# Heads up on our new TV Purchase



## Bacardi 151 (May 2, 2007)

We had a debate in a few threads down. Seemed to really go no where as most people offered contridicting info.

I think you personally need to determine the size you want for starters. IMO, bigger is always better. I have a 50" plasma, I'm about to pull the trigger on a projector and 120' screen setup. 

Some DEBATABLE trains of thought...

Buy an expensive tv and hope the extra $$ spent decreases the chance of it needing a major repair.

IF you can get a cheap extended warranty, buy a cheaper TV and get the extended warranty. best buy/circuit city/sears typically don't offer CHEAP warranties. If you good credit, apply for any visa signature credit card. Buy a tv from anywhere on that credit card (pay it off in full to not accumlate interest) and get the warranty through visa for a great deal. Or check out warehouse stores as both their tv prices and extended warranties are cheaper.

Good luck.


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## robut (Aug 22, 2007)

Bacardi 151 said:


> We had a debate in a few threads down. Seemed to really go no where as most people offered contridicting info.
> 
> I think you personally need to determine the size you want for starters. IMO, bigger is always better. I have a 50" plasma, I'm about to pull the trigger on a projector and 120' screen setup.
> 
> ...


 Thanks From Deck hand
I'm really looking into this as a major buy like a car. 
I will look for that debate back a few threads and see if I can pick up something of value.
DH


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## ktkelly (Apr 7, 2007)

I'll strongly recommend a 42" LG LCD flat panel. Good product with a good waranty and good support.

I would think that you could get the 42LB5D for very close to your budget amount.



Do yourself a favor and stay away from the cheap private label, no name, items. Those 799.00 to 999.00 42" items are real junk that will not likely last any time at all. Like the 39.00 DVD, they are throw awy items.


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## robut (Aug 22, 2007)

Bacardi 151 said:


> We had a debate in a few threads down. Seemed to really go no where as most people offered contridicting info.
> 
> I think you personally need to determine the size you want for starters. IMO, bigger is always better. I have a 50" plasma, I'm about to pull the trigger on a projector and 120' screen setup.
> 
> ...


Thanks: I did find this thread and became informed 
Deck hand


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## bofusmosby (Apr 30, 2007)

Its really debatable as to what set is the best on the market. I would make 2 suggestions...1, Only buy a brand when there is a local authorized service center in the area. Even if you buy an extended warranty, if the set fails in the manufacturers warranty, it must be worked on by a factory authorized service center. This means that YOU may be responsible for the shipping charges to and from the factory service center. 2, Buy an extended warranty that covers the replacment of the set, if the parts can not be obtained. Getting the parts can be a real problem for some of these.

If you follow these 2 guidelines, this should eliminate most of the junk.


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## gregzoll (Dec 25, 2006)

Now's the time to buy, due to prices are low because Superbowl is coming up, and the Playoffs are on. My wife's Grandmother got a Samsung 32" LCD from Christmas, and her children paid less then $800 for it. We got a 42" Panasonic Plasma for under $1200. Both where from Circuit City. Personally, stay away from Best Buy, and listen to what you can afford, not what others think that you should have. Also, check out Consumer Reports Ratings on LCDs and Plasmas.

http://www.circuitcity.com/rpsm/catOid/-12869/N/20012866+20012867+20012869+312867003+4588/link/ref/Ns/net_price%7C0/rpem/ccd/categorylist.do


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## bofusmosby (Apr 30, 2007)

Speaking of consumer reports.....My mother used to have a subscription to the consumer reports magazine back in the mid 90's. I remember reading an article about what the best set for the buck was. Their recommendation was Zenith. Well.....I don't think as highly about the Consumer reports as I used to.

It so happens, that Zenith was the worst set on the market at that time. Their picture tubes were failing shortly after the 2 year warranty was up. If we got 100 TVs in the shop for repair, and the problem being a bad picture tube, 95 out of the 100 would be the Zenith TVs. Throughout the 90's, Zenith had that problem. Since then, I have never held much stock in what they say. A lot of the items written up by the Con. Rep.s I Know nothing about. I would have to take their word for what they said. However, about the Zenith TVs, I Knew what I was talking about. They were dead wrong.
I am not saying you can not believe them, I am just saying do NOT take everything they say as correct in the "real" world.

gregzoll is correct about the prices, and the nice thing is they are still falling. 

The only problem is that many of them are liable to be "throw-away" TVs. Not that they can not be repaired ( if you can get the parts ), its just that if you paid $800 for the TV, and 1-2 years later the main board were to go bad, just the price of the board could be $300, to well over $400. This is not counting the labor. Also in a year or two from now, that same TV would probably sell for less than $600. So why would a person get the their set repaired? You could replace the TV at about the same price as buying a new one. This is why the extended warranty is important. Now, if you don't plan on keeping the set for more than a year or two, don't waste your money on the warranty.

All this is based on what I have seen first hand over the years.


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## robut (Aug 22, 2007)

bofusmosby said:


> Speaking of consumer reports.....My mother used to have a subscription to the consumer reports magazine back in the mid 90's. I remember reading an article about what the best set for the buck was. Their recommendation was Zenith. Well.....I don't think as highly about the Consumer reports as I used to.
> 
> It so happens, that Zenith was the worst set on the market at that time. Their picture tubes were failing shortly after the 2 year warranty was up. If we got 100 TVs in the shop for repair, and the problem being a bad picture tube, 95 out of the 100 would be the Zenith TVs. Throughout the 90's, Zenith had that problem. Since then, I have never held much stock in what they say. A lot of the items written up by the Con. Rep.s I Know nothing about. I would have to take their word for what they said. However, about the Zenith TVs, I Knew what I was talking about. They were dead wrong.
> I am not saying you can not believe them, I am just saying do NOT take everything they say as correct in the "real" world.
> ...


Man this sounds like the US Gov. and the old $ 200.00 allen wrench
ans $900.00 toilet seat. Throw the air plane away?

Deck hand


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## Bacardi 151 (May 2, 2007)

gregzoll said:


> Now's the time to buy, due to prices are low because Superbowl is coming up, and the Playoffs are on. My wife's Grandmother got a Samsung 32" LCD from Christmas, and her children paid less then $800 for it. We got a 42" Panasonic Plasma for under $1200. Both where from Circuit City. Personally, stay away from Best Buy, and listen to what you can afford, not what others think that you should have. Also, check out Consumer Reports Ratings on LCDs and Plasmas.
> 
> http://www.circuitcity.com/rpsm/cat...k/ref/Ns/net_price|0/rpem/ccd/categorylist.do


I could be wrong, but flat panels will just continually go down. I'd guess they'd be an immediate after superbowl sale, but again just a guess.

I did find an Olivea 1080i 27" LCD on in-store clearance for $299, and there's a staples 10% coupon as well. Most would say Olivea is junk...


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## bofusmosby (Apr 30, 2007)

As manufacturing gets better, the prices WILL keep going down. These cheap Chinese TVs are helping to destroy the manufacturing in this country. The big companies can NOT compete with the cheap crap being made elsewhere. Thats why most of the manufacturers have either been moved out of the country, or have been bought out by people in other countries. At face value, people would rather pay $800 for a TV, rather than pay $1200 for a better set. The problem is,, most consumers do not realize that a lot of the cheap stuff are thow-aways. There are laws in this country that states that when a TV is made, replacment parts MUST be avaliable for a min. of 7 years after manufacture. Not so with the crap that the Chinese are making. As a matter of fact, RCA was bought out by the Chinese, and in my opinion, they are now some of the biggest pieces of junk on the market. Also, on the RCA LCD sets, anything 32" or smaller...there will be NO parts avaliable for the repair. These sets MUST be sent back to the factory to be repaired at the owners expense. Shipping and all. This usually will be about the same price as buying a new set. When a customer brings in one of these sets for repair, you should see the look on the customers face when we tell them there are NO parts avaliable. Also, there are a lot of TVs that are under 2-3 years old, where the parts have already been discontinued! They are "throw-aways". 

Maybe when the consumer gets tired of these practices, they will put their foot down, but as of now, that is not happening. Meanwhile, our dumps are being filled with all this crap.


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## ktkelly (Apr 7, 2007)

bofusmosby said:


> As a matter of fact, RCA was bought out by the Chinese, and in my opinion, they are now some of the biggest pieces of junk on the market.


Thompson Consumer Electronics, a French company, sold the RCA name to Audiovox. With the sale just being completed this month. And FYI, Audiovox is headquarted in Hauppage, NY.

Granted, as it has been for several years, the actual manufacturing will take place offshore. Offshore being in China, Korea, Taiwan, India, etc, etc.


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## bofusmosby (Apr 30, 2007)

What you are speaking about is NOT the Television division. The Chinese still own a controlling percentage of the Television division.


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## perpetual98 (Nov 2, 2007)

How far away from the TV will your couch (or main viewing chair) be from the TV. A 42" TV in a 15'x15' room with the couch on the far wall will be like watching a computer monitor. We have a 47" LCD and our couch is roughly 12' away and there's a big part of me that wishes that we would have got at least a 50" panel.

Also, what's your budget? LED backlit LCDs offer much greater contrast levels than fluorescent lit displays. Plasma tends to offer a little more "pop" but you'll have to check out all of them in person at a decent store.


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