New TV

If you've been into any major electronics store lately, you probably couldn't pull yourself away from looking at the enormous, beautiful televisions on display.  With the economy in a slump the prices on these units have come way down.  For several years I've wanted to put a nice big HDTV in the basement, but finding the money for one amid all of our other needs just wasn't in the cards.


Lately, I've been eyeing two different models of Samsung television.  Last year the Samsung DLP sets caught my eye.  These are rear projection sets that support full HD (1080p) and have a beautiful picture.  Even though the set is rear projection, the footprint is relatively small.  Earlier this year we bought a LCD for our bedroom to replace an aging set, and at the time we ordered the 56" Samsung 650 series DLP.  The bill rang up to a little over $2,000 and I immediately had buyer's remorse.  The next day I cancelled the order without ever picking up the set.  The other model I like is the 52" Samsung LCD in the 6 series.  This is the "Touch of Color" model that has a red bezel.  We got to see one over the Thanksgiving holiday as my wife's uncle had purchased one.  It is a beautiful television, and he had it nicely mounted on the wall.  He got it at a price of around $1,600, which got me to thinking about televisions again.

So I kept my eye on the TV ads to see if Black Friday would bring any stellar deals.  Unfortunately, most big box vendors were discounting only the in-house brands, and the Samsung's were keeping their price steady.  That is, until I happened to browse Amazon for their price on the DLP sets.  Amazon had the 61" DLP 7 series set for $1497!  I mocked up an order and saw that shipping was free, no state sales tax, and they were offering 24 months same as cash.  That is one heck of a deal.  Still, buying something major like that over the internet gives me a little worry.  What if it breaks or needs service?

In these cases I really like to head to HH Gregg.  They have their headquarters close by, and I've always found their staff to be top notch.  I went to the store armed with my Amazon details and was amazed to find that they would be willing to match the Amazon offer!  The salesman set the price of the HL61A750 at $1400, which meant my price after tax was $1498.  I was picking up the unit so there was no delivery charge.  In addition, if I should have any trouble with the unit I know I can bring it back to the store locally for service.

I was still high on this experience later that day when we visited my father-in-law for his birthday.  My wife's folks have a 15 year old rear projector that was on it's way out.  I told him about the deal and we got him the same set at the same price.  

This television is gorgeous.  I'll write another post to give the ins and outs, but I definitely have no buyer's remorse this time around.  I know the economy is rough, but if you've been prudent with your income and have been looking for the right time to buy a television, this may be it.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

wow, I work at their main office and was told we don't match .com sales! lucky you

Adam Jones said...

Honestly, I was shocked too. HH Gregg was running a 20% off all HDTV special, so the discounted price in store was already marked at $1517. I asked the salesman if he would adjust the price to eliminate the difference due to sales tax and after a little checking, said it would be no problem.

 
Jade Mason