the fake fireplace has a shelf depth of at least 14", otherwise getting a projection up there might be a bit too snug!

 

and yes, most bulbs can be user-replaced I believe. I know the Sonys are, and I think the Samsungs are as well. Even though SXRD and DLP are two different things, they both produce great pictures. If you prefer samsung and can swing the price, I'd go for one of the new models - from what I've heard they are a little better with some of the standard areas of complaint with DLP sets. If anyone here has a DLP set, maybe they can clarify.

Edited September 25, 2007 by boilersax

[Magruter]

http://dealnews.com/deals/Samsung-50-Wides...080/188241.html

Looks like a fun deal!

[boiler]

that's a really really good deal!

 

you can do better with the TV though

[Gond]

If you have an HH Gregg around you I'd suggest checking them out. I've bought 2 big TV's, a fridge and a washer dryer from them and have been very happy. I think they are just in the Cincinnati area though.

 

Far as the same as cash...great deal if you are good about making the payments. Generally I try to have enough cash in the bank to cover any same as cash purchases I make just to be sure. You do know that if you fail to pay on time you are charged the full year of interest on the initial loan amount right?

 

Also, I've been told that you can use the same as cash as a barganing chip to get things cheaper if you pay for it outright. I'm not good at negociating so I've never done that.

[Bubblegum Bandit]

Good point with paying it off in time Gond. But any no-interest deal I've ever done if you don't pay in time you owe interest based on the whole term of your no-interest deal. IE, if you had a 36 month no-interest term and don't pay it off in 36 months, you will owe 36 months of interest.

 

Also, most retail places make you think that you have to pay what's on the sticker. That's not necessarily true. If it is a very popular model and they have no problem selling them you're probably out of luck, but when I bought my Samsung I was looking at a different model that they didn't have in stock. I got them to drop the Samsung price by $350 to get me to walk out of the store with it that day. Just ask them if their manager will let them lower the price at all.....

[Playaa]

any of you guys have suggestions for $500 (or less) tv's?

HD Ready is fine by me (do they even make those anymore?) since the only way I'll ever get HD is through my satellite, and in that case the receiver will do the processing for me.

 

I have a 42" HD Ready Zenith in my bedroom...but my new roommate doesn't have a TV and I was thinking of moving the Zenith into the living room anyway. Looking for something to replace it in my room.

 

btw, 42" is plenty big enough for me (could probably go as low as 32" and not complain)

 

Mags, this Zenith is probably about 4 years old (or more). It's rear projection, the depth of it is about 1 and a half feet and it is light enough to be picked up by one person (though it's awkward to get a grip on it for just one person, but it is possible). Just saying these things to help you have an idea of what you're looking for. (also, if it has a bulb...it's never gone out)