Ready to Kick Some **** on Black Friday

kevhed72

I'm considering going out on Black Friday to kick the crap out of some old ladies and little kids to score myself a new flat panel. hell hath no fury like an audiophile looking for a new 50 inch lcd at one of the big box stores. I cant wait to blast through the huddled masses at the front door to get me a new TV. My dilemma is these TVs all seem to be 60 hz. Would this be a show stopper in your book??

ken brydson

Find a leftover Panny plasma...

BlueFox

It amazes me people go shopping after Thanksgiving. What an amazing waste of time, especially for those who line up for the store to open.

tonyb

BlueFox wrote: »

It amazes me people go shopping after Thanksgiving. What an amazing waste of time, especially for those who line up for the store to open.

Absolutely....especially for TV's. The good TV's have better deals right before the super bowl anyway. Don't waste your coin on a 60hz tv, you will not be happy. Unless it's a plasma which don't have that action smearing like LCD does.

Erik Tracy

Not sure if this is 100% true, cuz it was on the local news, but there was a 'study' done by some organization called nerd-wallet that tracked prices on a variety of item before and during Black Friday....prices were about the same.

So, all you get then is the opportunity to stand in the dark and cold, jostle and shove your way among crazy people, then get shot on the way out.... I'll shop from home, thank you.

jeremymarcinko

Be very careful purchasing a tv around the holidays. A couple of years ago I purchased a 60" 240hz Sharp Aqous LED in the early part of January. It was around a thousand dollars which was a very good deal at the time. However the set turned out to be a "made for holidays" tv that was a striped down version of one of there typical sets. The first thing I noticed was the the extremely cheap remote control made of very brittle plastic and had only the most basic functions. Then all of the onscreen menus appeared with edgy white letters over a black box (ms dos style), and again only the most basic functions. The picture quality was absolutely terrible, to much contrast and saturation, especially blacks were a painted look with no detail. The limited adjustment of this set was not enough to correct the picture. The 240hz processing gave all movies a home video feel (think bouncy camera) that would leave me feeling motion sickness as I was watching. In addition digital audio out via spdif didn't work at all, which was no good for me as I used an OTA antennae and would direct audio from my set to the avr. In any case the set was returned to best buy, only to find out that the set on display was not exactly like the one they were selling on holiday special and that the corresponding sets that people were getting were in fact a cheapened version of the display set. The model numbers were the same except for the addition of a (U) in parenthesis at the end of the model number on my set. In any case I exchanged it for a 60" LG Plasma which was actually the same price but has been impressive all around.

polkfarmboy

Long live cyber Monday!!! I think that should be made better than BF bs.

blehmbo

At this point I would also recommend a plasma. The lack of image smearing/blur with fast action and colors/black levels.

gce

Flat Panels are at there best prices around Super bowl time. I do all my Black Friday shopping on the Internet.

WLDock

While its very true that around the Super Bowl is the best time to shoping B.F can be just as effective. Last year I informed my co-worked of the Walmart $688 deal on the VIZIO E601i-A3 60-inch 120Hz Razor LED Smart. He stated that he arrived about 15-20 minutes before opening to a civil small gathering. Then took a slow walk over to electronics and purchased one of the several sets that were in stock. No fuss, no craziness.

That same Vizio set stayed at about $1K for most of the year at many stores.. It seems Target had it for $788 around FEB. Needed a 10% coupon a Red Dot CC to get it in down to the same price.

So, we can generalize all we want about how crazy B.F. is but Your Experience May Vary!

tonyb

Only it's not the same set. Walmart has manufacturers make sets just for them, that's a known fact. So the same supposedly set is going to be missing a few bells and whistles over the same set from elsewhere.

For a set for the bedroom or kitchen, that may do just fine, but for the main viewing set I'd steer clear of Walmart.

cnh

I never bother with BF. But I will say that if you can't make an LED with a decent pic at any PRICE at this point by just stealing or reverse engineering the industry leaders in a cheap Chinese factory where most of those primo sets are made anyway, then there is something wrong with you.

LED tech has been around for a while, there is a lot of Copyright violation over there. Seems like a no brainer. Any cheap Chinese set ought to simulate a decent quality pic. Why do you think Sony and Samsung, Sharp, LG, Panasonic, etc. are in a race to the bottom in PRICING? They're terrified of Cheap Chinese knockoffs taking over the market.

Now, while it is true that they may be stripped down and have fewer features in terms of smart functions etc. The panels and color processing are literally made by a handful of factories for almost EVERYONE! And anyone can do 120Hz or greater.

I honestly cannot tell the difference much unless I look at the branding on smaller sizes for LED/LCDs that is-I would exempt plasmas because they are in their own league.

What you're probably getting on BF though, are sets that did not go through a thorough QC review. And that's why they might be sub-par.

In any case. I won't be OUT THERE! Thank you very much!

cnh

tonyb

cnh wrote: »

I honestly In any case. I won't be OUT THERE! Thank you very much!

cnh

You sure pal ? I hear walmart on Black Friday has a special on "pleasant personalities", might be worth a wait in line.


couldn't resist...just bustin' your chops. Have a great Holiday.

voltz

All my shopping is already done! So all I have left to buy is for some Angel's hanging on a Tree. I usually head-out to the mall and grab a few presents for some kids. When lay-offs got me in the 80's I hired into landscaping at the mall. Bart a drummer I worked with at the mail who played in a band called "TRYST" talk all of us into doing this each year and even after I was back at the Big plant I always keep this tradition going!
To Bart Windsor The Finest Drummer I've ever known!!

kevhed72

Well, I have scrapped the flat panel idea this year. The kids want an X Box One and that will be plenty to spend$. Now the decision is 500gb vs. 1 Tb in memory. May have to hit Target later tonite.

chumlie

How is it called black Friday now that they all open up today ? To bad for the worker bee's.

kevhed72

I agree...target opens at six. So does wallymart

kevhed72

Mission accomplished on the x box one at Walmart...actually saved a good chunk of dough when it was all said and done. As this was my first Black Friday, or Grey Thursday, I will say the under paid Walmart employees should get paid double time for the abuse they have to endure from some of the completely rude and classless people who shop today and tomorrow. My 8 year old was appalled by the behavior of some of the adults we had to wait in line with. Anywho, Happy Thanksgiving polkies...

WLDock

tonyb wrote: »

Only it's not the same set. Walmart has manufacturers make sets just for them, that's a known fact. So the same supposedly set is going to be missing a few bells and whistles over the same set from elsewhere.
For a set for the bedroom or kitchen, that may do just fine, but for the main viewing set I'd steer clear of Walmart.

Yes, there is usually a variation in model/SKU when they do this. The Vizio model from last year E601i-A3 seemed to be offered at other retailers. The only variation on Vizio's support side was a model with a different language setup. I'm sure Walmart can command a better price on unaltered models vs. what Best Buy can get.

For example, here are some Sony model variations:
$ 899.99 KDL-40S4100- 2,500:1 Contrast ratio 60hz refresh rate (Walmart)
$1,099.99 KDL-40V4100- 25,000:1 Contrast ratio 60Hz refresh
$1,499.99 KDL-40W4100- 30,000:1 Contrast ratio 120Hz refresh

Now this years Walmart deal, the 65" Vizio D6501-B SMART has two variations that show performance difference in the specs. Also, the D-Series is the entry Series under the E-Series. So, this years deal is bigger but a lower performing set.

Still, anyone looking for a set at Walmat is not looking for a top of the line "A" rated brands anyway...or not even top of the line "B" rated brands like the Vizio P-Series. They want cheap sets.

Consumer Reports gives:
LG, Panasonic, Samsung, and Sony an "A" rating.
Vizio and Sharp a "B" rating.
Insignia, Toshiba, JVC, Philips, Magnavox, and Sanyo get a "C+" rating.

Most of the super low priced door busters are off brands with a "C" rating or not rated at all. Since Vizio is known as a value leading set (Not the best picture or reliability but tons of features for the price) it's not a surprise to see them on sale offering their mid-line sets on sale.

Anyway, my co-worker is a young single guy and he is happy with his Vizio. The picture is no Panasonic Plasma... but those are not for everyone....especially the Walmart Black Friday TV shopper.