Wise Startup Blog

Need to find the best deal on a new TV? We’re shopping for a new LCD/Plasma HDTV because we’re moving into a new place and want a TV that is at least 40″ big. Currently we have a 30″ Polaroid LCD, HDTV and it’s great for our small room, but now that we’re moving into a full-fledged apartment, we want to find a larger LCD or Plasma.

As I shop for the best deal on a TV, I wanted to put together a buyer’s guide for those of you in a similar situation to me. You want to find the best TV, at the best price, with the least amount of sacrifices. Preface this post with the fact that I’ve been selling consumer electronics on eBay for the past 4 years, and I never pay retail on any products I buy, so I consider myself a pretty good source when it comes to deal-hunting.

Set an HDTV Budget

The fist step is setting a TV budget. Are you going to be able to afford a Plasma TV or LCD TV? When decorating a new house, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by big numbers and to assume you should spend $3,000 on a new TV, heck, you’re spending $20,000 on a kitchen, so what’s an extra thousand or so dollars piled on? Ask yourself what’s reasonable to spend on a new TV? I’m aiming to spend less than $1,000, and even at that, I’m hoping to find a 40″ LCD for around $750. Once you have your budget, you’ll better be able to determine what kind of HDTV you’ll be looking for. Depending on your size, here’s a good start:

• 20-30″ LCD – pay no more than $400
• 20-30″ Plasma – not worth it for this size, go for LCD
• 30-40″ LCD 720p – pay no more than $600
• 30-40″ Plasma 720p – not worth it for this size, go for LCD
• 30-40″ LCD 1080p – pay no more than $1000
• 30-40″ Plasma 1080p – not worth it for this size, go for LCD
• 40-50″ LCD 1080p – pay no more than $1400
• 40-50″ Plasma 1080p – pay no more than $1500
• 50-60″ LCD 1080p – pay more than $1700
• 50-60″ Plasma 1080p – pay no more than $2200

For anything above 40″, you should opt for the 1080p. 720p is the current technology, and the gimmick most retailers are using to get you into a big TV, but with old technology. Spending over $1000 on a TV that isn’t 1080p is like throwing money down the drain. Blu-ray (and HD-DVD) all support 1080p, and in a year or so, 720p will begin to be phased out, and you’ll have to start thinking about replacing your huge set, again, so be sure to opt for the newest technology with 1080p on your set.

Do Some HDTV Shopping

Now that you have your budget set, you can start shopping around at your local retailers and find the TV that catches your eye. Take a Sunday and go to all your local retailers: Best Buy, Circuit City, Wal-Mart, Fry’s, etc. on your way in, be sure to grab the weekly sale flyer and see what they have to offer. From store to store, you’ll see similar pricing, and the stores try not to have the same models, purposely, so you can’t price-match anything reliably. When doing your shopping around the stores, try to see what model will suit your living room or bedroom best. Do you want a slimline-LCD or Plasma or are you okay with a full box DLP? Also, look at the mounts the TVs come on — would that look good in your living room or should you look to wall-mount your TV? Also look at the colors and styling, I personally really like the way Samsung looks, and the Vizios also have a nice aesthetic to them (the set pictured above is a Vizio HDTV).

Start Your Online Deal Hunting

Finding the best deal comes from a lot of experiencing searching coupon sites and forums and doing your research. There are a number of online forums where people discuss finding the best TV deals, how to save money on extended-warranty and the best specifications to look for in a TV. Additionally, to help sweeten the deal, there are a number of coupon sites that constantly update with coupons for your favorite online and brick and mortar retailers. When doing this online shopping, I’ve found it’s best to backup any deal online by checking the TV out in the actual store. The picture you see in person can never be described by someone on a forum, so I like to take the most precautions possible before making a big purchase like this. Here are a collection of the best online deal websites:

Slickdeals
Find the best deals and coupons for today’s top internet retailers! We also have a comprehensive list of coupons for you to use at online shops. This site is very similar to FatWallet, all of the members tend to use both sites so be sure to check Fatwallet and vice-versa for the latest deals.

FatWallet
The latest and greatest online coupons at hundreds of stores. Earn cash back while you shop! Look in the “hot deals” section, you’ll find all of the hottest deals and how to find them.

Ben’s Bargains
BensBargains.net brings you the best coverage of hot deals, coupons, free after rebate, shopping bargains on a 24x7x365 schedule.

With all these sites, the best technique is to search for what you’re looking for to get an idea of what’s going on in the market. So say I’m looking for a 40″+ LCD, I type in “40 LCD 1080p” into Fatwallet, and then organize the search results by date, as deals can dry up very quickly, and acting fast on these sales is essential. Also, another rule for finding the best deal: never call. If there’s an item on clearance, and you call Best Buy, they’ll say, “nope, we’re out of stock,” and then they’ll promptly buy the item and sell it on eBay, so if it’s a good deal, show up in the store, never, never call.

Research The Best HDTVs

Selected the best LCD or Plasma HDTV? Now you have to do your research. The online deal forums have some great members, and they definitely know what they’re talking about, but before you take their word for it, you should do your own research. Cheap Plasmas are known for not being able to display “true-black,” and Plasmas are also known for having burn-in. To ensure your set isn’t a lemon, you’ll want to read user reviews and see what the current owners of your future TV have to say. Also, you’ll want to research the best settings for the TV. These high-end Plasmas and LCDs have so many features, you’ll need to program it before you get the perfect settings. Here are some of the best TV gurus and online forums to research Plasma and LCD TVs:

AVS Forum
This is a discussion forum dedicated to Home Theater and the products used. This is one of the premier directories for TV discussions. They have all of the settings on the newest TVs, can tell you that the random Japanese manufacturer produces the same sets for Sony that they do for Vizio, etc.

High Def Forum
Focuses on high definition technology, with topic threads including camcorders, TVs, DVDs, cameras, players, recorders, and receivers. These guys have all the information on the best set-top box, Tivo HD DVR, best satellite service gives you the best HD, etc.

HDTVoice
HDTVoice is the premiere hdtv discussion chat talk forum! They have a great newbie guide for those of you in my similar situation, with absolutely no idea where to start

Get Your Cash and Buy Your TV

Now that you have all of your information, you should be ready to go out and buy that amazing new LCD or Plasma HDTV to call your own. It’s essential that you are ready to make a split-second decision when you come across a great deal. After spending a couple weeks researching prices, you should be able to spot a great deal instantly, and when you see that deal, you have to snatch it up. There are a lot of savvy consumers out there, and they won’t flinch when they see a good deal. When you find that great deal and make your purchase decision, you won’t have any buyer’s remorse when you get home because you know you found the best deal available, and with all of your extra cash, you can upgrade your home theatre with speakers, DVDs, Blu-ray players, etc. and for that, you’ll have to wait until my next buyer’s guide for the REST of your home theatre